After reading about the possibility of cracking the frame rails with the stock mounts, I want to upgrade my sway bar mounts just to be safe on the track, even though my stock ' 93 mounts are still fine.

I am a little confused after these posts by DamonB and TurboJeff from old threads:

As of 2005, are the Mazda mounts the same as the Mazdaspeed mounts? If they are not, what is the price difference and how could I go about getting the mazdaspeed mounts if I am not a registered Mazda racer?

 

I don't know what the Mazdaspeed mounts look like. Mazda did make a change to improve the stock sway bar mounts but if your serious about tracking the car I'd go with some upgraded mounts from Widefoot. There is a group buy going on now.

 

Here's the picture of the mazdaspeed mounts DamonB included with quote I included above:


I'll take a look at those widefoots, but trying to be economical.

 

Widefoots are the best way to go.

 

https://www.rx7club.com/group-buy-center-69/widefoot-billet-cast-swaybar-mount-group-buy-411481/

 

Those don't look much stronger than the stockers imo. Go with the widefoot cast mounts for $215 if you want to save a little $$.

 

They are MUCH stronger than the stockers because there are built from steel tubing rather than thinner sheet stock punched full of holes.

The ones I built from scratch are very similar. 3/16" steel mounting plates with 1.25" steel tubing between them. Bullet proof.

 

Thanks DrPJM1 and Mahjik,

Hellspawn, we've talked via PM, but I thought I'd reply here for some of the other
readers. There are a number of companies making replacement swaybar mounts
for the third gen, as well as those that offer various types of braces to prevent
excessive movement of the OEM mounts (which can lead to mount and/or frame
damage).

What makes the Widefoot Mounts different (and SCCA legal), is that they're a fully-
integrated fix to the original Mazda design problem, which is due to the offset load
path of the factory mounting bolts. The offset loading causes a rocking motion to be
induced every time the swaybar is "activated" by any force that causes side-to-side
motion, such as going around a corner or hitting a bump. This nearly constant
flexing leads to metal fatigue of the stock mounts, and sometimes the frame rails
they attach to.

While other mounts are available that are stronger than stock, their designs do not
fix the original problem, or may incorporate additional bracing that links the mounts
from side-to-side. This may not be legal under certain sanctioning bodies.

The Widefoot Mounts have a unique, and highly effective integral brace/clamp
that functions as a third (triangulating) fixation point at the frame, by clamping
over an existing frame rail flange. This, along with the extremely stiff design
of the mounts, prevents any rocking caused by the offset loading. Also, the mounts
are purposely designed to reduce load inputs from the swaybar by being shorter than
stock mounts. By raising the swaybar up off the road, the leverage of the input
forces are reduced, as well as impact loading from racetrack curbing or road
debris (especially important with lowered cars).

While I'm very proud of the design, I think the best representatives of the mounts
are the people that use them, now many hundreds of 3rd gen owners. Yes, the
Widefoot Mounts are expensive (although cheaper than ever through the Group Buy),
but ask anyone who owns them if they're worth it. Also, the new 7075-T651 mounts
will be the strongest and lightest I've made. I stand behind the Widefoot Mounts,
and will always offer support, frame rail repair advice (always check the condition
of the rails when replacing the stock mounts), and replacement parts, in the very
rare case when they're needed.

Thanks,
David Breslau
Widefoot Racing Co.

 

I have the upgraded mounts from AWR racing... which seem to be EXACTLY the same as the mazdaspeed ones. In fact, that is the same picture on AWR's website. They are infinitely stronger than the stockers, trust me.

That said, I would definitely go with the widefoot mounts, especially now that there is a group buy going on. I would have also bought mounts from David, but I had no idea he was producing them again. They are not much more expensive than the AWR mounts, and you get a better engineered product.

 

AWR manufactures quite a bit of second gen parts for MazdaSpeed, probably does the MS piece as well.

 

Well that explains it. Thanks