Suspension Upgrade - What else to look for?

[toine888]

Hi all,
I just booked in at centreline to get my B8's and King Springs installed

A couple of questions to all, is there some way of telling if my Front Strut Top Mounts will need replacing? My car currently has no knocking when turning etc, so I am hoping it will be ok. I can get centreline to order them in and prepare for the worst. What was everyone's experience when changing shocks and springs? i had a quick search and people talk of sway bar bushes etc. I have no noise currently so does this mean with new suspension i will be ok also? Troy mentioned bearing tops, so maybe i need to get some in preparation?

Thanks

[allo80]

Hi,

im running the same set up on my car and really like it! Chuck in a Rear sway bar and you'll have a great handling car. Theres a good thread on aftermarket suspension, check it out.

I considered the Front strut top mounts (including the bearing) but it was in good condition (45k km old and 3.5 yrs old) and i wanted my B8s/springs installed ASAP (couldnt wait to get the top mounts ordered and delivered). Others have mentioned that the top mounts are a wear item and whilst you are removing the strut assembly its good practice to change them (otherwise its a PITA to remove the whole strut assembly just for mount replacement).

Let us know how you like the ride (once complete)

[2XS]

If your car is anywhere near 90+kms, I'd get the strut tops/bearings.
Every 1 I've removed that is close to or over 100+kms have been rooted.

[toine888]

Hi,

im running the same set up on my car and really like it! Chuck in a Rear sway bar and you'll have a great handling car. Theres a good thread on aftermarket suspension, check it out.

I considered the Front strut top mounts (including the bearing) but it was in good condition (45k km old and 3.5 yrs old) and i wanted my B8s/springs installed ASAP (couldnt wait to get the top mounts ordered and delivered). Others have mentioned that the top mounts are a wear item and whilst you are removing the strut assembly its good practice to change them (otherwise its a PITA to remove the whole strut assembly just for mount replacement).

Let us know how you like the ride (once complete)

Thanks mate well I did heaps of research on best shock/spring combo and this set up together with b8 and eibachs came up trumps with most people. Can I ask, did you go the low's at front and super low's at the back? It seems funny to me as the front looks like they would need more lowering but I assume front springs are shorter by default?

If your car is anywhere near 90+kms, I'd get the strut tops/bearings.
Every 1 I've removed that is close to or over 100+kms have been rooted.

Thank troy, mine has done 65000 kms so maybe will be ok? What about bump stops, will they help?



Sent from my GT-N8000 using Tapatalk 2

[allo80]

Yep, lows at front, and super lows at back. It's nice and square after installation.

[Yeldarb]

This is how mine sites...any lower in the front for me and I'll be doing road works for the Brisbane City Council.

[RedDjinn]

This is how mine sites...any lower in the front for me and I'll be doing road works for the Brisbane City Council.

sexie as always

[Lachlan]

If your car is anywhere near 90+kms, I'd get the strut tops/bearings.
Every 1 I've removed that is close to or over 100+kms have been rooted.

+1 to this.
Mine were around 67000 and the mechanic said the strut tops practically fell apart when he took the oem suspension off.


Sent from my evil apple using TapaCrash

[toine888]

This is how mine sites...any lower in the front for me and I'll be doing road works for the Brisbane City Council.

Such awesome rims Yeldarb! I want some of those!

Mmm ok maybe ill get hi to order the strut tops and replace them either way. Any idea how much I should pay?

Sent from my GT-N8000 using Tapatalk 2

[Reedy]

Some suspension kits come with their own. KW coilovers have their own solid strut top bearing. Not sure about spring/dampers that are bought separately tho.

[toine888]

OK i just spoke to Mazda about this strut top hat part, and he said there are 3 parts, some steel part, a bearing, and a plastic top hat. Can anyone confirm its the plastic top hat that is the one prone to damage?
They are $70 each from Mazda. need to order asap. thanks guys @2XS, @Lachlan, @Yeldarb

Thanks!

[dazza]

I would've thought its the strut bearings (bushings) that go bad?

[MattMPS3]

Here is the best reason to invest in new strut tops and bearings,

A few weeks before Xmas, I had a bit of a clunk sound coming from my drivers side front suspension, which I had just passed off as a noisy swaybar / loose endlink kind of sound. Given that I was insanely busy with work and family commitments I didnt really have any time to start crawling around under the car, the week before Xmas the noise got louder and more frequent, I got under the car and couldn't find anything that appeared to be loose or out of place, I had a quick look under the bonnet and noticed this crack in the strut top:



As I needed the car to get me to and fro work (and I figured that it had been like that for a while now), I drove very carefully to Mazda to order the parts, and then to work, on my way home that afternoon, I went over a speed hump that was about the size of Mt Everest, and this happened.



Fortunately I was able to baby the car home, jack it up, and wait for my parts to come from Mazda, as you can see the strut top and bearing are completely destroyed, I fitted the new parts over the break and the world is a happy place again, luckily due to the coilovers I didn't need to use spring compressors, I was able to wind the perches down far enough to relieve the spring tension on the strut tops.




The strut tops were approx $80ea, and the bearings were around $45 ea.

[MattMPS3]

Here is the diagram of the suspension parts and torques from the service manual

[toine888]

OK i have taken a couple of pics from engine bay - they actually look in quite good nick. I will still think about buying the replacement parts.

[MattMPS3]

Mine also looked really good, until they cracked and failed, there was no progressive deterioration, not that was noticeable from the top anyway. I believe the bearings fail first, which then causes the springs & strut towers to bind which in turn causes the tops to fail.

If you are paying to have them installed, and the tops fail shortly after the install, you will be paying to have the work done again with the parts price, also worth noting that due to my coilovers having inverted struts has probably kept them straight, a std type strut would most likely have bent given the same circumstances.

[Lachlan]

I got pedders replacement strut tops which were $56 each. It just says 'strut tops' on the invoice, but I think that included bearings, as my mechanic said the little ball bearings ended up flying across his shop, so I assume they got replaced as part of it.
Might be worth a check.


Sent from my evil apple using TapaCrash

[toine888]

Thanks mate I just went to local pedders and they can do all the parts required, tops bearings bushes for 120 each. The guy then made me rethink my decision to go with the king Springs and I should definitely go the Eibachs with the B8s. He was saying kings are notorious for inconsistent ride heights in their springs as they batch test and don't test every spring they manufacture. Ahhh the decisions. I have only read positive comments on kings and B8s together on here.

I got pedders replacement strut tops which were $56 each. It just says 'strut tops' on the invoice, but I think that included bearings, as my mechanic said the little ball bearings ended up flying across his shop, so I assume they got replaced as part of it.
Might be worth a check.


Sent from my evil apple using TapaCrash

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

[zacman]

The guy then made me rethink my decision to go with the king Springs and I should definitely go the Eibachs with the B8s. He was saying kings are notorious for inconsistent ride heights in their springs as they batch test and don't test every spring they manufacture. Ahhh the decisions. I have only read positive comments on kings and B8s together on here.

Pfft. That's just the Pedders guy trying to extract more money out of you. There's nothing wrong with Kings, and for the money you can't beat them. I ran them on my old car with Bilsteins and had no worries at all. If you've already bought the King springs, it's not worth wasting the time/hassle/money getting something else.

[Yeldarb]

^ This...

Sent from Samsung Note 2 LTE