Have any of you guys noticed or are experienceing the same thing I am? My car, with stock suspension and all just feels really damn old (then again it is). Every time i put it in gear, change gear, or just get on its *** a little i can hear the whole fucken car shakin and clinking and clanging, its starting to drive me crazy! I cant launch it any more cause it jumps around like a kid on a sugar high, even just getting it going in first gear or backing it up makes it feel like its fallin appart underneath me. Do i need to "overhaul" my suspension and get new bushing, toe links, a tranny brace, torque brace, ect... or do i just need to buy a new car!?

 

You are not alone. My car has been driving me nuts with similar clunks, shakes, and rattles, too.

Here's what the crazy RX-7 nut would do:
Spend lots of time and money to fix the problem. In general, I would avoid all the braces and stiffer parts and just focus on replacing worn parts with stock replacements. Stock is relatively quiet and comfortable, but the car gets loud and clunky quickly when you start stiffening things up.

In contrast, a sane person would:
... have sold the car long ago, but if someone suddenly came to their senses and found themselves in this situation, they would sell the car and get a new one.

-Max

 

Max, i must agree. Unfortunately i am not that sane person. So, would that 18 peice bushing kit from the rx7store.net help any along with some shocks and springs?

 

No, that would make it worse. Go through the suspension, inspect it, and replace worn stuff with stock parts. I just did all pillow ***** in rear, plus upper arms in front because the upper ball joints were bad. Your toe links are probably worn, too. Malloy Mazda (search for "Ray Crowe", "Malloy", etc.) is a good place to buy Mazda parts from, at a discount.

If you want to upgrade the shocks and springs during this work, I recommend stock-style lowering springs (Eibach, H&R) and shocks (Koni, Bilstein, Tokiko) as opposed to the stiffer, more rigid-bushed coil-overs. Get some new stock upper shock mounts, too. Here you can upgrade a bit without making the car a kidney-buster.

I understand the desire to "upgrade" the bushings, etc., in the process, but the reality is that the upgrades don't replace the stock parts that wear out (pillow *****, ball joints), and replace some parts that probably aren't worn out (rubber bushings) with stiffer, faster-wearing replacements. It won't be cheap, but I am certain that you will get the best bang-for-the-buck by replacing the worn stock parts with stock replacements rather than upgrading stock parts that aren't worn out. I know it kind of sucks to spend a lot of money and up with a car that is no better than stock, but you've got to do it if you want to make the car good again. If it's been a while, drive a new car to see how different it feels than an old, clunky beast. A drive of my friend's Z-06 (not itself a quiet car by any stretch, but it was MUCH more comfortable than my RX-7 had become) convinced me that I had to do something.

I have posted some of my experiences related to this topic here:
https://www.rx7club.com/suspension-wheels-tires-brakes-20/musings-bushings-399866/

-Max

 

There's one other issue worth looking at. What do you all think about tire/wheel selection when it comes to magnifying this problem? Occassionally I drive old Route 66 south of Chicago. The road is full of nasty joint heaves and potholes. My 2Gen, which is quite aged, is an absolute kidney buster - everything on that car except the tires, engine and exhaust is what it had when it left the factory. My 3gen has had some stock bushings and motor mounts replaced. It's not nearly as bad, even with stock wheels and 245/45/16 SO3s - I'd say maybe 50 percent less vibration, noise, what have you. Last week I replaced the worn SO3s on the 3G with stock 225/50/16s Fuzion ZRis. The improvement in drivability was like night and day. There was almost a 100 percent reduction in "kidney pounding" effect - LOL. Is it possible tomaszjc7's Enki 235/275 wheel/tire combination is what is making his car feel like it is falling apart?

 

The tire selection, i.e., width and section profile has a HUGE effect on ride quality. The FD was designed (suspension tuned) for relatively-soft sidewalled 225/50-16 tires. Going, for instance, to a 275/35 stiff-sidewalled tire would likely make it ride (even more) like an old pick-up truck.

In more-or-less decreasing order, ride quality depends on 1) tire/wheel selection, 2) suspension-bushing selection/tuning, 3) damper selection, 4) spring rate, and other things.

 

I had a really noticible improvement in ride quality when I shed the Michelin Pilots and went with Pirelli P Zero Neros. Stock wheel size, softer sidewall and 23 lbs. - exactly the weight limit Mazda put on the OEM ties.

I already replaced all my pillow ***** and the shock tower rubber. My next move is to get rid of my launch kit and solid toe links and go back to stock with new rubber bushings to put the factory-designed compliance back in.

 

Thank you guys for all your helpful input, but i am not really concerned with ride "quality" all that much, what i am focusing on is just to reduce all the clinking and clanking of the car and make it feel like its "new" again. I know its a fucken kidney buster and that really doesnt bother me, i just want the tranny, rear end, and suspension to stay nice and tight or... i dunno, alligned i guess. Its kinda hard to describe cause i dont know all of the technical terms and so forth. But i think what maccooper is getting at is the root of my problem.