The Mazda dealer guys told me I needed new front bearings (they were a little loose), but I remembered reading an article about how to adjust the front bearings on FC3S.org, so today I went about adjusting them...

Turns out the hub nuts weren't even hand tight... jeez... No wonder I had too much free play.

So I cleaned out all the old grease, repacked them with synthetic grease (the good stuff :p), and tightened them properly (all the mechanics I talked to said you just need to tighten them down, then back it off to a reasonable preload)... now I have zero play and my steering feel is tight again.

So I spent 20 bucks (in tools and grease) and about two hours (because the stupid caps wouldn't come off, and then the cotter pins gave me hell), but saved 100 bucks in bearings and probably about 4 extra hours of labor.

Now if only I had the cash to refresh the REST of my suspension (starting with bushings, tie rod boots, ball joint boots, shocks, and springs... plus tower bars).

But alas, I need to fix my idle and engine electrical issues first (not to mention a bent wheel).

 

...so what's new in the world of FC's?

 

Well considering there's only one article about it on all the FC-related sites I thought it was worth mentioning if any other car n00bs had the same problem... I didn't even know wheel bearings were adjustable (well, besides bicycle bearings) until just a few days ago.

 

My post was just meant as satire

It's great they are adjustable! I just added it to my to-do list on sunday (work-on-car-day).

 

Technically you can't replace the bearings in the FC hubs since replacing the bearings means replacing the bearing cups and since there is no way to get the cups out... you would have to buy new hubs with bearings... so you probably saved a lot more then 100 bucks in bearings...

But you can replace the bearings and the cups if you know the secret which is on the mazdatrix website

 

You might think it's some special procedure for FC's, but it's actually applicable to almost any car out there on the road.


-Ted

 

I know. I just didn't know they needed to be adjusted (I thought you had to replace them).

 

The steering slack at high speeds seem to have gone away as well, although there is still room for improvement in terms of stability, firmness, etc... (part of the problem is probably the over-active power steering)