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Thanks JimLab...got it.
I was wondering if you knew of a place to get a rear lower arm bushing?? I removed mine, and then realized it was part of my Delrin kit.
I have new bushings from Mazdacomp. They have white dot on a rubber. Does it indicate mounting position?
Unless they came with specific instructions, no, not according to the shop manual (~75MB download).
The bottom of page R-38 shows removal and replacement of the "bushing". Although they don't specify it as the trailing link, you can tell by the shape of the arm in the pictures.
Are those arms symmetrical?
Yes. The trailing links are listed as PN FD15-28-50X or PN FD16-28-50X, and the only difference is whether you have an R-model ("hard" suspension) or not ("normal" suspension). You can install them on either side of the car.
The trailing links are listed as PN FD15-28-50X or PN FD16-28-50X, and the only difference is whether you have an R-model ("hard" suspension) or not ("normal" suspension). You can install them on either side of the car.
Jim, what's the difference between the "hard" and "normal" trailing arms? From talking to Ray Crowe, I know Mazda does not offer the trailing arm bushings separately - you have to buy the whole arm to get a new OEM bushing. Is the bushing the only difference between the two parts?
Also, I installed mine with the "lip" towards the center of the car. Is that the correct orientation? The FSM doesn't specify which direction it should face, but the drawing sorta looks like the lip goes towards the outside of the car, not the center. I wonder what difference it makes, if any, because the bushing appears to be symmetrical otherwise.
Jim, what's the difference between the "hard" and "normal" trailing arms? From talking to Ray Crowe, I know Mazda does not offer the trailing arm bushings separately - you have to buy the whole arm to get a new OEM bushing. Is the bushing the only difference between the two parts?
Yes, "hard" = R1/R2.
Also, I installed mine with the "lip" towards the center of the car. Is that the correct orientation? The FSM doesn't specify which direction it should face, but the drawing sorta looks like the lip goes towards the outside of the car, not the center. I wonder what difference it makes, if any...
None. If it were directional, they'd tell you. They do everywhere else in the manual.
Jim, what's the difference between the "hard" and "normal" trailing arms? From talking to Ray Crowe, I know Mazda does not offer the trailing arm bushings separately - you have to buy the whole arm to get a new OEM bushing. Is the bushing the only difference between the two parts?
Yes, Mazda don't sell those bushings separately. I bought Mazda Speed bushings $110 for the pair from CorkSport a month ago. Ray said he can't get MazdaSpeed parts.
When I took my trailing arms out - lip were facing outside of the car. I will put it back that way also it doesn't seem to make any difference.
Mazda Motorsports members can buy slightly firmer than stock trailing arm bushings. The part number is available, I know I've listed it here on this site several times.
Alternative way to press out upper control arm bushings
Originally Posted by jimlab
Here's a close-up from the other side. As you can see, I'm using the 1/2" drive Pittsburgh 32mm socket for these bushings.
By holding the control arm with one hand (which isn't going anywhere until pressure is released) and working the bottle jack with the other, you eliminate the damage that could be caused to the suspension component when the bushing pops free.
These bushings are a very tight fit and will suddenly come loose with a loud pop after seemingly going nowhere. Take it slow and easy and apply steady pressure to them until they pop. The bar being pushed on stays right on top of the socket and nothing came flying off the press in all four I did last week, but use proper safety precautions and wear a bulletproof vest anyway if you try this at home.
I couldn’t get my bushings out with a 12 ton press using this method, so I thought I’d show you what worked for me… I used a hole saw to cut the rubber portion out of one of the bushings, and then pressed each one out linearly.
This thread has been incredibly helpful, so I just wanted to do my part to add to it. Thanks!
This has been a very helpful thread for me so I appreciate it. I just wanted to comment on using the leveraged bar stock. Why not just press in reverse so that the top accepts the spent bushing instead? See attached. Just wanted to add this as they came out with ease for me without having to do all that…
