I had to take off my front lower control arms at which time I found the ball joint dust boot had a tear in it. I called Mazda to get a replacement and they told me I would have to buy the entire lower control arm to get the boot. My ball joints are fine and I only have 60k on the car so I'd just assume replace the boots. Does anyone know of a resource I can get one from? A universal application that will work perhaps?

Thanks
Bryan

 

That is not true (the Mazda dealers are mostly idiots when it comes to the 3rd gen). Someone on the big list got a replacement dust boot from the dealer after a lot of research, and I got it from him. The part numers for these boots are posted on my site: Upgrades --> Suspension --> A-arms.

I tore mine when polishing the A-arms (pics on my site, but the pics did not turn out well- the arms look a lot better than this.

Cheers,

 

Another option is to go to Autozone and buy universal ones. I just replaced the ones on my daily beater because they were torn. They are made by that Help! company... you can buy ball joint boots or tie rod end boots. I had to buy the tie rod end boots for my ball joints because their ball joint boots were way too big.

Of course if you can get it from Mazda, that would be the best option.

 

Here's what I do.

Get the pdf of the parts fiche from iluvrx7.com.

Find the page with the part you want on it and print it out.

Circle the picture and the part number (usually on the right side) in red.

Hand that to the parts monkey and say "I want this".

The rest (Standing around while he pecks at the computer, Paying too much money and then waiting up to a week for the parts to show) you are probably already familar with.

 

Damn Mazda!! I gave them the part number off of the http://www.ScuderiaCiriani.com/rx7 web site and they didn't know what to do with it. Said it didn't exist. I happened to be over at Mazdatrix and asked them and they looked it up on their micro-fiche and found it to be
"FD01-34-313"
no B on the end like on the web site. After looking at the micro-fiche from the 93, 94, and 95 I found they only put the part number on there for the 93's ( with the "B" on it). The 94 and 95 version don't have a part number. The computerized version the dealer uses doesn't show a part number for mine 94 at all. Anyway after giving them the "FD01-34-313" number I now have two new boots on the way.

Thanks for the help.

 

FYI, the Front Upper Ball Joint dust boot is pn# FD01-34-213

:-) neil

 

Nice thread resurrection Neil.

Ray Crowe at Malloy Mazda is the place to go for all OEM parts. His number is in the FAQ. That is where I got mine and no part number needed thanks to encyclopedia Ray.

 

8+ years. not bad.

 

Hey I'm in the process of doing this ha ha.

How tough is it to actually change these. I looked at it quickly and couldn't figure out how the clip that holds them in place works. Does the clip come with the boot when bought from Ray?

I just ordered some yesterday.

 

The clip comes with the boot. When you see the new clip, how it works will be self-evident.

 

I need to order these - timely bump

 

Perfect, thanks for the help.

 

Yep, ordered them from Ray yesterday!

How do you know if your ball-joints are sloppy or needing replacment soon ?

Mine are original at 103K miles, but are nice and firm, and the seals were good/no tears until I ripped them with a pickle-fork!

I'm asking because I read how you purchased NEW front upper-A arms and how you liked the feel of new ball-joints just on the uppers.

:-) neil

 

I didn't want to go through with making a new thread about this while good info is already here. Has anyone tried the universal ES boot covers?

http://www.energysuspensionparts.com...Dust-Boots.asp

 

if someone knows the dimensions for that then i would like to order them. i need some and dont really wanna go rubber when poly is an option..