anoble1

hi,

Have been noticing my RX8 is making banging noises when going over dips and such. I replaced the Struts last month. Could it be the springs? Anything else?

Thanks,

paimon.soror

iTrader: (15)

Does it happen at low speeds over slight bumps and dips in the road, or does it happen at high speeds?

anoble1

Low speeds. I can feel the struts bottoming out, maybe I didn't phrase that right. but like going in and out of the driveway and such. that picture is not too good cause it is looking up at an angle. you can't even see the top of the tire when looking at it from the side. Seems to be tucked under.

ScubaSteve8

Did you install the rear sway bar upside down and its hitting the subframe?

anoble1

Have not touched the sway bar. Did put some end links on it though

paimon.soror

iTrader: (15)

what kind of endlinks did you use? Did you properly tighten them? Did you make sure there is no preload on the swaybar? Slow speed knocking on the road is a common indicator of endlinks either binding or being loose.

flyinglizard

iTrader: (1)

Make sure you tighten the end links with the suspension under load, i.e. either on the ground, on ramps, or with the wheels off and both hubs jacked up (to the same height)

04Green

iTrader: (1)

wow, that is low. Did you actually put the springs back in....

Pictures with the wheel off would help. Is the spring perch on the new strut in the same place? Was there some kind of spacer in the old setup that did not move over?

Do you have a few bags of sand in the trunk?

I ended up with spring rubbers in mine, I got the Longacre blue ones. They were a close fit. They come out for the track but really help around town.

Man, that is really low...

HwAoRrDk

Check the tops of your springs. They have a habit of rusting out around the top coil and snapping. You can't really see it unless you look really close, though.

It's been noticed on a lot of cars here in the UK and it gets picked up on because one of the areas checked in our annual inspection is the suspension, and a broken coil is an instant fail.

gpiasecki

I have owned a 2006 Shinka since new. Car has always bottomed out, getting worse now at 125k miles. Would like to keep the car for at least 3 more years but concerned about long term damage due to suspension. Dealer is NO help.
With 3 people in the car it is bad. What can I do regarding struts/spings/shocks? PLEASE HELP

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Replace them. Get new KYB gas adjusts and you can get some low mileage stock springs for next to nothing.

yokohamaboi

iTrader: (1)

If you want cheap here you go

Stagg 4 Shocks Struts Mazda RX8 2004 2011 Full Set of 4 | eBay

Ran these on two cars already and they held up pretty good. Bang for the buck!

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

04-11? Not.

yokohamaboi

iTrader: (1)

what do you mean?

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

I mean the rear shocks for an 03-08 are not the same as for an 09-11.

yokohamaboi

iTrader: (1)

Wow didn't know that. In length?

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

The rear perch is at a different height.

gquinlan

Had the same problem. had shocks installed in Sep '12 and in November '13. Still bottoming out. Took the RX8 ('04) to a different mechanic who said the shocks (or the rubber) had been installed in the wrong hole ... will check with him for complete details. anyway, problem solved although he did say one rear shock was softer than the other

anoble1

Update - I bought a Spring Spacer for the rear from NAPA. Fixed my issue (temporary). My car is no longer bottoming out. I am going to save up and buy some springs when I get the money.

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

04Green

iTrader: (1)

I use a Longacre blue sping rubber on the street. They are almost the right size. You can also get the little rubber spacers for autozone like stated above. I pull the rubbers out for the track. They do not completely fill the coil gap, so I am a bit worried they will come out on the track. They are also a tad large, but, they work. If you are in central florida, I live in Oviedo.

kbwags

I just purchased a 2009 RX8 two weeks ago. They told me they did a "88 point inspection" and fixed a few things and I was good to go. Well last week I started getting this click/grind noise when I turn left into my driveway or go over speed bumps. I called Friday but they did not return my call so I'll try again tomorrow. So I'm googling what this could be and it linked me to your conversation. Does this sound like a strut issue?
Since I'm asking, is it normal to just replace one side or both? I ask because they told me they did replace the back left strut but not the right, is that right?
Is this an expensive issue? I'm hoping they will fix it since I have gone less than 300 miles since I purchased the car.
Do struts just go out or is that something they should have noticed when they got the car in. It is a mazda dealership so I assume they know what they are doing but who knows if the "new guy" worked in the car or what.

anoble1

Mine were $88 for some Monroe. Didn't take long to install for the most part. Should have upgraded the springs. The factory springs stink as you read more on here. Check to make sure nothing is close to the ground under the car. Maybe it has aftermarket stuff like mid-pipe or exhaust? Or, could be the plastic piece under the front bumper that comes loose if it does not have all the screws in it?

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

The grinding could be a few things, as for the suspension, it is never recommended to replace just one corner on suspension with higher mileage. The 09-11 RX-8 has a slightly different shock/spring setup so be aware of that if ordering parts.

kbwags

Thanks for the feedback. That is what I thought about the replacing one side only (9krpmrx8)


I lucked out with this car, it is a 2009 immaculate condition, garage kept, less than 19,000 miles, in dash navigation, leather, oil changes every 1-2k at a dealership, etc.


Now I worry the dealership took a little advantage of me being female. I did ask about the replacing of only one strut and they made it sound like no big deal. They want me to bring it in tomorrow but won't confirm if they will charge me anything. I've gone approx. 400ish miles since I purchased the car and that includes 3 trips to the dealership already which is 45 miles away, that's almost 300 miles right there.


In addition, you're not going to believe this. So when I was purchasing the car they say they had an instrument cluster on order because the "open door" light would brink erratically. They call me in a week later to get it replaced. I go to pick it up and the odometer is completely reset to "0"! I asked a ton of questions because this did not seem right, if it was everyone would be doing it. They reassured me that it was fine, so I call the 800 MazdaUSA number, they are stumped and referred me back to the dealership. I talked to a service manager this time and it is the first he heard of this happening so in addition to my possible strut going out they are going to look into why my odometer reset when the cluster was replaced.


Has anyone ever heard of resetting the odometer in the 2009 model? If not apparently this dealership knows how to do it. I most likely would not have bought the car if I had not seen the original odometer reading of 18,242. I feel like it has lost some validity of the proof of mileage, even though it has the mileage on the title.


I think I may need to learn how to work on this car, seems like everyone who owns one does the work themselves. I wonder if this is because the dealership mechanics don't know as much about the RX8s and they claim to.