Hey all. Things have slowly been getting to this point but now it’s time. I took the car in to get the brakes looked at as they went to suddenly squealing badly. I’m lucky to have an amazing mechanic that I trust and he took me out to the lift and showed me my shocks were dead, the bushings are done and I need new rotors/pads. It’s an 04 with 133k miles that I’ve been beating on since I got her in 07. I’ve been searching for a few days and here’s what I came up with so far.

Four Koni yellow Sport shocks.

A Set of Tein H.Tech springs(I’ve heard a lot of good things about this particular shock/spring combo. Not looking for coil overs or to slam the car.),

Centric rotors all around. Nothing slotted or drilled.

Hawk HPS pads all around.

Energy Suspension front/rear bushing sets.

Right now the entire suspension is bone stock. It’s a daily driver that I beat the crap out of but I haven’t been to the track in years. I’m really excited to get this done. I’m not completely sold on the Energy Suspension bushings but mainly I want to make sure I’m not missing anything. Please advise. Also, Merry Christmas!

 

a new set of OE arms are recommended, even if you replace the bushings, the ball joints are all still worn with high miles. There are 14 total control arms front and rear including the rear toe control arms and only one pair doesn’t have ball joints on one end; the lower forward rear traction arms. So that’s 12 worn ball joints total for the rest of them.

poly bushings are not as good as the RX8 OE bushings because they aren’t just a plain rubber type, but are a special design with metal inserts that allow a softened ride, but limit movement.

it’s one of the reasons the RX8 handles so well in factory form. I’m hesitant to suggest aftermarket replacement arms without knowing what bushing design they have, might not be the same as OE.

but if you want to take one step forward and two steps back putting in old technology poly bushings with numerous worn ball joint connections, then ok.

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I had poly bushings for a time until the lower control arm recall. Can confirm, stock is just as good/better and replacing them with poly is a giant pain the ***/wallet. By the way see if you can do the recall. Free front control arms with new bushings.

Do not recommend the Koni sports, from first hand experience on these cars they can induce a lower ride height that intended. There's apparently a new Koni line of shocks that might be good.

 

Thanks for the info guys. I’m looking up part numbers for the various control arms. The good part is that it looks like they all come with bushings already so I’ll use those. Am I okay using OE replacement parts(i.e. Duralast and the like) or should I stick with Mazda parts? Costs are starting to stack up. I was thinking to do the recall just to save a few bucks. I’m leery of letting a dealership touch my car. Just about every single experience that I’ve had with Mazda dealerships in my 13 years of having this car have been patently awful.

 

The individual dealers differ but the front control arm recall is no joke. Call Mazda North America instead of dealera, they'll tell you what recalls you're eligible for. Any dealer should be able to follow instructions from there.


And also, I can see LCA bushings wearing out but I highly doubt all the bushings are gone.

 

Thanks, I ordered brakes and rotors so I’ll give it another look when we get it on the lift. Will try to verify what all is needed and give MazdaNA a call to get the recall going and order parts to fix what’s needed after that. I’m currently checking part numbers for various control arms.

 

be advised that there’s a replaceable bushing in the rear upright/knuckle assy. for where the lower forward traction control arms mount to it on each side
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you probably don’t need the adjustable version either

there’s no reason it would be any lower with Koni shocks than any other either


https://www.koni-na.com/en-US/NorthA...reet-(Orange)/
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Turns out Tire Rack is having a closeout deal on the Koni Yellow/Eibach combo. It was literally cheaper than getting the STR.Ts and springs. They'll be here next Friday. So far, I've got shocks/springs, rotors, pads and a set of TPMS sensors as I've got a dead one. I'm scheduled to do the recall tomorrow for the front control arm and once I get a good look under the car, I'll start looking at the rest of the control arms.

 

Recall is done. They gave me a Mazda 6 for the weekend and it's really nice but the second I got my busted suspension RX-8 into 2nd gear, I was over that damn FWD boat. Taking her to my mechanic to do rotors/pads tomorrow and we'll take a closer look at the control arms. At first, I was a bit overwhelmed by all the control arms and bushings but now that I've spent two weeks researching things, I'm getting familiar with everything. This has been a good learning experience. Expensive, but good. More updates to come.

 

good job so far, keep it up 👍

 

Rotors and pads are installed so now my car doesn't sound like it's trying to communicate with whales anymore. We checked out the control arm situation and all 8 of the pillowball arms on the rear are getting replaced. Oddly enough, the trailing arms are in great shape. The bushings are solid and still look and feel fine. I also ordered the knuckle assembly bushings and new bushings for the sway bars. Shocks and springs came in yesterday and I'm just waiting for the arms and bushings to get this completed.

 

So, right now I'm sitting on a bunch of parts. I'm waiting for the front upper control arms, the knuckle assembly bushings and rear swaybar bushings. Those should be here later this week. Is there any specific hardware I should get before I bring this pile to my mechanic?

 

You're going to want new alignment eccentrics. I'd bet that they're seized in the old arms.

The toe arm clamp/pinch bolt in the knuckle needs to be removed using a giant c-clamp or press. Take the nut off then drive the bolt out. It's splined and cannot be turned without snapping the head off.

Everything else is straight forward.

 

Thanks! I just ordered the bolts/cams/nuts. Should be ready to put it together next week.

 

make sure you lather up all the inner cams and bushing sleeves with anti-seize (inside, not on the ends/cam washers) to avoid having them seize up again. Same for the threaded bolt ends.
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Think I have everything now. I forgot to get the alignment bolts/cams/nuts for the front and had to make another order. Install is set for Tuesday. I'll update then. Thanks again everyone for the great advice.

 

Just got her home from the shop. Hoooleee cow! I didn't realize how bad it was. EVERYTHING about the handling is amazing now. It was like driving a RX-8 for the first time all over again. Greatness restored!!!

 

glad it worked out ok for you.

 

can i ask where you sourced your parts having a hard time finding some parts at autozone. not really wanting to pay oem prices unless i go fully adjustable like Megan or godspeed ( yuk). let me know please and what was your damage for parts?

 

Curious as well

 

Currently got my car on stands and cracked most of the bolts loose on the arms that need replacing.
Can you share the wisdom as to how to extract the rear LCA from knuckle? I have removed bolt from inboard with the adjustment. It just wont wiggle out. Is it angle related or just need persuasion? Any help appreciated.

Edit. Think i have answered my own Q as far as requiring a ball joint separator that i dont have.
Next Q.... Is there a specific type needed or just a generic one?

Edit. Edit. Thanks Mr Youtube for being my friend.
Yes this is new to me! Somtimes i just need a point in the right direction!! 🤔

 

Hi, sorry for the late reply. I ordered most of the suspension components from Mazdaparts.co. It's weird because everything came from a normal dealership but if you check dealership prices, they are literally 2x what Mazdaparts.co charges.