I installed my racing beat rear steer eliminators today, and I now have to recommend this mod to everybody. The road feel is twice what it was before. The swap is alot easier than most people make it out to be. The first side I did took three hours and the second side took two hours. I found the easiest way to remove the old bushing, is to use a large vise clamp and press that som' bitch out of there. If your car has alot of miles it may be a lil more difficult but mine has 80k and it was easy, but time consuming. For #50, you can't do anything better.

 

mine are on the way as i write this......

 

The TID mod!!!

 

sorry. kind of new.... can u specifi on what a rear steer eliminator is located

 

Most definetly. This Is worth It. I had them pressed out for me. After seeing them done, I probably could have done this my self. My bushings were severly eroded!

After Install, my rear end Is no longer all over the place!

 

ya i hate that..... cornering is scary, as is driving in the rain.....

 

What exactly does this do?

 

Here's the story:

http://www.mazdatrix.com/faq/rrsteer.htm

 

Hey Samps,
Tell us more about the handling. Is it that much better than with the rear steer? If it is I would like some. I think the rear steer is what helped keep me in the flat spin when I had my accident. So I would like to stop the next one from doing it at all.
Charles

 

Ya know when you're going around a bend and you can feel the rear get a little loose or wiggly? These will eliminate that. It's kinda hard to explain; but if you drove a car with, then without, you would deffinitely notice the difference. Driving like a normal human you will not see any improvement in handling, but when you decide to push it a little, it makes itself known. This is not going to win you any autocross events, but for $50, I have to say it is the best thing you could do (for an NA anyways). You will feel a lot more in control driving through bends. And the labor is not to difficult. I would say this effort is less demanding than changing a strut assembly. It would have been even easier if I had a press handy. Of the 5 hours it took, 3 of those hours were just getting the old bushings out. I used some very interesting methods to get those suckers out of there.

 

After 2 seasons of autocrossing I am used to the DTSS (I think that was the short term for rear stear) I know that Mazda put it in as sort of a novice indicator of when the car would break loose. When you say you have more control can you elaborate on that. I've read that some people don't care for this mod and I wanted a more elaborate description of how the car feels.

 

I really can't explain it in words. It just feels better.

 

The logic behind rear steer is that under hard cornering load the wheel will toe-in, reducing the chance of stepping out. If you manage to make it step out however, you could be in for some trouble because once it steps out, the cornering load is reduced and now it's not toed in anymore. So you get a fluctuating maximum lateral load ability depending on the situation moment to moment. This is my interpretation of things anyway.

 

I was under the impression that they didn't toe in.. but out instead. I don't know, but they system reduces understeer by bringing the rear end out- essentially steering the front of the car into the turn.
And yes, it's quite noticable if you are a perceptive driver, and mine is quite worn.... uneven road surfaces and off camber turns all make the damn thing perform differently. Those are next on my list.
I am looking at them mostly for high speed. Whenever I hit bumps or dips at anything over 200 km's, the back end just starts wagging like a damn dog.... swinging like a pendulum.
It's kept me from seeing what my car tops out at!
(When you are doing 140 miles and you car feels like its either going to flip or go sideways out of the blue- it's f^&ing SCARY! No thanks.)

 

Maybe when one of these others guys does this mod they will be able to explain it a little better. I know ReTed said he has the new bushings but just never installed them; I'd be curious to hear his input after the swap. I'm not trying to say that this mod is the best handling modification out there; I'm saying "for $50" it's the best mod out there. There is a big difference between the two.

One thing that may shock you when you remove the carrier assembly, is that the stock "rear steer" bushings are soft as puddy. I could wiggle the center section with nothing more than finger pressure. My car only has 80k on it, so most are probably in the same shape as mine or worse.

I'm not a drag racer or even an autocrosser. I just drive and drive for hours on old bumpy back roads. And this mod made those long drives just a little more enjoyable.

 

Sounds like a good $50 modification. Where can I get this purchased & done?

 

I think I may do this.
Charles

 

I posted the link to the how-to on the mazdatrix site, it's a few posts up^. On that site you can also buy the bushings in the suspension section. Having them installed by some mechanic or performance shop will turn this bargain modification into a waste of money IMO. With a decent set of tools and a little wrenchin knowledge anybody can do this. Paying a mechanic to do it will cost you in the neighborhood of $300, and this is not a usable enough mod to justify spending $300. For $50 though ...

 

With DTSS you will start to feel a rubbery, yaw-like motion in the rear when cornering near limit that makes the steering feel less predictable.

With the delrin toe-eliminator bushings, this is eliminated and it's easier to feel what the car is doing; steering feedback is much better. As a result, you can pull higher lateral acceleration.

I agree - best $50 mod for FC's

I've had an '91 N/A with modded suspension and it improved noticably with the addition of the bushings.

I bought my TII and it was one of the first things I had done to it because I liked them so well.