Dropping my subframe in a few weeks so i'm going to be ordering the graphite master bushing kit from energy, but is that EVERY bushing under the car besides diff mounts, dtss? Does anyone know which specific ones are not included in the kit? Also does anyone make solid front diff mounts besides scalliwag, his rep is a bit bad these days... Thanks

-Andrew

 

check out mazdatrix for bushings when i do my suspension in spring i will be buying all my bushings from them

 

Um mazdatrix has the same bushings like energy suspension, unless they're in a different section??

 

subframe bushings?

 

In the energy suspension master kit you will recieve

Tie rod boots
ball joint boots
front sway bar bushings, endlink bushings and bolts
Front control arm bushings
rear y arm bushings (dunno proper term, the y shaped control arm anyway)
rear sway bar bushings, endlink bushings and bolts
strut bushings

thats it, no diff mounts, cradle mounts or any of that stuff

 

Um, yeah i know that i want to know which ones aren't included.

 

I just put the Energy kit on my car. It DOES NOT come with any subframe bushings or toe eliminators. Those you must buy separately.

 

Yeah i figured that, mmr has subframe and the 2 big diff bushings, i got the rb dtss bushings, i don't think the lateral links have bushings, that should be all the "other" bushings for the rear.

 

Ok, my buddy gave me a pic of his subframe from a while back, the ???LCA he doesn't know if they were included or not, does anyone want to confirm?For the lateral links, do they have bushings that are replaceable or not? Also does anyone know who still sells solid diff mounts besides scalliwag? Feel free to correct my diagram anyone. Thanks

 

SRMotorsports has what they call a Drag launch kit which is all the rear bushungs and diff mounts.

 

The lateral links have no bushings. They have ball joints on both ends.

 

if you are really ambitious you can aquire new lateral links from victoria british along with just about every other bushing, nut and bolt. www.victoriabritish.com

 

Based on the picture posted above, has anyone dropped all this in order to install energy suspension's master kit? How difficult is it to un-bolt what is pictured and pull is out of the car?
Curious,
~Jason

 

I have, by myself, with no prior experience doing bushing replacement. Getting it out is easy. The 4 red circles are what I would consider the main mounting points, what you would want to unbolt last (4 studs stick out of the car, you unthread the 4 nuts holding it on). Disconnect brake lines or calipers, sway bar, unbolt sublink connector (I think that's what it's called, vertical bar thingy), unbolt driveshaft, ummmmm, not sure what else.

I did not replace the rear diff or subframe bushings, I only did the Energy Suspension master kit, front diff mount, and replaced the diff with an LSD unit. The bushings burn out easily with a propane torch. Then I cleaned up the bushing mating surfaces with brushes and soap. The front control arm bushings (the larges ones in the kit) I couldn't get out, I took those to a shop and had them completely remove the old ones (there's a metal sleeve in there), and press in the new ones. The rest of the bushings slipped in pretty easily with the provided grease (comes with the kit).

Now, getting the whole thing back up was the hardest part for me, since the whole thing flexes. The below pic is what I finally did. I had 2 long boards, one under the front section and one under the rear, and 3 small rollers (2 in rear, in in center in front). Then I slipped more and more boards under to bring it higher, while keeping it on the rollers to position those 4 mounting points, untill I could get the nuts threaded on.

Maybe not the best or correct way, but that was my experience.

 

How do you like the bushings gatlin?

 

I like them a lot. I did the rears before doing the front, and the front made a huge difference. I think it was the sway bar end links that provided the very noticeable change.

However, since my car was originally a 4-lug sport model, I think the bushings that go inside the sway bar brackets (that bolt the bars to the car) are slightly larger than my sway bars, so they don't sit snug. I'm not sure if that's something to worry about or not.

 

MMR Direct has bushings and mounts made out of "Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene". They're much stiffer than polyurethane bushings but not as hard as solid aluminum ones.

http://mmr-direct.com/catalog1/RX7FC/index.htm

I've got polyurethane control arm and sway bar bushings on my GXL, which made a very noticeable difference over my worn out stock bushings.

After ridding in an FC with the UHMW bushings from MMR, I want to get the full set of their mounts to finish the job.

I think SpeedMachine resells the same ones at a large markup.

 

The Energy Suspension kit comes with the rear Lower control arm bushings too.
I got about half the kit installed in my car. Its a PITA to get the old bushings out though. I have to find time to do the rest. I also have one RB DTSS Eliminator bushing in. Semi weird handling feeling hehe. So like I said. Half my car is done.

I would not reccommend the poly boots from energy suspension. They suck ***. I don't even know why they call them boots. They don't seal up the ball joint like the stock rubber boots do.

 

I have an S4, I replaced both ball joints rather than just the boots.

 

Haha, old thread! I finally went with:

Energy Suspension "Master" Kit
MMR Rear Diff mounts
MMR Subframe Mounts
Mazdaspeed Front Diff mount
Racing Beat DTSS Bushings

Misc:
RB Endlinks
Pinion Snubber

There is ONE bushing on each side that does not get replaced. It is the upper mounting point where the LCA connects to the brake hub, mine wasn't that bad, so I didn't worry about it.

-Andrew