Recent content by ratr0

leaky oil cooler gasket = me ordering all these parts to convert now. thanks for the writeup and parts numbers.

Good call on cross shopping the V50. I also like your thinking about the shorter rear shock. I breifly considered going with mazda 5 specific kyb gas-a-just rears and koni FSD fronts. But those seem geared towards stock springs. I figured if I am spending this amount of money on konis that for...

I cant specifically answer your H&R questions, but I am about to start transitioning to Koni Yellows with my Megan Racing springs. As far as I have read they are the only shocks available geared towards lowering/aftermarket springs. I say transitioning because I just got the rear shocks and...

Juppe you will have to roll your fenders with that tire size. May have to play with adjustable camber arms to get the tires tucked in nicely. tompolak you will likely have to roll fenders as well. You might not have to if your van is not lowered but still run the risk of catching the rear tire...

2012 focus owner here with the DCT transmission. While we haven't had the nightmares that some people have had with theirs, I can honestly say that I much prefer the behavior of a standard automatic (like the one in my 5) than the way my wife's focus behaves. The focus shudders at low speeds...

last week, overdue oil change, tire rotation, trans drain/fill, reclamped cv boot. took it to a local shop. too cold out for this stuff lately.

i was cross shopping another part from the V50 a few months ago. my concern was how much more does a mazda 5 weigh. i recall the 5 and v50 were actually very close in weight. much closer than a 5 and mazda 3

if you didnt do it already, remove the intake resonator chamber that runs under the airbox over in front of the drivers side wheel. its held in by 3 bolts and you'll have to drop the fender liner on that corner to get it out. I dont think the van really feels any quicker with it removed (the...

i get a slight whiff of coolant every once in a while when stepping out of the van. cant spot any leaks anywhere and coolant level is good so I am not worrying about it too much. Temp gauge is reading fine. If that thermostat housing mentioned above is plastic, i know thats a common failure...

nice. a lot of options there for when components wear out...

Just had passenger front wheel bearing replaced. 95k miles on van. My brother in law had just replaced the passenger axle and helped me install lowering springs, I figure pounding things back together probably killed the bearing. It crapped out really really fast within a week. Shop I had my...

Aw yiss. I love those volks. I need to rolll my rear fenders badly, I take a little slice out of the rear tire once a week it seems like.

Haha. They do look a lot like 80s-90s benz wheels. The caps say "sporsh" the wheels are Enkei Sporsh. the rears are slightly stretched but its not too ridiculous.

I could go either way, I like both, (well as long as its not a reallly ridiculous stretch..). If I ran wider tires on this setup I would have to make further adjustments to get everything to fit, compromising tire wear even more. Biggest downside is the weight of the wheels. I didn't take time...

made a lot of changes in the past week and a half. mazda remanufactured passenger axle, megan racing lowering springs, alignment-no camber adjustments (front between -1.0 and-1.2, rear -1.8 and -2.0) 0.08 toe in front, 0.01 toe in rear each side. And of course the new wheel/tire setup...