I finally got my rear urethane bushings in!

Along with a Mazdaspeed front diff mount, which didn't make much of a difference in anything (turns out my old one wasn't broken, but nevertheless...).

It took me four days, and cost me about 80 dollars in tools...

I never want to do it again.

Also, I couldn't get an exhaust gasket in time, so I had to drive four hours with my windows open just in case the minor exhaust leak got into the cabin... ah well

I really wish I had read the FSM and just put the trailing arms in a vice and knocked the bushings (which were mounted two per arm in metal sleeves) out like it says... instead of using gear presses (two of them... I broke the first one and had to get another one), since that's not how it's supposed to work. Repeat: the rear bushings are *not* like the front bushings.

And I also managed to put a nice notch in my arm's with the electric hack saw I used to cut the metal sleeves out... doh. I hope it's not deep enough to cause a structural failure (I filled them with JB weld putty to keep the notch from damaging the bushing). They didn't want to come out until way after I had already cut through them, and put a notch in the arm itself...

And, don't forgot that the front diff mount has to go on *after* you've got the subframe at least bolted up loosely...


As far as a difference, the steering seems heavier and the rear seems more planted, although that's probably just because I haven't got an alignment yet. Either way, it takes the old bushings (which aren't as soft as you'd imagine, since a good bit of them is metal anyway) out of the equation when it comes to getting the car sorted out.

 

Sounds good, I would have thrown in a pinion snubber while the diff mount was getting replaced as well.

 

I don't exactly do many drag launches anyway, so I didn't see any reason to.

My clutch will probably break before my mount...

 

If you have wheel hop, the pinion snubber will help. It will also prevent the front diff mount from being destroyed.

 

pinoin snubber? First ive heard of this. what is that?

 

a rubber cone that pushes on the diff.

 

It just keeps the dif from flopping up on heavy throttle or lift. I know with my broken diff mount, there is a smooth spot above the dif where it actually rubs the body when I let off the gas! A pinion snubber is definately in my plans as well.

 

I haven't actually heard of the Mazdacomp diff mount breaking... it's 40 percent stiffer rubber than the stock one.

 

With enough hp it will, The diff mount is poorly designed and that rubber mount is the only thing keeping it from moving vertically. A pinion snubber will make sure it never breaks and will give you smoother take offs and acel/decel.