Front Suspension R&R

Over the past three days I have been doing a remove and replace on my front suspension.

During the job, I replaced all the front bushings, disk brake bearings, tie rod ends, anti-sway bar dogbones, and ball joints. In addition, I had the disks turned.

I have found many posting from people suggesting how to get the old bushing pressed off and the new pressed on, but in this write-up I am skipping that part because I just had the machine shop do that.

Before I begin, like other write-ups I will put in the usual "I didn’t tell you to do this - so you take all responsibility if something goes wrong and you get hurt or you destroy your car" disclaimer.

I am writing this because even though this is a relatively easy job. Following these steps may help you get through it faster than I did.
Parts Required
Rear bearing seals (ea.) ($07 dollars from NAPA)
Inner Bearing (ea.) ($11 NAPA)
Outer Bearings (ea.) ($22 Napa)
Bearing Grease ($04 Advance Auto)
Parts Cleaner Solvent ($09 Advance Auto)
Ball Joints (ea.) ($78 Mazda)
Bushing (set) ($60 front and rear suspension bushing set from NOPI)
DogBones (Price forgotten, I bought them a while ago from Mazda)
Machine Shop Services
Press Races ($25 NAPA)
Press Bushings ($60 NAPA)
Remove the Brake Pads and Caliper
1. First, obviously, remove the tires and lift the car.
2. Remove the retaining wire and remove the pins holding the brake pads in place.
3. Remove the pad springs.
4. Use a tool (I use the claw end of a drywall hammer) to spread the pads and to drive the pistons back into the pots.
5. Remove the brake pads.
6. Remove the hydraulic fittings for the brake fluid.
7. Remove the two bolts holding the caliper to the spindle.
8. Set the caliper aside.
9. This is the time to paint it if you are going to. I cleaned the caliper with brake cleaner and then brushed them down with a wire brish and then sprayed them again with brake cleaner. I found a couple of bolts that fit the fluid fitting and tightened them down until they started to resist. I used a shirt to protect the rubber on the pistons from paint and then applied the red.
Removing the disk
10. If you are removing the disks, use a screwdriver to remove the bearing dust cap.
11. Remove the crown from the bearing nut.
12. Straighten the bend in the cotter pin and remove it (throw this part out - it will be replaced with a new one)
13. Pull the disk toward you to pop the outer bearing out
14. Remove the disk
15. Use a screwdriver to pry the rear bearing seal out
16. Using a rag, clean the old grease out of the hub.
17. Send the hubs to the shop to have new bearing races pressed. (Even though my races and bearing were in good shape, I replaced them because I screwed up and forgot to note which bearing came from which disk. If you don't screw up like I did, and if your bearing and races look good, you can clean them with solvent and repack them.) Even though I could have saved my bearings if I was more careful, I am glad I did replace them. The are not especially expensive and the old ones had 200K on them. As an option, instead of getting new bearing pressed, you could just buy a new hub from Mazda with new bearings already in place. The hubs are only around $500.
18. Remove the pinch bolt holding the ball joint in place.
19. Use a pry bar between the ball joint and the spindle to separate the joint from the spindle. At this point you do not have to totally push out the ball joint, you just need to loosen it.
20. Remove the bolt holding the anti-sway bar link (dogbone) at the control arm.
21. If you are replacing the dogbones, this is a good time to install the new ones on the end of the sway bar.
Freeing the ball joint
22. Break free the two nuts holding the ball joints to the control arm. It is best to do this now, otherwise, you will need a vise to hold the control arm while you break these nuts free. Do not loosen these nuts at this time, just break them free. Having the ball joint still attached to the control arm will help free the joint from the pinch collar (see step 25)
23. Remove the bolt holding the front bushing.
24. Remove the collar holding the rear bushing in place.
25. Pull down on the back of the control arm. As the rear of the arm moved toward the ground, the front bushing should begin to slide out.
26. Pull the front of the control arm out of it's mounting point - twisting a little if necessary.
27. Once the control arm is free of it's bushing mounts, spin it in a 90 degree arc using the still attached ball joint as a pivot. Then swing it back the other way. Repeat this step while pressing down on the ball joint to get the ball joint out of the pinch collar. Others have said that they hammered on the ball joint to get it free. I found no need to hammer while I worried it out of the pinch collar.
Cleaning the Control Arm
28. At this point your hands and the control arm are covered in oil, grease and grime. I used a bucket, lots of dishwashing liquid, and cleanser to scrub the grease off the control arm - the guy in the machine shop will appreciate the effort.
29. Because I did not want to waste time trying to cut the rubber of the control arm, I just took it to the machine shop to have the old pressed of and the new pressed on.
Putting it back together
Putting the car back together is basically the reverse of the removal steps, with the following exceptions:

1. Install the bolts for the rear bushings. These bolts should be installed just deep enough to hold without stripping if they fall out when you maneuver the control arm..
2. Insert the front bushing into the mount point. Wiggle the control arm up and down to get it to slide into the mount. If the bushing seems a little too wide for the mount, use a big *** pair of pliers to grab and gently pry the mount while still forcing the control arm.
3. Slide the front control arm bolt into place. It will probably not go all the way though. Don't worry about that, just get the rear of the bolt in and force it as far forward as possible.
4. This is shat I should have done…
5. Drive the new ball joints into place. Use a hammer and piece of wood to slide it all the way in.
6. Reinsert the pinch bolt.
7. Rotate the control arm nearly horizontal and reattach the ball joints to the control arm.
8. Tighten the bolts as much as possible now. Once the dogbones are reattached to the control arm it will be hard to hold the bolt still while tightening the nut.
9. Install the bolt holding the dogbone to the control arm
10. This is what I did do
11. Rotate the control arm nearly horizontal and reattach the ball joints to the control arm.
12. Unbolt the two nuts on the bolts holding the spindle to the shock strut.
13. Drive the spindle bolts out.
14. Rotate the spindle onto the ball joint and use a hammer to tap the ball joint into place
15. Reinsert the pinch bolt.
16. Realign the spindle to the shock and reinsert the bolts and nuts.
17. continue from step 9 or step 16
18. Pack the bearing
19. grease the spindle
20. insert the inner bearing and tap the seal into place using a block of wood to keep it even
21. slide the disk onto the spindle.
22. insert the outer bearing
23. yada
24. yada
25. yada
26. Insert a new cotter pin
27. yada
28. yada
29. yada
30. Remove and Replace the tie rod ends.
31. Be sure to torque all bolts to spec.
32. Get the car realigned.
33. Follow the bushing manufacturer and Mazda's recommendations for re-torque intervals. In addition, I plan to…
32. Drive the car 50 miles and re-torque.
33. Drive the car 100 miles and re-torque.

 

Finished. The car feels great, much like I remember when I purchased it 16 yers ago.

BTW...

I am posting pictures of my BBS (Moda) Wheel markings. Does anyone know how to decypher these? I'd like to know what the offset and weight of the wheels are.

The markings say:

(A) ET35
(B) 8Jx17h2 (I know these are 17x8. I have no idea what the h2 means)
(C) BT220
(D) ?

 

Offset = +35mm

"J" is lip type.
I dunno what the "H2" means.


Have no clue...

"JWL" = Japan Wheel League
It's like a certification for wheels in Japan.


-Ted

 

ted's my hero, now you sir know why

 

Kool! Thanks.

 

great post, Ill use this in the future

Dave