Energy Suspension rear trailing arm bushings - work great and cheap!
 

Hey guys -

Stumbled across this about a month ago -

http://www.energysuspensionparts.com...p?prod=11.7103

Energy Suspension makes replacement urethane bushings for the rear trailling arms. This is one of the spots in the stock suspension that really needs to be addressed, the bushing is large and soft and introduces a lot of slop.

I ordered the bushings hoping it was the right part and indeed it was. I got a used set of trailing arms from fd3s2005 (thanks man!) to experiment with.

You WILL need a press to remove the old bushings and install the new ones, period. I don't see any way you could do it with an alternative tool. I tried to use my ball joint press tool from Harbor Freight that works great for the pillowball bushings, but that's a big no-go. Also, with that tool there would be no way you could install the new bushing. The new bushing is all one piece, so you have to shove the fat end of the bushing through - a press is the only way to do it. Fortunately it takes about 15 minutes all told to do it on a press so a machine shop or whatever shouldn't charge you that much.

The bushings come with a small container of their lube gunk, which is the stickiest crap on earth :). After pressing the old bushings out, I removed the steel roll pin from the new bushing, coated it with the gunk, pressed it in, then coated the roll pin in grease and pressed that in.

Best part? You get both bushings (to do both sides) for $12. That's a damn STEAL.

I have barely driven the car since swapping the arms out so I don't really have any comments about it being better. Also, I just recently installed coilovers so I'm still getting used to those, so I doubt I'd notice a difference. But, there is no noises or vibration or anything weird so far.

The trailing arms can also be replaced with aftermarket units, but that costs quite a bit more and you have spherical bearings that can fail in time. For many guys, this is a good way to go, a cheap way to upgrade the OEM part to overcome a weakness.

Also, replacing that bushing is supposed to help with launches, reducing wheel hop.

Regardless, I was pretty stoked to find this. I'm really glad Energy Suspension is making this part, of all the bushings on the car these (and the diff bushings) are the only ones I really wanted to replace.

Dale

Nice, Im planning out the course for fixing up my suspension/replacing bushing and what not. I think I'll start with these to give me something to do while I gather some more funds for the v-mount and bushing. Maybe I'll do a step-by-step with some pictures as well. Also, Do you know if Energy makes any other products for our cars?
-Steve

That's the only product I found. But, that's a significant one!

BTW, my diff bushings are from Pettit Racing. Not sure who else makes them, but I got them on Ebay for a good price a while back. Did the same deal, got a spare diff arm, put the new bushings in that, then swapped out the arms. The diff bushings need a press to come out, but the new ones can be installed with a rubber mallet or the like.

Dale

Whiteline, superpro, and Powerflex all make diff bushings
http://www.powerflexusa.com/
https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/whiteline-differential-bushings-noltec-839493/

Good to know! Going with hi-po diff bushings definitely takes a lot of slop out of the diff, but you do get more vibration in the car, it was noticeable to me.

Got the car aligned yesterday, feels REALLY good so far. Still getting used to the coilovers, though!

Dale

Dale,
What coilovers did you go with?

Tein SS's with stock "rubbers" at the top, no pillowball bushings.

Dale

Dale,

For me installing stiffer engine mounts produced the greatest reduction in wheel hop - not to mention the greatest reduction in broken PPFs. Right now I'm using the Banzai mounts with 3/4" removed from the red rubber middle part.

I used to run the RP poly diff mounts, and I definitely noticed a more "secure" rear end, but the noise and gears resonating into the cabin was just unbearable. I did that for a year then switched back to new OEM mounts with the Banzai brace. ...FWIW

Finally,

I was interested in what types of clunking/knocking/sounds have you noticed from the Energy Suspension trailing arm bushings??

None whatsoever, I have some more mileage on them now. Really can't tell a difference as far as ride or sound or anything.

Wish I was more used to the coilovers to see the difference they made, the car handles like insane now and I'm still not anywhere near the limit at what it can do.

But, still pleased with the Energy Suspension bushings, definitely a worthwhile bang for the buck.

Dale

I have the solid white nylon bushings in my tailing arms and haven't notice any harshness. Technically you shouldn't feel anything since this is a non load bearing part of the arm. The only time ths bushing does anything is during braking or accelerating.


Dale when you say getting use to the coil overs, what do you mean? How do you have them adjusted? What spring rates? A friend of mine had those and I couldn't stand the ride at all.

Any pics of the bushings installed?

maby a stupid question - but where does it say this is for the 3rd gen rx7, other then the guys review at the bottom of the page?
EDIT: found it.... "this fits"

I have whatever the stock plain spring rate is on the Tein's. I have them adjusted to the specs in Tein's manual dead on, the exact spring perch height settings and damper settings. They are bouncier than my old setup (Eibach springs, R2 shocks) but seeing as I don't DD the car I'm OK with it.

But, I made a lot of changes at the same time - much stickier tires, and then the coilovers. That made a DRAMATIC difference in handling, and I still haven't found where the limit of the new setup is. So, I haven't found where the bushings make a difference since I changed so much at the same time, that's what I'm trying to say.

It's like asking if a different cat-back made more power when at the same time you went single turbo.

Dale

FYI, Mazdspeed differential bushings (and trailing arm) bushings are still available. They are slightly more expensive than than other aftermarket bushings but are rubber so will not be harsh.

I have a complete Mazdaspeed bushings set on my car (all control arms, motor mounts, shock mounts, anti-roll bar, etc.) and they stiffen up the car nicely without introducing harshness.

nice find ... i was gonna order aftermarket arms or powerflex bushings.. but these will save me alot of $$$$

Just installed these today, so far I love em.

Thanks Dale for the great find.

BTW It is possible to do this without a press, its just a major pain in the ass.

Thanks for the head's up on these! I have aftermarket heim joint-type arms on now and they're noisy. This might be the ticket.

How did the Energy Suspension bushings work for you, Dale? I was planning to buy Mazda competition ones but they are on backorder, so I'm considering other options.

They've been in there all this time, zero issues. I don't notice any harshness or noise.

Dale

Thanks, I ordered a pair yesterday.

+1 on the Mazdaspeed trailing arm bushing. The stock Mazda bushings have very little stiction and binding. Since the trailing arm bushing does not move in a single plane like the upper control arm, going to a poly bushing will cause some binding that increases stiction, hurts ride quality and handling, and will cause the bushing to wear out quicker.
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After reading quite a few forum posts where people mentioned going back to stock bushings after trying the aftermarket arms or polyurethane bushings, I tried to order mostly OEM bushings including Mazdaspeed trailing arm bushings. Most of the other parts were available, but the trailing arm bushings were backordered and the rep I spoke with said something like 8+ weeks until they might be back in stock. If you happen to have a spare set I would be interested.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...54e029d5d9.png