Hey all:
I've been chasing a noise and hi-speed cornering issue for ahwile, and I've narrowed it down (at least in part) to some REALLLY, REALLY bad bushings in the rear.

Does anyone make an aftermarket / urethane bushing kit for these cars? Or am I relegated to the soft, mushy factory ones?

TIA.

 

Unfortunately I don't think there are any aftermarket one. You may try removing them, measuring it and seeing if they are the say size for Mazda 3/6. They make all kinds of performance parts for them.

 

plz post your findings. i would be interesed in seeing if tey are compatble.

 

I was considering doing just that.
I'm told that the rear suspension setup is derived from the Lincoln MKVII (or something like that) platform. IF that's true, I might start looking there, as that would mean that it's also very similar (in concept) to the Ford Cobra.

 

I tried the Lincoln few years back...wasn't successful. I had better luck with the Mazda. But, either way, let us know...

 

well, my search has not started well.
It turns-out that the bushings I needare integral to the control arm, and are "non-replaceable", without replacing the entire control arm... which I'm going to have to do.
$105/ea.

this is the rear suspension, 'front-lower' control arm.

 

oh well...I personally thought that the factory setup on that particular item was tight...

 

'tight' as in 'good'?
mineare VERY worn. I've been trying to track down a large lateral motion in the rear, and that's whereI've finally narrowed it to.

 

Hi,

I was wondering if there was any information on aftermarket bushings?

Thanks

 

As the guy at NAPA said when I asked for wiper blades - 'dealer only'. He was kidding on the blades, but you'll find little in aftermarket for these cars.

 

You can get aftermarket bushings for the rear bars to a certain extent. Some of the bushings are jag unique and there are no replacements out there. As for getting the others out, that will take a little bit of work as they are formed with the arm. So, you have to use a vice and push out the center and then clean out the inside at that point. From there, you will need to get some good polyeurathane bushings and then cut out about 1/4" from the center to make them fit as the Jag bushings are a little narrower than most. The hard part will be shaving down the center metal sleeve. But, that isn't hard. if you want the measurements, let me know and I will measure my rear lower/forward arms again and send you the specs. I'm looking into a new upper arm to fix an alignment issue that I am having and am looking at some upper arms from a Ford Focus. They appear to be about the same size as the X-Types. I just want to get a Focus arm in my hands before I just start buying aftermarket arms just to find out that they don't fit. So, if someone has a Ford Focus, if they could measure the upper arm for the rear (center of bolt to center of bolt), that would be greatly appreciated. If I remember right, the 00-06 Focus' are all the same (or something close, I'm specifically after an 03 if at all possible).

 

Thanks for the info Thermo,

Yah, I thought about doing that as well, removing the bushings from the control arms, cleaning the insides out a bit, and then fabricating new bushings.

Unfortunately, I'm in China and I can't even find the aftermarket bushings out here. I know that they are probably all made here, but, I just can't seem to find them in any of the retail automotive stores.

 

Thermo, sorry to revive an old thread but what suspension problem are(were?) you having? I've got way too much negative camber in my rear and I've seen other X's with similar problems. Is there something that gives in the rear over time and use to cause this problem? I've got 119k miles on my 04 and my shocks are also going so I'm looking at doing that as well.
You could order salvage parts off car-part.com for the purpose of prototyping, I do it all the time.

 

chknhwk, the problem I was having at the time was as I was making a wide turn, if I got on and off the gas, I could feel the back end shift (like the back end was starting to come around, but it would only move an inch or so then stop) and I was starting to experience excessive inside wear on the rear tires. I narrowed that problem down to the short forward arms in the rear in my case (inside bushing was worn). But, as I was in there, I also looked at how the suspension was setup. If your tires are leaning in at the top, then odds are, the upper arms for the rear suspension are toast. That is the only suspension part that can cause that sort of problem.

As for the prototyping of parts, I am on hold for the moment with that. Life is keeping me busy at the moment. But, hopefully will be coming up with an answer.

 

I know how life can put some things on hold - I've had an amp waiting to go in my car for about two years. LOL Good luck on the prototyping and thank you for the insight on the UCA's in the rear, I'll take a look at them.