My 3rd gen rear suspension overhaul

[AHarada]

Ever since I bought my car a few thousand miles ago I've had the worst clunks in the suspension. I finally got around to overhauling the rear.

I started by removing the old stuff.

For some reason, whoever installed these delrin bushings put them in half assed. This is exactly how the cradle came off my car. I tapped the pin of the bushing with a hammer and the entire bushings popped out!

The car had trailing arm bushings of the same material and were not lubed when installed. One side had play in the bushing, and the other side the pin was frozen.

In with the new Superpros! Installation was very easy.



Here's before and after sandblasting. I think it is important to sandblast the inside bores of the arms after removing the old bushings to remove all the crap.




Replaced 6 pillowballs and seals. The old ones had a ridiculous amount of play in them. Replaced the trailing arm bushings with Mazdaspeed parts.


I also got a set of SuperPro toe link bushings. The installation of these is pretty difficult and I ended up giving up on them. I removed the small OEM bushing on one of the toe links, but couldn't get the big one out. I sold the superpros and may go with RE toe links instead.


Last but not least, here's a tip. The pressed-in spacer type bushings can be pulled back easily with a socket, nut, bolt, and some washers set up like so.



Planned for suspension is also Tein Flex, or GC sleeves and revalved Bilsteins. I'm still undecided on which setup, but I'm leaning towards the Bilsteins.