oakley990099
Member
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- 08.5 CWP Mazdaspeed 3
how many miles did you change yours at? mine is at 61k when ill be doing it shortly.. yours has a little rust i can see, mine has spots like that; any problem with bolt/nuts/screws not coming undone??
Suspension Check List
- Thread starter oakley990099
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I was at exactly 80k miles. The rears were a piece of cake, it's literally just the bolt on the bottom of the shock and the two at the top. The fronts on the other hand were a huge PITA just because of the way the bottom of the shock is like clamped in. Lots of PB Blaster and a sledge hammer were my keys to getting it apart.
When I went to put my H&R springs in this past weekend I destroyed a bushing in one of the LCA (which I think was bad to start with), but that is pretty rare I think.
When I went to put my H&R springs in this past weekend I destroyed a bushing in one of the LCA (which I think was bad to start with), but that is pretty rare I think.
oakley990099
Member
- :
- 08.5 CWP Mazdaspeed 3
damn.. and did yours look like this stock? i feel like this looks so odd (stock suspension). because if i lowered it the spring/shock piece shown (that looks to only be clearing by 1.5 inch) would rub no?
Yep that is how it is supposed to look. The spring perch is part of the shock and that location won't change when you switch to Konis so the space between the wheel and the perch will be the same. This isn't an adjustable coilover setup so that perch doesn't move.
oakley990099
Member
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- 08.5 CWP Mazdaspeed 3
As long as it is normal! Thanks man
I found the hard way (of course ) a secret to removing front suspension. After i discovered the secret by accident i told an old hot rodder what i had found he said " yes thats how they are designed. i punched him.
I had bought some mallets and mauls and pry bar i f'd up the ball joint boot trying to dislodge the shock from its clamp. I was replacing axle for the first time also so i decided to put coilovers in, also first time and by myself. so i learned alot. also there was nice "how to replace springs" in here at some point i think. you will of course need an alignment after. If you decide to go for it please feel free to ask us as many questions as you need. we are here to help! If it was me i would replace springs and shocks at same time. I first bought a set of Cobb springs then sway bars the car was day and night better.
good luck feel free to pm me or let us know where you are at. i also hear the 3 way Konis are very nice and reasonably priced.
I had bought some mallets and mauls and pry bar i f'd up the ball joint boot trying to dislodge the shock from its clamp. I was replacing axle for the first time also so i decided to put coilovers in, also first time and by myself. so i learned alot. also there was nice "how to replace springs" in here at some point i think. you will of course need an alignment after. If you decide to go for it please feel free to ask us as many questions as you need. we are here to help! If it was me i would replace springs and shocks at same time. I first bought a set of Cobb springs then sway bars the car was day and night better.
good luck feel free to pm me or let us know where you are at. i also hear the 3 way Konis are very nice and reasonably priced.
oakley990099
Member
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- 08.5 CWP Mazdaspeed 3
Thank you I appreciate it. And I will only be a "helper" for this job. I'm just basically going to install the new shocks/struts but have a friend (who works as a Mazda tech) show me the ropes so I hopefully don't screw anything over
oakley990099
Member
- :
- 08.5 CWP Mazdaspeed 3
yeah but we still have to do it in a crap driveway hahaha he works at mazda so if we bring another mazda in it is seen as "stealing business" to the dealership. so he is going to bring my springs/struts in an use the spring compressor at his work. then bring the combined setup to my driveway AKA "the real shop" hahah
oakley990099
Member
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- 08.5 CWP Mazdaspeed 3
Hey willD, do you rub at all with the H&R springs ??? I've been hearing you have to roll your fenders or else you rub
oakley990099
Member
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- 08.5 CWP Mazdaspeed 3
yeah i am going to be on stock rims. but i have a feeling one of my rims are bent. obviously not horribly since the ride is fine but still want to make these my winter wheels soon. so did you end up rolling your fenders for the summer setup not to rub?? ughhhh hahaaha i don't want to go through the stress of finding rims/tires that won't include doing this down the road hahah
oakley990099
Member
- :
- 08.5 CWP Mazdaspeed 3
Did you do it yourself? If so how? And if not how much did it cost you(if you dont mind me asking) . I don't have a problem with having them rolled really just I'm scared about the paint job mostly because I heard a couple people saying their began to chip after slowly. (and as you know I have enough problems with my wheel wells hahah).
Another noob question for ya: you said its easy to find new rims/tires. Do you know what specs exactly would not have to include rolling and wouldn't rub in our koni/H&R setup? (I'd want to keep 18" for sure)
Another noob question for ya: you said its easy to find new rims/tires. Do you know what specs exactly would not have to include rolling and wouldn't rub in our koni/H&R setup? (I'd want to keep 18" for sure)
