Ok, so my cars bushings are all pretty well gone. It is a 20 year old car with 234k on the body afterall.

I will be doing a 5 lug swap and replacing the springs/shocks as soon as the wether cools down some so i will have a lot of the bushings easy to get to.

My question is what bushings should I get? Where? How much?

Also, while i am in there is there anything else that is cheap but will help the car out? any greaseable things in there? ect...

In my searching this i heard a few things about bushing kits with color coding, black? red? What and where are those?

 

i have some brand new energy suspension sway bar bushings if you're interested...

 

I assume that is just the sway bar bushings? My car needs most bushings replaced, i was hoping there is a kit that has most of them.

One way or the other i want to get them all so i might want those, depends on what i find out.

 

you can get full kits. most are a PITA to install. you will have to take everything off and press them in. i think i have the sway bar end link bushings as well. let me know.

 

Yeah i figure they would be a pain to install but seeing as i will have easy acsess to most of the bushings when doing the suspension and 5 lug swap it seems like a waste to not change the bushing while i am in there.

I know that my diff bushing is gone for sure, anytime i give it ANY gas it makes a bad thump. Plus i can just feel this overall loseness in the car that i think is mainly bushings.

How many bushings are there?

I found this kit: http://www.modacar.com/products/Mazda/RX7/MODABUK

Is that ALL of the bushings?

 

those dont include any of the larger diff bushings or the large subframe bushings. you will need to drop your whole subframe and take it apart to get most of them replaced. the front a-arm bushings are a complete bitch you remove. most of the time you will have to get crazy and but out the torch / sawzall. good luck.

 

Well i am dropping the subframe to do the 5 lug swap anyways which is exactly why i want to replace the bushings while i have it out anyways.

Do you know where a kit is that has everything? Or where i can get those large bushings?

 

So no one knows how many busings there are and where to get them?

It just makes no sense to have the sub-frame dropped and not replace the bushings while i am in there. where do i get these big bushings? what are they called?

Is there a Complete kit with all of them?

 

http://www.mazdatrix.com/h86-92.htm

 

thanks for the link.

Is this the bushing that would cause a thump from the rear anytime i press on the gas: http://www.mazdatrix.com/getprice.as...m=28-8400-FB43

If so dang that is expensive! i might just have to live with it in that case.

So looking at that page then the kit i have above has all the bushings execpt the subframe bushing? or are there more missing?

 

im not sure

 

Ok, i have been looking at bushings and this is what i am looking at getting:

http://www.turbowholesale.com/produc...roductid=11885

For all the smaller ones and then this sites diff bushings:

http://www.mmr-direct.com/

Is that all of the bushings?

And while i am doing all of this suspension work i might as well get anything else done at the same time. So anything else that i will need to replace/add while i am in there?

 

if you plan on lowering your car i would get an adjustable camber bar from mazdatrix

 

I have already got springs that are suppposed to lower it 1", would that need those camber arms? That is about all i plan to lower it.

Need to go price those.....

Anything else anyone can think of?

 

If you're talking about the Racing Beat Springs (1 inch drop) I just had them installed about five hundred miles ago at Mazdatrix. They do put a noticable amount of negative camber on the rears. You can kneel down behind your car and see that the top of the wheels tilt in myabe about an inch from where they were stock. personally i think it's bad *** but if you're really picky about tread life you might want to at least consider the camber kit. Especially if you're going to have everything apart

 

well they are Tein springs but they give the same 1" drop. I guess i should go ahead and get those camber adjusters while i am in there. I REALLY hate taking things apart twice...

 

for an inch drop, you're probably fine without getting a camber adjuster. I know the Energy Suspension kit has had all of the bushings for the front (A-arm, sway bar link), but I havent done the rear on my car since i just really havent wanted to pull it all apart.

As for thunking when accelerating, it could be two (well, many, but two more likely) things.
1) There are small links that attach the inner joint of the trailing arm of the rear suspension to the subframe that may have worn-out bushings, causing the thunk. Mazdatrix sells replacement ones, but if you have an S4 subframe (they're the same from NA to TII), the links are metal and you can just replace the bushings with parts from the energy suspension kit.

And/or 2) The front differential mount is broken, and the diff is pitching up and down based on acceleration or deceleration of the rear wheels and hitting the body or subframe. A new front diff mount will cure this, and a lot of people like to install a diff snubber (basically a block of rubber bolted to the chassis that preloads the nose of the diff downwards into the subframe, holding it in place) to keep it from happening again

 

Ok, so you are saying that all i need in the bushing kit? and not the sub-fram mounts?

Or that the sub-frame mounts don't work with the S4?

Basically what would i need to fix either one of those problem? Just the kit or the sub-frame mounts they sell here as well:

http://www.mmr-direct.com/

Once i start the swap i won't be able to stop, i will have to get it done before the weekend is over or my pesky neighbor will call the code enforcer on monday...stupid neighbors.

 

I dont think the energy suspension kit has all the bushings for the subframe, but the link that you posted seems to have them listed. I've never seen the subframe bushings go bad themselves, but I dont have too much experience outside of my own car.

If you're doing the bushings, access to a hydraulic press (or even a decent bench-mounted vice) is extremely helpful. I was able to do all of the fronts with c-clamps, some scrap aluminum tubing and sockets, a dremel and a blow-torch, but it was a royal PITA.

 

Ok, that is what i figured, just wanted to make sure those were the right bushings.

And i am sure i will have some fun putting these all on. I have about the same tools as you but autozone rents some tools that might help.

If all else fails i know a place that i can take it to be pressed.

Well heres hoping that i can get them all done easy enough!

Thanks for the help

 

So how's the bushing install going?

 

Install?? I wish lol.

I just got the sub-frame bushings in a few days ago, bigger then i thought they were.

Still waiting for the bushing kit. Then just wait for the weather to cool down to livable temps. Hopfully will get to do this in the next few weeks.

Don't worry i will document it just like everything else. lol

 

Ok, so i got m sub-framed dropped and have spent all yesterday and most of today trying to get the old bushings out. They are melted to the frame and i have tried everything to get them out.

Drilled them, cut them, pryed them, hamered them, Burning them out only helped a little. After all this work i finally got 1 of them out all the way. So i tried to put the new bushing in it and find out it is too big to fit.

so i now have my car taken apart and no way to put it back together. anyone know how to finish getting rid of the bushings?

Or where i can get some bushings that fit?

 

Oops...should of read the whole thing before I posted...my bad.

 

My experience lies with Honda rear trailing arm front bushing swap to Energy Suspension replacements. Done a few. Same scenario with the molded in rubber, large diameter.

You're on the right path. The press is the key for the Honda but the subframe of the seven is unwieldy. Try to somehow press the bushing out with a c-clamp or something after drillin' the **** out of it.

I then alternate between the carpet knife and wire cup brush mounted in an electric drill. Cut cross hatch with the knife. You don't have to get to particular. A hacksaw blade can help. Then go at it with the wire brush in the drill and watch the rubber fly. Hang on though.