SirSoren

Hello all. I'm sure you've all heard this cry for help before. Anyway, I am hearing a knocking noise in my rear suspension. It started out just making noise over bumps, now it seems to make the noise continuously whenever I am driving. Originally assumed it was shocks, but now that I have new shocks and springs I have ruled that out. I've heard people say to check the front diff mount. The noise seems to be on the right side of the car, so not sure about diff mount. Any help on this would be great!

WondrousBread

Check the short link (no idea what it's called) on the front inside of the rear control arm. Lift the car and support it safely on stands, then remove the wheel on that side. Feel for slack in that link, wiggling the arm around.

JerryLH3

iTrader: (11)

That's the camber link. Check everything while you are there. It can be hard to identify suspension noises sometimes. I thought I had a rear clunking issue, but upon inspection, the ball joints seemed to be the only thing that presented an issue. Sure enough, replaced them last week, drove the car yesterday, and no clunks.

SirSoren

Thank you both so much! I'll jack it up tomorrow and give it a look. If the camber link is the issue, you guys have any recommendations on a replacement? I know Racing Beat makes them, but is there an OE replacement available?

Hot_Dog

According to Mazda, it is called the control link - lower arm p/n FC01-28-210 (https://www.tascaparts.com/oem-parts...link-fc0128210). For some reason, those control links don't seem to have a long lifespan. I noticed that my right link has some slop in it too. I replaced both my links in July 2017 and they only have about 22k miles on them. Also, it seems that the right side wears out faster than the left side. Parts Shop MAX makes aftermarket links that look pretty robust (https://store.partsshopmax.com/shop/...le/FCTACL.html), but I'm not sure how they would holdup for regular all-around street driving in east coast climate.

JerryLH3

iTrader: (11)

There are two different camber links on FC. The ones that attach to each individual control arm and the one that attaches to the subframe. Racing Beat and others make an adjustable camber arm that tils the subframe as a whole to affect both wheels at once.

Rear Suspension Camber Adjuster for 86-92 RX-7 - Racing Beat

There are also aftermarket camber links that attach to the control arms. Some of these are adjustable and some of them are fixed. I have not purchased them, but the Ronin Speedworks non-adjustable links intrigue me. The Ronin links master set is only a tad more expensive than OEM links, which are still available new. Note that the Ronin links are available as individual pairs if you know exactly the camber adjustment you need and are not likely to change.

https://www.roninspeedworks.net/inde...&product_id=91

https://www.mazdatrix.com/product/su...6-92-oem-each/

Hot_Dog

I replaced both my front ball joints back in May 2018 with Moog ball joints. The boots were shot on the old ball joints and one had some looseness in it. I noticed that my Moog ball joints already have some slop in them with only about 12k miles on them. I bought Mazda ball joints as replacements, but haven't done the install job yet. Moog used to be a very good U.S. made brand, but now apparently they're crap. Moog now manufactures parts in 16 different countries (https://www.suspension.com/blog/wher...og-parts-made/). Probably, mine were "Made in China" crap. Chinese made parts are very cheap, but apparently you can't rely on the quality of Chinese metallurgy these days.

JerryLH3

iTrader: (11)

Well, crap. I just installed Moog too.