The S5 GXL I bought last year has had a groaning, knocking noise at all speeds and all road conditions. It was especially noticable on an auto-x course.

Many times I got under the car and tried to locate any of the suspension points that were loose and never found anything. But after doing some reading I decided it would not hurt to replace the rear "dog bone" links.

I got them from Mazdacomp today and installed them tonight. The original ones were obviously bad when compared to the new ones. The metal bushings nearly fell out with just a little force where as the new ones would not budge at all.

On my "test drive" it was obvious this fixed more than the knocking and groaning I thought was my only problem. Sounds that I thought was normal road noise was also eliminated and the rear end did not dance around as much through rough turns. This could be the best $85.00 I have spent on my FC since the rebuild.

BTW: The part number in the FC Parts manual has been superceeded twice (I suppose they upgraded the part to make them more durable). The most recent part number for "Lower Arm Control Link" (aka: dog bone) is FC01-28-210 (it used to be FB01...)

 

Good to know. Is it the same part # for TIIs?