mx_man

Hey guys, I just installed a driveshaft loop, snubber, subframe and diff bushings.. I almost had the car together, realized i didn't have a toe bolt in properly, re dropper the kmember and butchered a stud.. chased the stud, went to put it together..

BUT, I CANNOT get the damn hubs back on my car... I put in the top bolt or bottom bolt or somehow get both... but then the dtss bolt won't line up

Can anybody help?

What am I doing wrong? I have the MMR set of bushings

... so, the bushing sits like this right ? T with the hat on top facing the control arm threads right? --| |\

Do the sleeves go a certain way? I know my car was a real bitch to get the hubs off in the first place.. I put a new bearing in one of them, they seem straight, both sides suffer from the same ill fitament... I swaer it feels like the spindles are bent ..


does the sleeve get pounded up and out to fit in that groove where the taper was on the old bushing? Mine doesn't seem to fit, maybe they're too tall? Am I a crack head?

Thanks so much, seriously for some reason this install is getting to me and I'm going bonkers, god I feel like a douche. This is my first fc (rx7, mazda) haha...

Would pictures help? Thank you in advance

jjcobm

iTrader: (18)

If you can get the top and bottom hub bolts in with the round bushing on the top facing towards the front, the DTSS bushing bolt should line up. Yes those two are tricky to get in, but just takes some patience, no need to beat anything in except a few taps to get it to go in further once they are in the "holder".

The DTSS bushing should be installed with the big "lip" (that stops it from going further in) facing UP towards the rear control arm, NOT pointing down to the floor. The sleeve inside the DTSS bushing should be FLUSH with the lip on the bushing at the top facing the control arm, not sticking out (it will stick out on the bottom though, where the bolt head meets the sleeve on the bushing).

I have no idea why it wouldn't line up unless you have stock DTSS bushings and they are all bent out of alignment or the lip sticks out too much.....

See this: https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-generation-specific-1986-1992-17/s5-convertible-tii-extras-swap-project-pictures-877625/page3/

noddy89

i had a hard time putting mine back on too. i found straightening up the sleeve inside the bush straight helped putting it back in easier. I put the top one in first then bottom one, then tried wriggled it around till the dtss was sitting flush inside the notch.

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

There are little sleeves on the top and bottom of the hub through which the bolt passes. Use a drift or vice to press them out of the hub a little, which should give you the clearance to line everything up. The sleeves will move back into place when you tighten the bolts. Leave all the bolts loose until you have them all in place, then tighten.

mx_man

i already figured out the two bush sleeves on the top and bottom bolts... i bought a press, repressed the bushings in...with a socket, they wouldn't go anymore.. i dont know whats up...

so the sleeve for the dtss bolt should stick out a bit AND FIT IN THE SLOT the original sleeve fit in??!?!

thanks a bunch this is nuts

lastphaseofthis

iTrader: (8)

yes it will stick out abit of thats what your asking.. compare it to the old seal on the other side... it sticks out a bit.

mx_man

I bought a press, pressed them out, then in, used a socket to press where the centre of the bushing was, no luck... you guys tell me...

i think its time to machine them down? :o

jjcobm

iTrader: (18)

The problem is your are tightening down the DTSS bolt before you even line up the other bolts. That is going to push your hub out of alignment with the other holes.

You have to insert the bolt through the top and bottom of the hub, add the nut and leave loose. Install DTSS bolt, thread it in a little, leave loose. Then snug all 3 bolts, and finally torque to spec.

I would start with the top bolt first, if I remember right, the bottom bushing on the hub is a spherical bearing, which allows you to move it around and wiggle it in. Use a flathead screwdriver on the spherical bushing from outside the control arm poking into the middle of the bushing to get the hub to slide into the holder and attach the bolt. The top bushing of the hub isn't spherical if I remember right which makes it best to install first with the bolt.

Don't forget the spacer/washer that goes on the top part of the hub. I believe it faces the front of the car.

mx_man

oh, this probably is messing up the install of the bushings, no rotors!

mx_man

i appreciate you being candid with me...!

i'm a very experienced mechanic I've tried every method under the sun

if i put the top and or bottom bolts in...the dtss bushing isn't ANYWHERE near the spot it's supposed to be...it's off about half an inch...

these bushings can't be to spec, something is a foot here...

i only did up the dtss bolt first to show that it's out that much...

i can take a shot with the dtss bolt out and the two hub bolts in if you want..

mx_man

BTW why do the racing beat ones look thinner?

jjcobm

iTrader: (18)

I have those same MMR ones, they went in just fine. The racing beat ones look a little different but serve the same purpose. Please take a look at my build thread, the one I linked you to earlier and see how my bushings looked.

Yes, but the dtss bolt looks tightened in the pictures you showed, this will push the hub out of alignment without the top and bottom bolts in place. It really shouldn't be this difficult....

Do take a picture with the top and bottom bolts LOOSELY installed and the problem with the DTSS lining up... Do the top bolt first so you can pivot the bottom bushing into place and install the bottom bolt.... Like i said, the bottom bushing on the hub MOVES AROUND in circles freely, it is a spherical bearing if I remember correctly.

The rotors not installed will make no difference, it will just simplify things and make the hub less heavy for you to push around... (unless you mean that piston engine in your car : P)

jjcobm

iTrader: (18)

By the way, take a picture of the whole DTSS in the hub out of the control arm too.... Just to see how it is installed...

mx_man

so yea, i can't get both bolts in, sorry... just the top or bottom and can barely start the second one.. note, when i tried putting the bolts in i pressed the sleeve back down to try and allow the bushing to slide in easier (it was poked up because i tightened the bolt earlier and that pressed the sleeve into the oem notch)

please look at the top bushing and tell me if that may have a part in this? It seems like its to the rear too much..






Thanks in advance!

mx_man

oh and as promised above (in your question)

jjcobm

iTrader: (18)

Ok....

A few things:

1. The DTSS bushing looks good. Nothing wrong with it.

2. The fact that you can't get both bolts in meants that the hub isn't going to align with the DTSS bolt hole/threads.

3. I made a mistake in the last posts. It is the CONTROL ARM top bushing which as the spherical bearing. The bottom control arm bushing should be solid.

4. Yes, the bottom sleeve on the control arm seems a bit sticking out too much, BUT this shouldn't matter since the bolt still has to and will follow a straight line trajectory into the control arm bushings and out the other side for you to fit the nut on it. To eliminate errors or for the sake of peace of mind, just press it back in so it sits flush with the INSIDE surface of the control arm. (I never had to press these sleeves out when doing my subframe work, just a bit of wiggling and the whole thing came out.)

So, now remembering that the top control arm bushing is spherical. Do double check by sticking a screw driver inside the control arm bushing and trying to rotate in circles (without the hub mounted). The other control arm bushings shouldn't do this.

Next. Since the bottom control arm bushing should be solid, start to install the hub on that one. Slide the bolt all the way through as you had it and add the nut at the end but leave loose.

Then using the same screwdriver you did earlier to move the top spherical bushing, get the top portion of the hub as close to the top bushing as you can. Use the screw driver to wiggle the spherical bushing into proper alignment with the control arm "GAP" (you will be sticking the screw driver THROUGH the hub sleeve and THROUGH the arm bushing if that makes sense). It will take some playing with the spherical bushing but the hub will eventually slide in like butter if you get the alignment right on the bushing. Once both bolts are properly in, there should be no way that the DTSS bolt shouldn't line up unless you bent the hub somehow (which doesn't look like it).

In the new pictures with the bottom bolt all the way in but the top bolt NOT all the way in, the spherical bushing on the top of the control arm looks like it is facing DOWN and not straight into the hub sleeve. That looks like the issue right there.

Maybe try lubricating things with some grease if that helps you slide it in better....


Here is a picture of my passenger side hub with DTSS eliminator so you can see how much the sleeves should stick out:

mx_man

any chance you can measure the thickness of the bushing?

or could anybody ?

that'd help!

mx_man

BTW, my top control arm bushing doesn't seem to be a bearing, i haven't spun it, but it doesn't have characteristics of a bearing that i know of..

the lower one moves all over the place like it's a universal/pillowball.. the lower mount is fully greased and moves easily..

The last two pics are BOTH of the top control arm bush... (a front and rear view)

Fyi this is a turbo II if that change anything...

Just so you know BOTH sides are like this, not just one, i can't get EITHER hub on..

Thanks again..

jjcobm

iTrader: (18)

Hmmm... I must of been wrong the second time. If the bottom bushing is rotating freely that is the spherical bearing/pillowball then.

Can you take a picture of the DTSS bushing from the top or just tell me whether the sleeve inside the DTSS bushing is sitting flush with the "hat"/lip or is it sticking out?

It should be FLUSH with the hat/lip and sticking out at the BOTTOM (see the picture of my hub above; yours looks FLUSH on the bottom, so it should be sticking out at the top in that case which may be the problem.). The only thing I can think of at this point is that the sleeve is sticking out enough to push the whole hub DOWN and the bottom and top bolts not lining up...

Otherwise, both sides are doing it. You will need to play with the hubs more. They are tricky and I don't know what other advice I can give you except all the tips that have been pointed out previously... In the one picture where the DTSS bolt is through the hub but the other two are not, it would seem to me that if you were to loosen the DTSS bolt, both the top and bottom bolts would of lined up with their respective holes since the hub would of dropped a little.

Like I have said before, the amount the sleeves on the hub stick out should not matter since the bolt is going in a straight line regardless. Once the bolt is in, torquing it down should push the sleeve into place.

mx_man

so yea, i ground the bushings down from 2 5/16ths to 2 3/16ths and they fit.. yay car is going back together only have the brakes and DUAL EXHAUST FROM THE V8 to install

haha, i'm a **** disturber

thanks for all of your help friends!

jjcobm

iTrader: (18)

So weird. Damn MMR strikes again, I don't know what is up with that company lately.

mx_man

Well, I hope most people have a ginder w/ flapper disc and a file..that's what I used, better still would have been an arbor and a 1/2" drill and just "machined" them or some kind of planer or belt sander