Hi, i got my first rx-7 about a month ago, i love it. However at speeds 55 or greater it feels unstable in the rear end like it wants to step out. This happens when your going straight. I've searched and found posts about the DTSS but that sounds ot be more of something that comes into play for aggressive turning.

I tookit to suspension shop today abotuthe problem, they said everything up front looked fine. The rear they said could not be aligned. Which I know is not true but when they sai dhtati figured they didn't know what they were dealing with. Then then todl me the shcoska nd springs coudl stnad ot be replaced but they were sure that woudl fix it. Since it has teh AAS they quoted me $1500 for that.

Other thing i should mention, it handles fine in hard turns, if i hit bumps the back end becomes unstable sometimes not all the time. The old rear tires were worn much more onthe inside than the outside.

So what shouldi do next, try and finda place that can check the rear alignment? or should i try the dtss mod.

Thanks for the help!!


opps i forgot it's an 86 gxl with 70k on it

 

hey man whats up. Ok first of all i had the exact same problems. I would definitely recommend the delrin toe eliminator bushings they made my car feel much better since the stockers were rotted out. pick up a set of swaybars also and youll feel alot less floaty. I also got a set of tokico and eibachs but you s might not need those yet

 

cool, thanks for the advice!

after thinking aboutit more i i thought i shoudl describe it a little better.. it's allrightif your going perfectly straight, but if you were to try to swerve to miss somethign tha'ts when you feel it the most...

about how much woudl the tokico and eibachs run? I think the shocsk and springs are okay... when you push down the back it doens't bounce around much at all...

 

sounds more like worn out shocks than anything else

 

Worn rear shocks will do that- but you will feel it ober bumps.
I just had a rear pass side shock blow out. It's been bad at speed for a while, jumping around a bit, but I think it just bit the dust a few days ago, now the back really jumps around. Lucky I have a few spares!
Anyways... I have the same problem. If I go over slipperly spots like road lines in the rain the back wants to jerk to the right when it hits them.
Alignment is fine, but I have a bit too much camber.
Judging by the susp. geometry, it looks like camber can be affected by toe, and vice versa.. could be causeingthe prob if one wheel has more camber than the other. Toe can be changed too I beleive- by adjusting the cam-shaped bushing.

I've been told by a few other people it's the DTSS system though, adn I beleive them... it'll be next to go.

 

whats the best way to test the shocks... my rear end has been getting harsher / sloppier over time... but if i push down on it (which is quite hard to do), it just comes right back up and barely bounces at all, maybe one tiny little bounce if that

 

Allright, I was looking tonight and it looks like the bottom bushing is no longer centered at the bottom of one of the shocks. The lip is no longer onthe oustide of the shock is is a indicator new shocks are needed?

and if i were to replace the shocks, what would be a good type to get? Non-adjustable are fine for me right now. Also if i'm jsut repalcing the shocks will i need to buy any additional bushings or anything?

 

yeah on bumpy roads i'm afriad to go fast the rear end wants to go all over the place


I'm also interested in how to test the shocks, i can push down on them without too much trouble, and they don't bounce a lot but they do a little

 

i have the 5 way tokico adjustables and they are pretty good. You can set it for soft to hard suspension. I noticed some benefit in taking corners hard. They run about 400 for all 4.

 

Mine has the problem of like 5 degrees negative rear camber. The shocks fell fine in mine, I push down on the as hard as I can and they come right back up and no bounce at all.

When I hit about 50 the back end starts to get squirly, but thats only under accleration, but that might be also cause I have no tires in the rear, just the cord. Haha, i'm not driving it like this now, I just had to get the car home and I was on a 4 lane road with no one around so if i spun around or busted a tire I didn't care.

So what would cause the 5 degrees negative rear camber

 

you should get under the car and look at the dtss bushings also, they made a huge difference in the feel of my car

 

My car has a similar feeling when going over bumps in a strait line. the rear end will seem to wiggle or step out of line. it's basically just worn out shocks, i konw mine are terrible... i jacked the car up one day to do exhaust work, and both rear shocks started leaking. mind you, this was 2 years ago. I NEED SUSPENSION BAD!!

-Markus

"Ever ride in an air ride truck? same feeling in my car"

 

Buy a set of KYB AGX's for $400 for a set of four. They're adjustable, work wonderfully, and are cheap.

www.shox.com

 

well I've decided to try new shocks first, I'll definately keep in mind that the dtss may also be the cause

I'm a college student nad dson't have tons of money to spend... i plan on getting KYB GR-2 shocks from JC whitney for $56 each ... I've searched the forum and found that theyr'e pretty good shocks for the money... how ever the JCwhitney web site says for 87-92 and not for models with the AAS...

woudl these shocks work on my 86 gxl? i dont' see why they work every year excpet 86 and also from what i understnad normal shocks can repalce the factory eletronic ones

thanks for all your help, and i'll let you know how it turns out.


edit:
http://www.jcwhitney.com/item.jhtml?...=43580&BQ=jcw2


meant to post link to what i was looking at... what do you think?

 

I had a similar problem, I never knew what the rear suspension was doing & I was afraid to corner hard with it. I just got a set of KYB AGX's, an RB spring/swaybar kit, and the Toe Eliminator bushings, and the car feels much tighter & more predicatable now, you can really toss it around.

 

the line that says "aas" means that theyre not auto adjusting. you can use them, it will just disable your aas system obviously.

 

I have KYB's on my car and it feels this way too. Since the shocks are fairly new, it would lead me to believe its the DTSS. Im going to get a set of eliminator bushings soon.

 

yeh I don't think its the shocks either on my car since the car doesn't bounce around or anything. it just wiggles the back.

 

it migth be some of the dtss and some shocks for me... on a bumpy road i'm afrid ot go more than 45 or 50 because the rear end is bouncing all over the place and i'm afriad i'll lose it, that's probably the shocks...

but on a straight smooth road it gets a little squirrely too, i think that may be the dtss...

for those of you how have done it how difficult is the dtss mod? i've read the mazdatrix how-to, i didn't know if you could remove and install the bushing without access to a press? I'm still new to working on cars and all so i'm not sure how difficult it will be.,

 

you can do it without a press as long as you have a vice but pressing them in is much easier. The bushings are the way to go, they only cost like 30 bucks

 

The AAS is effectively useless in our cars. Get some regular shocks and be done with it.

 

well i ordered new shocks (kyb gr-2) and they shoudl be here tomorrow... and as Therx7ist has said it coudl very well be the dtss, so I"ll replace those bushings if the shocks don't cause a noticeable improvement, i may replace them anyways since they're not too expensive...

 

it's the DTSS bushings being worn, i'm 100% sure, my car did the exact same thing til I put the RB rear steer eliminator bushings in.

the *** would wag over bumps, going in a straight line. It would be scary if it was wet out, almost wag enough to get sideways.

 

okay guess i should order those too, hehe, where's the best place to get them from? I found them on mazdatrix for $40, $30 was mentioned earlier anyone know where that's at?

not that i doubt you guys but i'm really crossing my fingers one of these fixes it, cause i'm going back to school early next week, and my dad really doesn't want me driving 300 miles with the car liek that... doesn't think it's safe... so i wouldn't bebale to drive it for 3 months

 

http://www.racingbeat.com/FRmazda2.htm but theyre $40 too.