My "follow-along" Mazda5 Suspension upgrade

Dave88LX

Member
First I will have to say how impressed I am with THMotorsports. They already had pretty close to the cheapest shipped price on Koni FSD shock kit 2100-4045 at $557. I found a 6% discount code 6OFFTOTAL which I found applies to your NEXT purchase. I ordered a couple parts this weekend then called last night (Monday) about the shocks, and if they would take that code over the phone. They took the code without any hesitation, dropped the price to $523, and shipped it out of their PA warehouse -- I received it TODAY (Tuesday), less than one day later. Outstanding customer service from them.
http://thmotorsports.com/koni/koni_fsd_shock_kit/21004045/i-226892.aspx

Car is my wife's daily driver and kid-hauler. No racing/auto-x/anything. My goal with this thread is to hopefully be as informative as possible

The rear brakes have been "less than great" for quite some time but I've put off replacing them since rear brakes don't do much anyways. She has a state inspection coming up in a new state, so I'm going to address all the issues that I've been putting off.

Ordered:
Centric Premium Brake Rotor
P/N: 120.45065 @ $31.14 ea
http://thmotorsports.com/centric/centric_brake_rotors_premium/12045065/i-335180.aspx

StopTech Street Performance Brake Pads
P/N:309.10950 @ $84.83
http://thmotorsports.com/stoptech/stoptech_brake_pads_street_performance/30910950/i-380708.aspx

Tonight I'm putting the rest of the parts together that I need to order, and will post up shortly when I have it complete for you smart people's final review to make sure I have everything covered.

First parts in:
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Let's talk swaybars, end links, and Mazdaspeed3 parts.

1st Gen (2007-2009) Mazdaspeed3 26mm Sway Bar P/N:
Prothane 26mm Rear Sway Bar Bushing P/N: 19-1142BL

Mazdaspeed3 Rear End Link options (price/pair). Should I go with a normal replacement or look at one of the other options below?

Anthony Woodford Racing (AWR) $115
http://store.awrracing.com/products...d2009-%2d-Rear-%2d-Aftermarket-Sway-Bars.html

CorkSport $100
http://www.corksport.com/corksport-mazda-3-mazdaspeed-3-rear-adjustable-swaybar-end-links.html

Moog K750069 $52/pr
Raybestos Pro 5451820 $52/pr
Beck/Arnley 1015721 $76/pr


Is there ANYTHING ELSE Mazdaspeed3 that would be an improvement over the factory Mazda5 parts? I see that MS3 has different lateral links, not sure if that matters.
 
try to find some used mazdaspeed3 sway bars, get Moog branded OEM replacement end links, and some prothane urethane bushings for them. done.

also, look for some 2012+ mazda5 rear springs. they are supposedly a little stiffer than the earlier model springs.
 
try to find some used mazdaspeed3 sway bars, get Moog branded OEM replacement end links, and some prothane urethane bushings for them. done.

also, look for some 2012+ mazda5 rear springs. they are supposedly a little stiffer than the earlier model springs.

I had seen that suggestion in another thread, Davicho I believe. So pretty much everyone is happy with the Moog end links then?

2012+ Rear Springs
P/N: CG37-28-011 @ 45.25/ea.
http://www.tascaparts.com/oe-mazda/cg3728011

2012+ Upper Spring Seat @ $12.39/ea.
P/N: C273-28-012C
http://www.tascaparts.com/oe-mazda/c27328012c
 
Good buy on the knois. I'm torn between them and what I have.

I would suggest anyone who plan on doing pads AND rotors to upgrade the fronts to MS3 calipers and pads/rotor. Marginal cost increase and you should be replacing the brake fluid. Different if you are only doing pads.

Just to be sure, you need MS3 end links if you use the MS3 RSB.
 
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Good buy on the knois. I'm torn between them and what I have.

I would suggest anyone who plan on doing pads AND rotors to upgrade the fronts to MS3 calipers and pads/rotor. Marginal cost increase and you should be replacing the brake fluid. Different if you are only doing pads.

Just to be sure, you need MS3 end links if you use the MS3 RSB.
So the Mazdaspeed3 brakes are a bolt-on too for the 5? That is good to know -- I'll keep it in mind for next time the front brakes are due. These are just the rears so I didn't put much into them.

Gotcha on the MS3 end links.

So what will be noticeable going with the '12+ springs (and pads)?

MS3 rear sway won't cause her to fly off the on-ramp if she lifts the gas pedal or anything crazy like that right?

The rear sway bar you want should be P/N B37F-28-151
Excellent, thanks! Lowest price I can find on that new is $130 at Tasca...hopefully something used comes up for that.
 
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You can order new if you like but the originals are generally fine to be reused. The rear shock mounts, on the other hand really should be replaced. While you are under there take a good look at your trailing arm bushings and lateral links, they may be suspect, depending on your mileage.
 
Thanks Secondtyme. I threw up a wanted ad in the Mazdaspeed3 forum, hopefully I'll get some hits on it. I checked eBay but not much luck. I've got zero opposition to a stock take-off part.

Yessir, ordering new shock mounts, rear trail arm bushings, and front strut mount/bearings. Uncertain if I should "just do" the rear upper control arms and lateral links while I have everything apart -- not sure how they wear, but I'm thinking I ought to just do it all at once.

Front, I'm also going to be looking at picking up the front sway bar end links and sway bar bushings. I'd hope the front control arms are OK.
 
What I found on mine, which 169k on it and had begun gobbling up rear tires, was the lateral links were totally trashed, along with the trailing arm bushings and the shocks. My upper arms (the s shaped things that can be replaced with adjustable aftermarket items) were 100 % fine. You are going to need a shop press for the trailing arm bushings. Before you press out the old ones mark the trailing arm as to the orientation of the bushing. The steel sleeve has a flat side that shows where the cross pin is located, you want to make sure the new one is properly oriented, or it will wear out faster from twisting stress
 
Good to know on the upper control arms. I was reading this thread here: http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123740821-Rear-Wheel-Camber-is-Eating-Tires/page3

That thing's almost got me wanting adjustable upper arms "just in case". I didn't realize there were so many problems, but come to think of it the original Toyo tires did wear out on the inside like that. Made me wonder, so I went out to look at the current tires. Mileage unsure, but they are wearing on the inside it looks like to me.

I do not know if it's due to other worn components, or a camber issue requiring adjustable upper arms.

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Doesn't look too bad but does look like you should consider adjustable control arms. I know some alignment shops give "free" alignment checks (just decline the actual alignment service). It could be compounded by toe measurements being too far out. I'm a fan of Hunter equipment. http://www.gsp9700.com/search/findgsp9700.cfm and call shops that use their Straight Talk equipment to see if anyone will do a free check.

It doesn't look like the FSDs come with bump stops correct? You'd probably need new ones. Go OEM for a simple fix or you can contact http://www.fatcatmotorsports.com/ or Eibach and get one of their better ones.
 
I'll have to check out free checks, good tip.

Couple other smart friends have told me it's a toe issue more than a camber issue also.

No bump stops with the Konis, only what you see in the box there. That FatCat consultation deal looks a little complicated/overkill for my wife's DD, plus it's $75 to ask them questions for 20 minutes, but good to know they exist. Unless any one already knows exactly what's needed? I didn't think about those or the covers. I need covers too or reuse existing OEM?

Looks like $158 for Mazda 3.
http://fatcatmotorsports.com/FCM_Koni_products_MS3.htm

Looks like 28-320B is the part number for the bump stop, but not listed as purchasable.
http://www.jimellismazdaparts.com/s...odel=14357&modelYear=2008&ukey_category=20286

Thought it was, apparently the P/N is CGY0-28-1A0 @ $40 each. (shocked)
http://www.tascaparts.com/oe-mazda/cgy0281a0
 
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The bump stop is sort of incorporated into the cover, when you remove the oe ones you'll see what I mean. My feeling is that the inside wear has as much to do with the lateral links and control armbushings as it does the upper arms. Maybe its because mine were SO bad, with the shocks out and the lower control arm (spring pocket? ) disconnected I could wiggle the control arm about 5 degrees out of true. It seems a wonder to me the car would hold an alignment at all oh and Continental FTW :)
 
Put the ass-end up in the air today to take a closer look. Makes sense now how the the bump stop/cover comes off/apart. I will just reuse the factory cover I imagine. I didn't pull out calipers to measure, but the shock rod diameter looks the same on the Konis and the factory. Shouldn't need anything fancy.

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That's not good.
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Good thing I ordered brakes.
DSCN3932.JPG
 
Each time I see pictures of mz5 in the rust belt or salt sprayed areas I'm so glad I live in southern California!
 
I have been under mine numerous times and im surprised how well its held up to seven years of Newfoundland winters. I think we use more salt here, plus their is a salt content in the air from the ocean.

got it rust checked last year. keep the crud at bay. The only thing that rusts really bad is the brake rotors. Changing them out this year anyways with NAPA ultra. No more rust.
 

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