my 93 FD has 60K on the odo..

my Daily Driver is an E39 M5... when I drive it.. i feel like i'm driving a car carved out of a solid piece of Granite.. it feels solid and tight..

I recently overhauled and am now breaking in the new motor on my FD..

and to be honest.. it just feels so LOOSE

the rear end clunks.. that's the usual one I know.. i have those 6 pillow ***** ready to change out..

but in general still.. like when I turn the steering wheel.. I feel like theres a "lag" for a second before the car responds...

car rattles alot too..

if I hold onto the shifter, and the car is in low rpms out of power band in the wrong gear.. I can feel the whole engine and tranny buck and move when the engine struggles...

does the car just need a full bushing kit and that's it? or is it just the Nature of the beast?


to be honest it's quite unpleasent to drive... making the idea of DD break in driving of the car quite unappealing..

 

those pillow ***** will make a big difference ummm....check your hatch struts mine rattle when im driving maybe gettin a new steering shaft will stop the play in it.

 

hum mine is solid as a rock.....

i have a upper strut bar on the front and rear lower swaybars front and rear diff brace, stiffer motor mounts and koni shocks adjusted all the way up to stiff with some eibach pro springs. barelly has any body roll

 

Sounds like you may have worn motor mounts as well. The car has a total uf 22 suspenion and diff bushings (I believe) that are able to be replaced by a few different brands that people here on the forum offer.

You may also want to upgrade to a thicker front sway bar, as the front is a tad wimpy to save weight. What suspension and size wheel/tires are you running? If you've got some old rubber or worn springs/shocks that could also be an issue. You have to remember that your car is 15 years old now and was not made to cruise down the Autobahn comfy and quietly like your M5.

Also the stock steering wheel is absolutely terrible, I'd switch it out for a smaller, lighter unit, you'd be amazed how it makes the car feel.

 

Take care with this: if you're going to increase front sway, I suggest you save on that mod until you also have money for the reinforced swaybar mounts. If it breaks it doesn't just break the mount - it will damage the frame attachment too. The stock swaybar doesn't tend to break the mounts but aftermarket swaybars do.

For the original question: start with what you know - there are loose bushings in back. Check the toe link bushings (bushing/pillowballs), check the pillowballs in the rear suspension, and the front bushing of the rear trailing arm. Fix the stuff that has play and see how that does. Then check your motor mounts, powerplant frame, and diff mounts, see what that does.

Don't go off the deep end replacing all the bushings because it could be other things.

Dave

 

better or new sway bars, trailing arms, tranny brace....

 

What kind of tires and wheels do you have?

 

I't very likey that your drivers side motor mount has failed. It is aluminum, and doesn't last as long as the steel mount on the passenger side. If you choose to have it replaced, make sure an experienced FD mechanic does the job. The replacement steel mount will cause an oil leak if not installed by an expert on FD's.

 

Barely has any body roll? It must feel like it barely has any suspension. I have a similare setup (no diff brace) and with the shocks on stiff. . .it is way to stiff for daily driving!

 

With everything in working order, the Cusco front strut bar worked wonders for me. The car wasn't sensitive to steering input until I installed it.

BTW, I had a MB FD before that was setup for the track and that thing was super stiff.

Like everyone said, get all of the current issues with your suspension fixed and check to see how it feels after that. If it still feels non-responsive, try the front strut bar(the one that goes over the shock towers).

 

Could you be more specific about this.

Since I installed my Noltecs I have leaking which is seeming to be comming from the passenger side mount.

I have a Garfinkle oilpan brace on stanby I was hoping it would fix the issue.

 

He might be talking about the extra nub on the aluminum mount that is absent on the steel mount. It puts force on the pan flange where there is no bolt, but force is necessary.

You could be leaking because when you took tension off the pan flange, a path opened up in the gasket or RTV.

 

If your motor/tranny is moving at slow speed and when you shift ,check -replace the motor mounts .Then try my engine torque brace, it makes a tight car feel even better .Ask around or search Garfinkle Engine Torque Brace . It is not a band aid for worn mounts and bushings but an inprovement on the setup .

 

So should installing the oilpan brace solve my problem?

 

IMHO, regardless of mileage on the chassis, anything that's a rubber bushing in either the suspension, or drivetrain suspension, has deteriorated beyond its useful life after 8-10 years.

Replace them all, starting with the high-wear items first.

:-) neil

 

Thanks for the tips guys..

hopefully I can make this OX cart FD nice to drive again..

my 91 FC with Slammed Teins and 17" wheels feels much much more "solid" and tighter chassis wise then my FD

which is quite sad..

 

my car feels terrible as well. Here is my issue:

-121K on chassis
-original pillowballs
-original touring struts/springs
-missing a PPF nut/bolt on the tranny and the bolt that goes into the rear diff

I do have solid front sway bar with aftermarket mounts and a strut bar. Other than that, nothing. The car is very sloppy, but I am working on that right now.

Trev

 

Resealing the oil pan and using the OIL PAN BRACE helps to keep the oil pan from leaking .It does not tighten the handleing of the car .

 

The steps to a super tight chassis ~

Pillow *****
Toe links
New struts and springs
Front and Rear strut bars
Front and Rear sway bars
New Hatch struts
Poly urethane bushing kit from feed (Full kit)
Engine Torque brace
New exhaust hangers made of poly

Finally for the ultimate touch ~
FEED Tunnel tranny brace
Mazdaspeed PPF
R-Magic Front strut tower bar
Auto-exe full body bracement kit
FEED Tri-pillar wing braces

No car will ever feel as solid and ready to fight the corners as this setup will...

 

New struts ??? both of my RX7 fd cars had shock absorbers with upper and lower A arms . Why did Mazda make different suspension systems for the same car .Struts system on some and double wishbone system on others .With all the third gens that I have worked on in my shop I have not had any with a strut suspension come for repair or modification . Which system handles best ?

 

He means shocks.

 

Thanks, I always use shocks and struts the in the same terminology. I guess I'm too used to coilovers

 

Also 95+ Rear subframe makes the car feel more solid..

 

Adding a front [shock tower] strut to my '93 base made an immeadiate and decisive improvement to steering input responsiveness.

 

Were 95s changed from 94s. I thought it was the 94s and up that received the reinforced rear subframe.