I'm doing a bushing overhaul on the rear of my FD and I need some advice.

This is a weekend/sunny day car, but sees cruiser/daily driving like conditions. Definitely *NOT* a track car. I drag race it a handful of times a year, so eliminating wheel hop is a perk, but not more important than ride quality.

First I'm buying all new pillow ball bushings. Mazda parts, that's easy.

I need suggestions on the following bushings:

Trailing arm to body
Inner and Outer Toe-control arm bushings
Differential mount bushings

Price is a concern, but I'm flexible to some degree. I'd like to definitely upgrade these bushings to a poly or other harder substance, but not anything that's going to create nasty vibrations or noise in the cabin. My car has full interior and Eibach springs... it rides okay and is reasonably quite as is.

I've heard that the plastic ones are the harshest, followed by delrin, followed by Poly. There seems to be so many poly variants. Is there one that's softer/quieter than the rest that I can buy separates for the above?

Thanks a million!

 

i use the RP kit with the nylon diff bushings with the teflon solid bushings on the toe link and the trailing arms.. Even though they are solid they are extremely comfortable and i dont even notice they are there when i wanna go for the smooth ride... comfort is my top priority so i would say go with that

 

+1 to that, the pillowbll trailing arm and toe links do not add any extra NVH that you can really notice. On the Diff you may pick up alittle there. The only options on the bushings that would be closest to OEM is the Mazdaspeed if they are still available anywhere, but the outer toe link bushing is a pillowball from factory. On the diff bushings try to find some kind of polyurethane as it is softer than nylon.

 

Thanks for the opinions guys. A fellow FD owner had the RP toe/trailing pillowball arms and they "clacked." No vibration in the cabin, but noise nonetheless.

I think I'll go with either the Superpro or Powerflex, whichever is cheaper. I really wish I could find the Mazdaspeed diff mounts though. It's too bad Corksport no longer offers them. I wasn't aware of any other supplier

 

if mine was "clacking" i would had gotten rid of them within seconds and use the whole assembly as a baseball bat lol. He either installed it "wrong" or it could be a faulty unit? not sure which of the two.

 

Perhaps age... they are pillow *****, and do see quite a bit of lateral forces (the toe links). His car was also a road race car.

But as a side note, the bushings are awfully cheap... powerflex toe links cost about $115 for all 4. I know you can find cheap chinese knockoff pillow ball toelinks on ebay for ~$120 a pair but from what I've researched they have cheap hiem joints and no dust covers.

 

i dd super pro bushing... they are relatively stiff and i get substantial clunking so id advise you to shy away from them (as per your specifications)

 

Did you replace the 6 rear hiem link bushings with OEM mazda units? Also, did you put zerk's fittings in there and lube occasionally? (ie: when clunking starts)

I've never known an aftermarket bushing, poly, delrin, or otherwise to not clunk eventually when it needs lubed again. It may take several years for the clunk to start... but every car Ive ever saw with them and every long term report... they eventually do clunk unless you relube. thats why Zerk's are so popular