dfwrx7

Ok, maybe not the first time but a long time between posts at least.

My new-to-me FD (second in my history) had toe control and trailing arms put on in the 90's or early 2000's. I've noticed that on both sides the outboard heim joint on both toe control arms have some play in them. More on the right side than the left. I can deal with noise, vibration and harshness. What I won't deal with is toe change in the middle of a corner at 100mph. Is it relatively common for those joints to exhibit wear over the years? In other words, should I consider these a regular maintenance item. The inboard joint don't have any slop what so ever. The outboard maybe 0.005" to 0.010" but enough to hear and feel when you move suspension around. Should I expect a new set of toe control links to resolve the problem or is that just pissing money away?

Thanks in Advance!

j a r o d

iTrader: (2)

If you're regularly taking corners at 100 mph, perhaps you shouldn't be compromising any suspension components. Replacing the subject parts should not even be a question if they exhibit wear as you describe.

my opinion, stay safe out there

dfwrx7

I suppose I shouldn't have been so obtuse. I'll be replacing them for sure. Any slop makes me uncomfortable. Confidence in the equipment is paramount at any kind of speed. I guess my question should be more along the lines of 'are these considered high wear items?' Given the parts are close to 20 years old now, I'm also left wondering if superior parts have evolved in the interim.

arghx

iTrader: (3)

So the bushing have failed?

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

Hi Tim -

I seem to remember your name from WAY back, were you on the big list back in the day?

Anyhow, I'm assuming the suspension on your car (with regards to those bushings) are stock. There are "pillow ball" bushings on the rear suspension arms, 3 per side, and they do fail.

Big culprit for failure I've seen is the rubber dust seal gets tired and gapes open around where the bolt goes through. That allows dirt and dust in, it gets into the joint, and erodes the plastic bushing inside the joint. Once that wears out you get clunking and slop in the bushing.

When replacing these you always need to put new dust seals on as well. I replaced those bushings on an FD once and just re-used the rubber dust shields and within a year they were shot and clunking again. Learned a lesson there!

J-Auto sells their own pillow ball bushings, they are a little cheaper than OEM and drop right in. I don't know if they are any better or worse than OEM, they seem to be about the same.

Dale

Mrmatt3465

iTrader: (10)

dfwrx7

Hi Dale! Yep, I was around 20-ish years ago. 2 FBs, 1 FC, and 1 FD's and a divorce later and I'm back in the mix again with a new wife and a new (to me) FD. I bought the common pillow ***** from MazdaComp last year but didn't have time to do any competitive driving until this year so they've been sitting in my garage. Yesterday I finally made time to work on the car and here's what I can report.

My suspension isn't stock. The trailing arms and toe control are RP Garland's Launch Kit, put on by the PO. The inboard spherical bearings are nice and tight but the outboard on both toe links have some slop. More so on the passenger than the driver side but both exhibit some slop. Enough to make quite a racket and ever so slightly change under on and off throttle loads. The trailing arms are tight. I took the passenger side apart yesterday and looked at the pillow ***** in the LCA and UCA and they look and feel fine. No discernible noise or tangible slop in any of those spherical bearings. The only place I have any noise is on the outboard bearing on the toe control arms. Highlighted by the green box in the drawing attached.

Outboard toe control bushing

dfwrx7

Another question should be which toe control links should be avoided? I'm pretty sure they're not all created equal given the wide variance in price.

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

I'm a fan of the OEM toe control links, a lot of the aftermarket ones have exposed spherical bearings and can go out with dust and debris. The stock toe links typically do pretty good, may just be worth finding some good used ones or super low mileage JDM ones. Mine have never been a problem and I have ~130,000 miles on my car.

Good to see another big lister on here! I still have my old big list T-shirt in a drawer somewhere . I had a 10th Anniversary back then, loved that car.

Dale

Smokey The Talon

iTrader: (33)

dfwrx7

I may see what MazdaComp wants to sell them for. I bet I can find some modern spherical bearings that last longer than the 20 year old tech on the car now. Even then if all I need to do is replace the bearings, that's a one hour job tops. Still good info to have. Since mine is a street driven track day car I'll probably lean more toward feedback than streetability.

I remember that 10th AE. There's a very nice example of a 10AE running around the DFW area. I'll grab a couple pics for you the next time I see it.

dfwrx7

Thanks Smokey. That at least gives me a general time frame for what I can expect. I'll probably take the toe links off the next time I have the car in the air and make some measurements to source replacement bearings. One thing I noticed though. After disassembling and reassembling the suspension most of the noise I was hearing is now gone. I'll still R&R the suspension though, track days coming up soon.