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To make a short story shorter, one of my front control arms got a nice few cracks in them, and since it's a 2005 the recall doesn't cover them.
So I managed to pick up 2 control arms out of the junkyard from a 2006, but the bushings are shot on it.
I plan on replacing it with Energy Suspension poly bushings, but I'm not sure if the set [11.3107G Front Control Arm Bushing Set] is one side, upper and lower, OR both sides, just lower Arms.
If anyone's bought the set before, could ya give me an answer on that? If I need to buy 2 sets, it'll suck, but I would rather do both sides at the same time.
As well, if anyone has better suggestions for bushings, feel free to throw them out there.
I'm also soon to be getting a full set of Bilstein B12s, and I was wondering if I needed to get new bumpstops with them, or if they completely forego the bumpstops entirely.
The LCA recall covers 2004-2008, so you should be fine?
The B12 kit should come with its own bumpstops from Bilstein.
I had the 11.3107R kit (same thing but in red?) and it covered the upper and lower control arms both sides. They're fine once installed, but don't really make a difference from stock, but removing the original bushings and sleeves from the LCA was a nightmare. You have to burn them out, and now you've heated a pretty important section of aluminium. I had to scrap the whole thing when the LCA recall was done, and never looked back.
The LCA recall covers 2004-2008, so you should be fine?
The B12 kit should come with its own bumpstops from Bilstein.
I had the 11.3107R kit (same thing but in red?) and it covered the upper and lower control arms both sides. They're fine once installed, but don't really make a difference from stock, but removing the original bushings and sleeves from the LCA was a nightmare. You have to burn them out, and now you've heated a pretty important section of aluminium. I had to scrap the whole thing when the LCA recall was done, and never looked back.
I went in to the dealer asking about the recall, and basically got told "it's not in our computer system for your VIN, sorry". Should that be something I should be more persistent and forceful about then? Or try a different dealer? Basically said it was only 2004 models, and I have a 2005.
I have a guy that's a 20+ year mechanic and fully certed that's gunna help me with all that stuff, so nightmare or not, I'm not toooo worried about it. And as for making a difference, more so going with Poly since I can't find any rubber replacements. Seems I either got a choice of new arms all together, Spherical bearings, or Poly bushings. The former seemed to be the cheapest, and with the other stuff on my list of problems to fix, cheaper was better in this instance. Kind of like a "it works for now, upgrade and go better when I have more free funds and less problems."
Which one would be the race spec? I assume the spherical bearings? If that's the case, those were something I was just made aware existed a few hours ago, but they seemed overkill and pricey, so they weren't really much of a consideration. As for why Poly, it seems my only options are pressing out the worn and cracking rubber bushings and going poly, or buying brand new control arms. Considering I got control arms sitting here, it seemed like the better option than blowing another $400+ on brand new arms.
Car use is spirited street driving, with occasional drifting. Nothing dedicated, it's not a daily, it's not a track car, so something in between.
Even that article only lists the 2004 model year specifically for the recall, unfortunately. Might be a difficult sell, but I guess calling Mazda USA can't hurt. Worst they can say is no.
poly bushings aren’t even race spec in comparison to the RX8 bushings
you see, all oem bushings aren’t created equal and the bushings Mazda used in the RX8 are better than poly bushings due to their internal design. It’s one of the things that results in the RX8 chassis excelling as it does. In reality, poly bushings are inferior to the OE RX8 bushings.
However, installing bushings in used control arms is pointless if the non-replaceable ball joint end is worn. Then it makes more sense to go buy a new arm. If you’re going to install new bushings any way, then you’re better served buying and installing OE bushings from Mazda.
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But to add as I tried to go with the poly bushings before, you have to be careful removing the used bushing sleeve. It is fairly easy to damage the aluminum around the sleeve. The arm you got doesn't look to bad, but up here in the northern states, the rust made me have to mill out the sleeve.
>> After getting one sleeve out I realized the ball joint on the other arm was bad so I replaced both with OE arms.
poly bushings aren’t even race spec in comparison to the RX8 bushings
you see, all oem bushings aren’t created equal and the bushings Mazda used in the RX8 are better than poly bushings due to their internal design. It’s one of the things that results in the RX8 chassis excelling as it does. In reality, poly bushings are inferior to the OE RX8 bushings.
However, installing bushings in used control arms is pointless if the non-replaceable ball joint end is worn. Then it makes more sense to go buy a new arm. If you’re going to install new bushings any way, then you’re better served buying and installing OE bushings from Mazda.
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Then would it just be better to toss in the arms I got as is (the ball joints seem well enough, no play in them as far as I can tell) and send it till I can get around to getting brand new lower arms on both sides? It's not my daily, I have 2 other cars I can take where I need to go, so I don't mind this option if it's all around the better choice to go with. I just figured the one bushing was bad enough to probably warrant poly replacements, but if it's fine enough to send and worry about later, I'd rather save the $90 towards a new arm instead.
Originally Posted by MincVinyl
What Team said,
But to add as I tried to go with the poly bushings before, you have to be careful removing the used bushing sleeve. It is fairly easy to damage the aluminum around the sleeve. The arm you got doesn't look to bad, but up here in the northern states, the rust made me have to mill out the sleeve.
>> After getting one sleeve out I realized the ball joint on the other arm was bad so I replaced both with OE arms.
Ya, I was reading about the fun I'd be having getting the sleeves out. Wouldn't be the first time I've dealt with it, but the last time wasn't really a walk in the park. SO I pose the same question as I'm saying to Team there.
Alright, so I just got my B12 kit in, and figured I'd ask in here instead of a whole new thread. But does the rear struts have strut bellows on them? I know the fronts do and I'll be getting new ones since I'd like to avoid taking these things apart ever again, but I can't for the life of me see any on the rear, or find anything conclusive on saying if there is or not.
I've also decided to just put in the junkyard arms as is, while I save for brand new arms. It's not my daily driver, so I would expect that I'll have brand new arms to put in before I put even 200 miles on these ones.
it almost seems as of you didn’t even bother trying to search this website for “B12” ???
there’s going on 19 years worth of RX8 information on here for wise, capable people to consider … and unfortunately several mountains more of pointless posts to dig through too trying to find what you’re looking for. 🤔
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it almost seems as of you didn’t even bother trying to search this website for “B12” ???
there’s going on 19 years worth of RX8 information on here for wise, capable people to consider … and unfortunately several mountains more of pointless posts to dig through too trying to find what you’re looking for. 🤔
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I'm not asking about the B12s specifically, and even if I was, B12 Strut Bellows brings up all of only my thread. I've tried looking for rear strut bellows as well, which brought up nothing at all. I have tried looking up info on it already, and even in exploded views of the rear strut assembly, I don't see any, but it seems odd that there wouldn't be any, which is why I'm asking for clarification. If they do have them, then I'd like to buy new ones BEFORE I put these together. If there's not, then I don't have to worry about it at all and can just get a set for the front. If there's another term for them, I don't know it, as everywhere I look they're just called "Strut Bellows" or "Dust Covers", neither of which turned up any results related to what I'm asking about.
There are no bellows/boots for the rear. The top of the shock and shaft are just tucked up into the absurdly tall top hat.
Perfect, just what I needed to know.
Went to the dealer to get new front ones and they said they don't exist. Showed the exploded view and it wasn't even on there, real strange considering I can see them on my car, and even find them online.
11-10-2022, 05:41 PM
