AXR Clunk Bracket Review

had my kit for a little while now. prob over 6 months i would say. closer to a year. i just replaced the bushings with energy suspension 19mm (3/4) bushings so it has a tighter fit than the 20 mm ones. that is why you get noise and clunking because the 20mm bushings wear out faster and the bar moves around. so with the paint worn off and using the 19mm bushings from energy suspension, it has a super snug fit and wont wear down as fast. they are also cheaper too off of the energysuspenion parts site. like 17 bucks for a set w/brackets. buying them from autox is like 30 or 40 for a set w/ brackets.

just my thoughts. this is what i purchased. been working GREAT so far.

http://www.energysuspensionparts.com/proddetail.asp?prod=9.5156
 
I just bought an '03 MSP a couple weeks ago. Really like the car, but the clunk is bad, and driving me crazy! So my first priority has been looking at fixes for this problem. Nice to find quite a few positive testimonials on the AXR product. Looks like that will be me first "upgrade" on the new toy. ;)

Oh, and when I talked with the local Mazda dealer, their response was, "yeah, they're all like that." Oh, great. Wouldn't you call that a factory defect, then? How about a recall? Then again, if they won't recall the faulty door locks on the 3s, why would they bother with this... ;)
 
The AXR clunk fix was my first upgrade. I'm not a fan of rattles, squeaks, or clunks.
 
FunkyBuddha said:
For those that have had this relocation kit, How long have you had it installed in the car for?
Click to expand...

I installed mine back in Feb of 2007. So do the math.... that's 15 months or so. I opted for the greaseable bushings. I greased them sometime during late summer 2007 as a precautionary measure- they weren't making any noise prior to greasing them. I'll probably re-grease them again here in a month or two- but again, no squeaking or clunking.
 
Nice to see so many positive remarks. I just bought mine a few weeks back directly off the site so they're definitely still available. The guys that run the company are also super nice and helpful. You can install it yourself but, without a lift, it won't be easy... I'd probably just recommend having a shop do it. Total price for me was $80 (1 hour labor) so I felt that was reasonable.

On a sidenote... wtf? lol the more I think about this the more pissed I get. It's not like Mazda didn't know there was a problem. I mean hell... after like 3 years they came out with different busings (which were pretty much the equivalent of putting a bandaid on your arm after it was sawed off) As much of a fan I am of Mazda... and am probably loyal to a fault, it's pretty bad of them not to truly fix this the right way... but whatever overall i guess we cant complain... too much
 
i know the guy who makes these, i bought my intercooler and stuff off him, hes part of the Manitoba Mazda Community and helps run it...great guy, really helpful, these things are NICE! ive been in his garage, he has like 20 sets in stock, there really solid and well made, hes going to help me install my set this month sometime and i cant wait....100% solid product and yea 200 bucks...but damn, bushings get REAL expensive


also...a little birdie tells me hes going to be releasing new toys very soon ;)
 
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CHICO2003 said:
You can install it yourself but, without a lift, it won't be easy... I'd probably just recommend having a shop do it.
Click to expand...

I installed my own in my garage on my back with the car sitting high on jackstands. I thought it was pretty easy. And probably didn't take me anymore than an hour- and I put the brackets on backwards the first time around.... OOPS!
 
lol yea the guy who makes them doesnt even have a lift haha....just jack it up on blocks and slap em on. or if you have ramps that works pretty well too :)
 
I plan on buying this soon too, the squeak drives me insane. The squeaking pretty much went away during the winter, but now that it's starting to warm up it's coming back :/.
 
Tom03es said:
I installed my own in my garage on my back with the car sitting high on jackstands. I thought it was pretty easy. And probably didn't take me anymore than an hour- and I put the brackets on backwards the first time around.... OOPS!
Click to expand...

Ditto. I used jackstands and some cheap tools. It took me an hour or so. I got in on a group buy a while back. The increase in handling and the silence from the rear end makes this more than worth it. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone with a MSP or Racing Beat swaybar.
 
I can take some pictures later of it installed. It wasn't too difficult to install. I ran into an issue with it myself, but it wasn't the new bracked it was the old bushings. One of the bolts had seized on the right swaybar bushing. Ended up breaking the weld on the nut holding the bolt in place. That was fun. Other than that it took about 45 minutes to an hour to install. Handling is very much improved and it's completely silent. I love it. Worth every penny for this fix.
 
I've had the kit for about 1.5 years now. I've still had to replace bushings a couple of times due to the clunk. I tried 19mm diameter Energy Suspension bushings (9.5156) this past weekend though so we'll see how that goes. Silent for now! But for me, this hasn't been the end-all solution.
 
did you remember to oil them up a bit every time you got your oil changed?

every 5k-7k kms you just squirt a bit of oil with an oil gun and the AXR bracket will actually extend the life of the bushings

the guy who makes them had the same bushings in his car for a very long time :)
 
The kit I got last spring had greasable bushings. No more squeaks or rattles.
I grease them every oil change.

Best improvement on my MSP for solo2.

Top notch Evolv!
 
Evolv said more kits are being made and should be available soon. I have a solution when the clunk re-develops with the clunk fix. I'll post it soon.

367 (mp3yellow
 
Summer time squeaks DRIVE ME CRAZY!

I'm looking at doing this, or a simple set of AWR end links. Money/time isnt really a concern since this is going to improve my overall enjoyment of the car.

My question is, does this product, which looks very nice, actually put an end to the horrid squeaking my car makes when it goes over a bump? If so, do a set of AWR end links also stop the squeak?

This is my daily driver, and I dont autocross, so any performance gains will be nice but probably under appreciated.

Suggestions? AWR End links or the AXR clunk fix.
 
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