New pillow balls in rear trailing arms LOOSE ??? Help!
 

I just had all of my suspension bushings and pillow balls replaced, and the racing shop which pressed them says that the pillow balls in the rear trailing arms are able to move and not super-tight in their sockets... they are brand new, from mazda, OEM pillow balls for that location, and I double-checked the part number. Has anybody had this issue and can somebody suggest what I should do about it? I'm clueless.

Please help, I need to get my suspension up by Friday.

Yeah I found the same thing after I bought mine, so I didn't bother replacing the ones there. I think the pillow balls are metal on metal anyway.

Which is all well and good if you still have the originals... which I don't since the guy who pressed them out so that I could powdercoat them threw them away irrecoverably (I think he screwed them up getting them out)...

Regardless, try and find the snap rings for these pillow balls. They don't come in the pillow ball kit (26-230), and they are NOT listed in the parts diagram. So I was screwed, basically. Well I called Ray Crowe at Malloy Mazda in Woodbridge Va, who is well known on these boards for RX-7 parts... the guy is a fucking genius I swear... he found these unfindable parts, and located the LAST TWO in inventory in the entire US (maybe north america I'm not sure)... They should be here Friday... I was sweating bullets... I don't want to buy two new control arms at Mazda's ridiculously stupid prices... Anyway, thanks to Ray I might have a good shot at getting my car back on the road. BTW his prices kick ASS too... lower than my dealer pays!!! If you need stock parts I can't recommend anybody higher.

BTW a friend of mine says yeah the pillow balls are loose when they go in but they expand as you drive and get nice and tight, so not to worry. But keep those snap rings!!!

While Ray's at it, where the heck do you get the O rings that seal the brake fluid passages between the front 4 piston caliper halves?

You know, Mazda doesn't sell these since they don't want you dis-assembling the front calipers. I just called 15 stores in Atlanta but they only sell regular O rings, not ones that can tolerate brake fluid. Guess I'll be buying 4 $3.95 multi-packs of the generic sized ones that can tolerate brake fluid (their redish-orange, not black).

I live locally to Malloy Mazda, so I buy all my parts from Ray Crowe...Ray is a great guy!

How did your car act with the worn pillow balls?

Hot_Dog
90 GXL
02 Acura RSX-S

Well I have not installed a good suspension yet (its going in this weekend if all goes well) to compare against, but the car handled pretty much like a normal car with everything worn... I definitely didn't feel "special" in it. ;)

Vaughn, give Ray a call.. Malloy Mazda (703) 490-8170 and ask for Ray Crowe. He's the man to talk to... works wonders and deserves everybody's business. I know they exist too... ;) Those calipers get rebuilt somehow. My friend takes them apart regularly and re-uses the same o-rings without problems, that might be an option but, like you, I prefer to go the extra mile and do it by the book usually.