Urethane Bushing Kits
 

I've reached the point where I think it's time to suck it up and buy poly urethane bushing kit to install.

I did have a couple questions that my searches weren't able to answer. Is there any differences in the different kits' quality?

The kits I'm looking at are the Prothane master kit and the Energy Suspension master kit. I found the Prothane kit for 75$ + shipping online, and the cheapest I can find the energy one is around 110$ + shipping. Just wanna be sure I'm not buying junk going with Prothane.

Also I noticed a lot of people are using presses to press out the old bushings, has anyone had an luck with a quality air hammer or should I not waste my time and suck it up and get myself a press?

Thanks for any advice in advance. :icon_tup:

Get a press. A quality 3 jaw puller can be of help too.

I got the Energy Suspension one... more work than its worth unless your bushings are noticeably horrible.

I did a Energy master kit. And it sucked!! I didn't use no press. Just a small propane torch and a pipe/socket and a nice heavy hammer. Heat up the rubber and the pounded them out. Then clean all the metal up with a wire brush. I didn't have a press available and I had lots of time. So I did it the hard way...

Well I'm going to replace my s5 front lower control arms with s4 ones, one because my lower ball joints are effed in the a and 2 because I can't find my sway bar end link brackets for the s5's haha.

I have the best 3 jaw puller money can buy but no press.

Yeah I think I'm gonna do it with a torch and my air hammer. I heard from some local shops it's much easier with a quality air hammer.

I heard air hammers work great. Good luck man. I thought it was worth it. It made my ride feel like a new car. Firm, solid ride. Just make sure to use all the lube!!!!

yea lube is a must.. It will Slide right in:lol:

Lol no such thing as too much lube haha

Curious to know which bushings I should go with.

Prothane kit - 116$ shipped or Energy Suspension - 135$ shipped

What is the best way to see if they need to be replaced? My car doesn't have very much mileage but I figured anything 20+ years old even with low miles should be replaced.

Prothanes are usually the way to go. Every car guy I know has them or is going to switch to them, not only because of the price, but much better quality. Remember, expensive=/=better in some cases.

I'm sure that the difference in quality between Prothane and ES is negligible... and I refuse to say which one is "better" than the other. When someone proves that the ES ones are of lesser quality (bubbles in the bushings - or broken down bushings) is when I'll believe that.

The bigger difference is in hardness. That is a personal preference.

My car only has 100,000kms and it's a '91. Do bushings wear bad just from age?

I found the prothane kit online for 75$ before shipping. Let me find the link to the website.

Okay I found the link to the website that sells the prothane kit for 75$, after shipping its like 97$.
http://www.tmengineering.net/suspens...ake/mazda.html

Cheaper than mazdatrix and andysautosport by quite a good deal.

I live in Canada, aha. Hence why with shipping it's 116 off eBay. For the one you just posted shipping will cost 75$, coming to 150 in total, aha.

Buy at your own risk, they have an F rating according to the BBB with several complaints in past years.

TM Engineering, LLC Business Review in Carson, CA

How much do yall think it would cost to install a Full Front & Rear Urethane Kit at a shop. Or how manys hours am I looking at? I saw the kit at mazdatrix for 150$

Nice I didn't even bother to look them out, they're probably out of business already or something haha. Good thing I didn't buy from them!

They'll probably charge you at least 2 hours labor. I got charged about an hour to have my dtss bushings pressed out and have my eliminator bushings pressed in and I brought them the knuckles. I'm sure it's not that bad to do in a shop but still time consuming.

Depends on whether you bring the whole car or just the pieces.

Im definitely bringing the whole car in. Ive always been afraid to learn about how to work on the susp myself. So I'm guessing it would be more expensive if I take the whole car in as opposed to just the pieces. What other bushings can I get too which can be done the same time as the kit I was looking at? And since Im asking questions, which kit should I get the mazdatrix one or the racing beat one? The racing beat one is about 10 bucks cheaper.

http://www.racingbeat.com/RX7-1986-1...ngs/14232.html

http://www.mazdatrix.com/h6_86-92.htm
http://www.mazdatrix.com/getprice.asp?partnum=H-1118101

I was always under the impression that the mazdatrix one was the energy suspension kit. I guess I might have been mistaken. Energy suspension is one of the leading manufacturers of the bushing kits and I haven't heard anything bad about the kits themselves so I don't see a reason to not go with the one from racing beat.

I have the following set up in my fc:
superpro in the front control arms.
Control arms Rear is spherical bearings
Mazdaspeed solid subframe mounts
Mazdaspeed rear diff bushings

Steering wise it's pretty responsive. I haven't had energy suspension in an fc, but my old eg I did and it seemed to be handling as well as my set up now (of course there are other factors to take into account as well)

I removed some of my bushings with a press and some with a torch. Either way a shop is going to charge an arm and leg..and maybe even a child if you have one to remove and install.


Invest in tools to do the job and save you money in the long run because we all know that 90% of the job is having the right tools.

+1000!

And with as much of a pain in the ass it already is WITH the proper tools... no need to make it harder!

I can't wait to do this with my new snap on air hammer :egrin: