Who has replaced the bushes on your car?

[ineedmoretraction]

I am currently contemplating replacing all the bushes in my car and wondering where have sourced theirs and who installed them? I am in melbourne so particularly interested in experience from vicrtorians If anyone wants to post up the parts and installation costs that will be very helpful too. Thanks.

[StanTheMan]

I have replaced them.
I installed the cam adjustable super pros.

I installed them myself. I had a dodgy day. However without the help of other dodgy helpers, in particular Ampz & bigdog. I would never have been able to complete the whole lot. Or at least, not in 1 full day.

We had a lot of fun. 95% of the right tools. But at the end of the day. I was totally knackered.

If I was to do it again.

Don’t waste your money on adjustable camber kit for a road car. Its just not required. If your baby sees the track…..I would consider it again…..but I probably wouldn’t bother.

Next time around I would seriously consider OEM bushes over Super pros. They are too stiff for my liking. However. I’m getting old & my King’s & koni’s are well past their used by date.
I paid $565 for my kit in a group purchase a few years ago at MX5 Mania. Last time I looked they are avail cheaper now. The OEM kit would be around $900.


for a bit of fun
viewtopic.php?f=49&t=25069&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=STMDD*&start=90

[Steampunk]

Mr Starlet, GP14, Muzza2 and myself replaced all the bushes on Mr Starlet's car and most of the bushes on GP14's.
Takes a solid day for each car if you have at least 2 people, a car hoist, a hydraulic press and all the right tools.

The only things that were difficult were the differential arm bushes, all the others were relatively straighforward.

They bought their kits from 949 Racing over in the US and they were the Energy Suspension bushes.

[Fatty]

i got the superpro bushes from mx5mania. you can also get them from mx5 factory in ringwood, or autobarn eltham. the price has come down a bit, it might pay you to give them all a call to compare prices.

i got the standard superpros, not the cam adjustable ones. the car handles a LOT better these days, but similar to what stantheman said, i find the ride is fairly harsh. not as comfortable as it used to be. but then again i'm running tein coilovers, they might not be so bad on softer / standard suspension.

i had mine installed by centreline suspension in thomastown. they really know what they are doing, and have worked on a lot of mx5s .

regarding the 949 Racing / Energy Suspension bushes, aren't those ones even firmer that the superpros? it would be interesting to get some thoughts from people who have fitted them.

[fattima]

I fitted the Superpro bushes myself. Purchased the bushes from Autobarn in Eltham (they give a discount to MX5 club members) from memory they were a bit over $500. I borrowed the bush removal tool from the MX5 club and got to work with help from Wun ( I think he wanted to see how much they weigh ). It is a pain of a job but very doable at home if you have the bush removal tool or a press, if using the bush removal tool you would want an air compressor and a rattle gun to make life easier. Jokes aside it was helpful to have the extra pair of hands, thanks Wun!
I notice the 949 racing ones are a split design, that will make them easier to install than the Superpro bushes.

I have not found the ride that harsh to be honest, I know fatty has but he is just soft

[Juffa]

Yep, have put super-pro bushes on 2 of my 5s. I actually found them to be more compliant than the original Mazda rubber ones. Maybe the old rubber bushes had gone hard over time.

Anyway, as other people have said one person can do it, but two is better. Access to a press, car stands and good set of metric sockets (plus a few ales) is a must.

oh yeah, don't forget to allow for the cost of a 4 wheel alignment as part of the upgrade.

Where are you located?

J

[StanTheMan]

opinion on ride is definitely subjective.
But I think we all agree its a big job to do yourself. I think Mania charge about $300 or $350 to do the job for you. Someone on here( can't recall who it was) did the whole lot with a chisel & hammer.....It took him all weekend just to do the rears. I gotta say.....I take my hat off for that effort. That's just totally insane. My little press for $80 or $90 was worth its weight in gold.

[fattima]

One other thing, you may need to budget for new alignment bolts. I have a NA and mine were stuffed, Mazda changed the bolt design apparently and now supply the newer design.

[Locutus]

if you are concerned about ride quality i suggest you find a forum member with 'upgraded' bushes who is willing to take you for a ride.

STM was kind enough to let me take patchy out for a spin and i didn't find her suspension harsh at all.

[bensale]

Fattima, did you find much difference after changing them over, I ask you as I know you've kept the OEM suspension?

[StanTheMan]

if you are concerned about ride quality i suggest you find a forum member with 'upgraded' bushes who is willing to take you for a ride.

STM was kind enough to let me take patchy out for a spin and i didn't find her suspension harsh at all.

I guess that confirms it I'm soft & old.

[fattima]

Fattima, did you find much difference after changing them over, I ask you as I know you've kept the OEM suspension?

The handling of the car is better, but some of my bushes were well and truly past their best. I didn't find them much if at all harsher from a ride point of view.

[Fblee]

Hammer, chiesel, press, tool.......so no heat is required?
I had a Nissan before and the subframe ones had to be burnt out. Any one know? No heat required?

[StanTheMan]

Stefan flaming the crap out of the old bushes:


Then just EASILY pumping them out with $88 worth goodness. Talk about a time saver!

Burning the old rubber gets rid of the outer lip of the bush. It also makes it easier to cut off once its been burnt. It also allows the bush to be removed cleaner. As in less old rubber stays behind once the bush has been pushed out.

[ineedmoretraction]

Thanks for the replies everyone - I have received more responses than I expected I have taken the car to a Pedders Supspension workshop and they said that while the bushes are not perfectly they haven't fallen apart yet. Nonetheless, the car has done over 200k kms(it's a 93 Clubman) now and to the best of my knowledge the bushes were never replaced. Judging by the responses I get from the car when I drive it they might need to be replaced soon if not now. Is it possible that they have hardened over time?

I am considering staying with oem bushes, which is possibly a more expensive option, but I plan to drive my car on the street more often than track. My current suspension set-up is all stock other than koni shock absorbers and king springs (have done 60000kms I was told). I am probably going to swith to some new shocks soon - but I definitely dont want to do it before I sort out the bushes. I would prefer to do it all in one go - bushes, shock absorvers, springs, alignment, etc.

One other thing, you may need to budget for new alignment bolts. I have a NA and mine were stuffed, Mazda changed the bolt design apparently and now supply the newer design.

Do the new bolts provide any more adjustability?

if you are concerned about ride quality i suggest you find a forum member with 'upgraded' bushes who is willing to take you for a ride.

STM was kind enough to let me take patchy out for a spin and i didn't find her suspension harsh at all.

Is anyone located in South-East/East (Clayton, Mulgrave, etc. )? I would love to get an opportunity to experience a few different suspension set-ups.