Hallo! I'm looking to buy some urethane bushings for the 85 GS that we're restoring.. I just got back from A&A auto (local Energy Suspension bushing dealer), with a price list for $125.. That had me scratching my head a bit, since I figured the bushing swouldn't be THAT expensive.. The big one is item number #113104G, which according to http://www.energysuspension.com/pages/maz.html , is the "rear end control arm bushing set".. The 85 GS has a solid rear end, which is making me question which set this is? Does the 85 GSL-SE have an independant rear, giving it control arms? I'm sort of confused as to how something with a solid axle has control arms... below is what I think I should get, and ignore the rear CA ones..

Here's the sets that I want to get
2x 98123 - Front End Links - 32.38
1x 115101 - Front Sway Bar Frame Bushings - 8.81
1X 115106 - Rear sway bar frame bushings - 7.19
1X 113101 - Front End Control Arm - 10.34
1X 117102 - Watts Link Set.



Anything I missed?

Thanks

 

The rear control arms on a solid or De Dion rear end stops the rear end from twisting when torque meets traction, all 1st gen have solid rear ends but the GSL-SE has different locations and are not interchangable

 

I bought the whole master kit from Suspension Restoration for $138. It includes Sway Bar Bushings (front & rear), Sway bar Endlinks (front & rear), Control Arm Bushings (front & rear), Tension Rod bushings, Ball joint boots and Tie Rod boots.
This is for an GSL-SE.

 

Ah, so are they considering the control arms to be the two bars that come down to the center of the axel, right near the differential? The only two support bars that go left/right instead of front/back? So I'd guess I'd probably need that kit.. That was one was $65 for that piece..

John64 - Where did you find a master set for the first gens? I can't find anyone who lists one whole set.. that would be most helpful.

 

DO NOT put urethane bushings in the watt's link. http://www.pbandjracing.com/rear_suspension.htm will tell you why.

 

Okay, I'm going to expose my n00bness for the 1st gens here... (remember, i'm an FC guy, don't run me outta town ). Which part exactly is considered the Watts Link? And while we're at it, which part exactly is considered the control arm? Was I right above?

Edit: okay, thanks to that link, I discovered the Watts Link is what I thought was the control arm..

Okay.. I think I need some help then..

What does Everyone recommend that I get? This is for a b-day present for my dad, since its his car..

 

RB Power pulse muffler. There's a ton of things you can find, it's just all up to your price range. How much are you trying to spend?

BTW, the RB muffler looks stock, if that's the look he's going for.

 

Odd that, Racing Beat Power Pulse Muffler doesn't sound like a bushing set? maybe I'm reading that wrong?

I'd really like to replace all of the underside bushings for less than 100.. Its not a performance car, is there any good place to get the rubber set for cheaper?

 

Look in front of your rear end, there is a lower (longer) set of arms attached from the body to the axle housing, and above this is the upper set (shorter) These are on both sides surrounding the driveshaft. Beware of the uppers, where they attach to the body usually is very suseptible to rust.

 

I bought my bushing from British Victoria? price was fair.

 

okay, so the "control arms' are actually ALL (6?) of the arms connecting the rear end to the car... Damn this terminology is confusing.. I'm glad my FC has IRS

Assiesmg - Yeah, ours has surface rust all around those.. We've got everything from the flywheel back pulled off, and we're restoring the car, so its all getting sandblasted/primered, then undercoated..

Bumblebee7 - The biggest thing I was caught up on was the "rear control arm bushing set"... That cost $65, and I couldn't explain what it was.. I'll probably go Urethane Energy Suspension, (except for the watts link, possibly. See above), since its just as cheap as VB.

 

control arms, suspension links, etc. ppl call them different things, but yes they are referring to the 6 metal rods controlling the motion of the rear axle. there are 4 arms controlling front to back motion - 2 uppers (shorter and angled slightly) and 2 lowers. then the 2 arms and the center pivot in the middle is the wattz link which controls lateral axle motion.

If you havent read the PB&J write up, click on the link and do so. It will tell you about how the stock rear suspension has a very high roll resistance, because of binding. I wouldn't put any urethane bushings in the rear. harder bushings in the rear will increase the binding and cause even more roll resistance, making the oversteer very unpredictable.

However, go ahead and put them all over the front - tension rods, control arms (1 on each side) and the swaybar and endlinks. Personally, I am using all urethane bushings up front, and I left the original bushings in the rear, along with doing the mods on the PB&J write up.

 

Awesome response, and basically exactly what I was looking for.. I guess Ill go to down to the mazda dealer tomorrow to see how much they'd rape me for rubber bushings (since I don't know where else to get them).. Everywhere I find is only selling urethane. Does anyone know of any sites for rubber? even victoria british only carries urethane.

 

Alright, so I'm going to use urethane for the control arms, and possibly for the watts link until I can source some rubbers... Sound like a plan? I'm simply not finding any rubber for sale at all. Mazda trix lists them only as new "suspension links", and they're 100 a piece! There's no way we can afford to spend 600 on suspension links, even if its the better way to go.

How bad is urethane really?
I know someone has a full setup of urethane bushings.

 

Mine works great. The project will eat up an entire weekend to do. On the rear, I only replaced the lower control bushings, not the upper. The two guys that helped me said not to because of the roll. I have to say that its worth every penny. So hit up Suspension Restoration, they will make up the master kit at the prices I gave you above.

 

awesome, I'm looking them up now. I honestly only think this will take me a few minutes.. maybe a half hour at most.

Of course, the entire car is basically laying in various places in the garage, with everything from the flywheel back removed..

 

You have to burn the old ones out on the control arms.

 

if the bushings in the rear are in decent condition, just leave them in there - no need to get new rubber unless they are falling apart

 

John - Thanks for the heads up.

The_7 - unfortunately, they are all bad, or a large enough percentage that its worth changing them all. A lot of them were also fused the bolt (the metal cylinder in the center, anyway), and ripped while being removed.