I took apart the entire rear suspension components this morning. I had very bad clunks and initially we thought it was a bad wheel bearing but turns out the lower arm bushing closest to the brake rotor was the culprit which allowed alot of play when you push and pull the wheel at the same time.

I've already purchased superpro bushes for all the other components besides the lower arm which requires OEM bushes. I inspected it and could move the center around in a 360 motion so I assume this is normal?

I tried pushing that center piece back and forth and there was some play in it and it also made noises. I'm not 100% sure which pillow bush is good so that I can compare it to.

My dilema is @ $114 per pillow bush which Mazda here charges is way too much for me to afford to replace all of them so I want to replace the right ones. Therefore do I simply perform this "back and forth" test to the remaining bushes and replace those that make noise?

BTW that trailing arm was a nightmare to take off especially the bolt connected to the lower arm.

 

FYI, i could BARELY move my new pillowball bushings w/a screwdriver as leverage(thru the hole)

if you can move it with your fingers w/o much effort, you need new ones.

pillowball u describe takes the most abuse due to its position and how much it has to handle. mine were looser than a 50year old worn out *****.

replace them, you wont be sorry.

 

Call Ray at Malloy Mazda. I'm sure he has shipped all over the world. All 6 bushings and dust shields will be around $370 not including shipping to you.

 

I could move them around in circles effortlessly with only one finger from one end to the other. I've been told that they are a loose fit but I never thought they could possibly be so loose.

Up and down motions I could also move it probably a good 5mm in each direction again using just my fingers.

Ok so with so much movement in the bushing could this explain the movement and play in my wheel (one hand pushing and the other pulling). Have I missed anything or this is the only cause?

 

You probably need to replace them all. Do as advised above, and call Malloy Mazda.

 

YES! Do as Adam C says.

Malloy Mazda (Ray Crowe) 888-533-3400 (toll-free, US only?) or 703-490-8263 (US).

 

Mine were $360 including shipping from Ray, maybe six months ago.

 

You can email Ray, hmkparts@aol.com

 

I'll probably try emailing him as I don't want to get up in the middle of the night just to call the US. Thanks guys.

 

Some pictures to show you what I mean.

 

Make sure you specify the correct bushing. If I understand correctly, referring to "pillowballs" usually only takes into account 6 of them. The ones that seem to be shot on yours might be different from what is commonly referred to as "pillowballs".

 

This rotational motion is normal. What is not normal is straight-line slop either radially (transverse to the hole) or along the axis of the hole.

 

^ with what Dave says. They're just like tie rod ends or ball joints.

Being able to pivot the center of the bushing around is normal. A brand new bushing will do it with some friction. That's what pillowballs are supposed to do. They can rotate too in the same manner but that doesn't matter when they're bolted in.

The play that causes issues is when the center section can move in/out or side/side within the outer part of the bushing.

 

Oh I see now because when I move the center section up and down it makes a metal to metal click sound. This would explain perfectly why I get the clunk sound when I brake, which is this center piece moving back and forth.

Thanks alot guys I can sleep well tonight after driving around for almost 2 years thinking this noise was "normal".

 

Make sure you replace the dust seals as well.