DIY "Suspension Bushing" Replacement for NA

[mx54life]

In conjunction to Andy's post titled "How to: Suspension Bushing" please allow me to add some input and insights on the materials and tools over specific suspension components. I would also like to say that this is a compilation of what I have gathered from other postings in several sites so this will hopefully simplify the search for the next DIY"ers. Sorry for the huge pics for some reason photobucket is not allowing me to save images that I cropped.

Warning these materials are extremely cheap lol.....I lost the receipt so I will do my best to name the parts.

Materials and Tools:

1 - 24" threaded rod (this will cover all front and rear suspension components)
4 - 1/2" 2 inch diameter washers
4 - 3/8" 1.5 inch diameter washers
1 - 3/8" 1 inch diameter washer
3 - 3/8" nuts

1 - 14 mm wrench
1 - 14 mm deep socket
1 - 3/8" extension
1 - 3/8" ratchet (length adjustable helps)

1 - DW40 bottle optional (to help the bushing slide out faster)



Additional materials for the rear upper arm outer bushing. This is the only bushing that is bigger than the rest.

1 - 1.5" FEMALE Iron Pipe Fitting/Connector (located in the plumbing section, mine is free)
2 - 3/4" 2.25 inch diameter (really thick) washers
2 - 1/2" 1.5 inch diameter washers
2 - 3/8" 1 inch diameter washers




Front Lower Control Arm:







Rear Lower Control Arm (Shown is the rear upper arm outer bushing, the biggest one)






Rear Upper Arm:




Although I have not shown all the suspension components but you got the idea. Only one rod needed.
Likewise same materials to be used to place a new OEM/Stock Bushings back in.


Tip: assemble the rod, washers and nuts by hand to line them up better before you start wrenching.
Take your take it only takes less than 10 minutes to remove both bushings per arm, that quick lol.

[— fwdtamiya —]

Thanks for this! I'd like to do my suspension bushings...one day

[OBD1 kenobi]

Awesome. Love these DIY threads. It seems like I need to do them all. Lol. This one is on my list.

[Satisaii]

You can bend NA upper front control arms using this method. NB uppers are stouter. I have trashed a couple NA arms, but never have a problem with NB arms.

[mx54life]

Update: Thank you Satisaii for bringing this issue up, I meant to post this but got caught up with several stuff as you may not know I am approaching this project from different angles so thus I am not focusing one aspect alone which keeps me going and motivated lol. But yes here is what Satisaii is referring to......

Notice the left bushing housing being slightly bent.....



Therefore you MUST use the 1.5" Female Pipe fitting/connector, trim the excess rubber lip on the outside of the housing and spray DW40....

"This is also a good precautionary approach with the rear upper control arm. I did used plenty of DW40 so the bushings just slide out easily without bending the arm. But if you fear that you may bend it go ahead and use the 1.5" female pipe adaptor"




Then you can wrench away without the problem of bending.....

[— kung fu jesus —]

The easiest way to do this DIY job, and minimize downtime for your Miata, is to buy another set of straight arms. You can recoup most of the cost doing that be either selling your old ones afterward, OR buying two sets of bushings and selling the second set as refurbished. A LOT of people want to do this, and the car feels AMAZING, but they don't want their car to be down for too long.

[— Phatmiata —]

I like the idea of buying a spare set, then you can take your time, or send them to a shop and have them done on a press.

it would really suck to bend the only set you have so the spare would be the way to go.

[mx54life]

The easiest way to do this DIY job, and minimize downtime for your Miata, is to buy another set of straight arms. You can recoup most of the cost doing that be either selling your old ones afterward, OR buying two sets of bushings and selling the second set as refurbished. A LOT of people want to do this, and the car feels AMAZING, but they don't want their car to be down for too long.

Great option but that would be close to just buying another miata for a purpose other than DD; why I got two lol. This is a more precise DIY and get the labor savings to put into more upgrades, learn the car, burn some calories, feel the glory of DIY and oh discover american ingenuity. To be quite frank if you can take the suspension parts out of the car (which is probably the hardest) you can do this over the weekend. I am a 133 lbs and I can wrestle with the bolts lol.

Again the bending of suspension parts can be 100% eliminated with the use of the 1.5" female fitting.

But then again there is always that don't DIY. I just feel that young people including my son lol now a days use their brains more than their hands. He is waiting for this car to be finish so he can drive it.

[— kung fu jesus —]

You can buy used control arms for about $200 give or take.

[mx54life]

You can buy used control arms for about $200 give or take.

Quite close with the ES Polyurethane Master Kit $216 shipped from Amazon and lifetime warranty. Used control arms will have no warranty and the bushing condition can't be judge from the outside. As Mazdaspeed says "rubber bushings are part of the wear and tear" so you will be at the mercy of the owner's accuracy in mileage and the bushings condition after such usage. But yet again you have a ready to plug-and-play parts.

Again it is an available option. It all comes down to preference. I've rode on one with the Mazdaspeed bushings + FCM Bilstein and the other with ES Polyurethane bushings + Stance Coilers, my inexperience bottoms can tell the difference on same road travelled.

[— Phatmiata —]

You can buy used control arms for about $200 give or take.

I did a quick search and found some local for $50

[— kung fu jesus —]

That's a good find. . Even if one of two are bent.

For you resto-mod guys, the control arm project is a good one to do with a spare set. You can get them cleaned, powdercoated, reinforced, zerked, add the bushings, etc. Add straight mounting hardware and camber bolts, the car is good to go for whatever you want to do. If you're detail-oriented, it's a neat job. If you're performance oriented, you don't have to go that extreme.

[— kung fu jesus —]

OH! I almost forgot...

Our sponsor, V8 Roadster also sells upper balljoints. I would LOVE to see someone do a detailed writeup about replacing those on a stock upper control arm. I have a good feeling for what it entails, and I know it is a for a little more advanced shadetrees, but nevertheless, it would be a killer DIY!

[Andy]

That is a good continuation from my thread. My only comment is that it is wd40, not dw40. LOL.

[mx54life]

OH! I almost forgot...

Our sponsor, V8 Roadster also sells upper balljoints. I would LOVE to see someone do a detailed writeup about replacing those on a stock upper control arm. I have a good feeling for what it entails, and I know it is a for a little more advanced shadetrees, but nevertheless, it would be a killer DIY!

Oh no I did a google search on this front upper ball joint replacement as I needed to replace mine and this V8 Roadster did not show up but the MOOG K500210 did which I just ordered 2 days ago. Anyways I will do a DIY on the MOOG with the use of the rented AutoZone "ball joint remover". It should be the same process. The ones I have seen for the MOOG used a Ton Press which is not available to regular garage people like me.

Andy thanks for the correction yes until this time I still call it DW40 and I don't know why LOL. But thanks for posting this method.