My car has the infamous FD clunk. I put it up on a lift today and applied pressure to various suspension parts to see if I could find the cause.

I was able to rotate/twist the lower control arms a good 3-4 degrees. There was also some side to side play.

The Trailing arms also appeared to have some play, but I wasn't able to determine if it was coming from the front bushing(requiring replacement of the arm itself) or the middle control arm bushing (which can be replaced independently).

My question is this, since all 3 of the bushings in the lower control arm are bad would it be more cost effective to replace the entire arm(assuming it comes with new bearings)?

Keep in mind I would replace the middle and outer bearings myself. Max Cooper has a great how to on these two bearings, but not the inner bearings. They have a different part number so I'm not sure if the procedure would be similar to that for the outer bearings. Can anybody give me some guidance with this?

Thanks

Chris Cunk err, Carlisi

Resources for anybody thinking about addressing this problem:

Max's Article-great job Max!
http://www.maxcooper.com/rx7/how-to/...lls/index.html

Mazdatrix OEM suspension component pictures with corresponding part #s
http://www.mazdatrix.com/h93-95c.htm

 

Anybody??

 

wish i could help you. i think i have the same clunking problem. let me know what you did, i'll probably need to do the same.

 

I only replaced the outer ones, and left the bigger inner one as is. I've never heard of anyone replacing that bushing. The arms are probably rediculously expensive, but you may want to price it out and see what is more cost effective. I ordered the new pillow ball bushings from Jeff Haas Mazda. The website is
www.mazdaformance.com

 

Ihor, did you try moving the arms around before you replaced the bushings? My inner bushings definately have play. I assumed that was not normal, maybe I'm wrong.

 

It's cheaper to buy a used (low mileage) lower control arm than a new one or new bushings for you old one. I purchased one from an FD with 12K miles from Mazmart for $195. I thnk the new ones are > $300.

Most of the clunks come from the two outer pillow ball bushings. These are cheaper than the large inner bushing.

If you need the inner, I have a brand new one I'll sell ya.

Gene

 

I moved them around and found the toe links were shot. I decided to just replace everything while I was there

 

Gene do you have a set (inner bushings for each side) or just a single bushing? Drop me an email with the price at CCarlisi@aol.com.

Thanks,

Chris C

 

Chris, I might be imagining this, but I think the inner bushing is a sperical bearing suspended in rubber, which probably would not cause a clunk if it was loose. I can also imagine that it might be okay to be able to twist the lower arm, but I am not 100% sure. I haven't heard of anyone replacing this bushing.

Try the toe links and the 6 identical spherical bearings that my web page is about, first. I started by doing just the trailing link to lower link bushings on my car and quickly determined that the other ones were bad, too.

My replacement toe links have play in them now at the wheel end. They are standard rod ends, so the replacement price will not be too bad, but I would like to try to run some rubber boots on them this time so they last a little longer. I barely made tech for my last track event because of the play.

-Max

 

If you still have it and it is a pair not a single bushing let me know CCarlisi