Front Suspension Rebuild
   by Eric Thompson
   eathomp2@bud11.edaal.ingr.com

[This article deals with rebuilding the stock front end, which is different than the Strut Swap & Brake Caliper Upgrade, which deals with upgrading the stock parts in an early first gen. -RR]

   At 138,000 miles there wasn't a good joint on the front of the car. I got poly control arm bushings, sway bar bushings and tension rod bushings from MazdaTrix. Instead of replacing the control arms, I bought the ball joints from Victoria British, as well as inner and outer tie rod ends and idler arm bushings. The tie rod ends and ball joints have zerk fittings so I can lube them (I like that over the sealed type).

   Disassembly is straight forward (I used the Helms Mazda manual). In case you haven't done it before, removing the caliper brackets is a bitch. If you have done it before, you already knew that. It's really difficult to get a wrench on the bolt, and when you try to turn it, the backing plate tries to lift it off the head. I finally put the wrench over the bolt and wedged the handle of a pair of pliars over it to keep it from lifting off.

   The only other semi-tricky part to disassembly was separating the tie rod ends and getting the knuckle arm off the ball joints. It's real hard to separate them without tearing the grease boot of the joint (tricky). Since the boots on mine were already torn (badly), and I was replacing the joints with new ones, I didn't care how bad I hurt them (easy). Tricky plus easy equals semi-tricky. I used the pickle fork and hammer approach with excellent results.

   The control arm bushings come out easily; the ball joints require a machine shop (large press). Any decent automotive machine shop can do it (cost me $15).

   At this point I decided that since I had the thing torn down, I might as well put in new strut cartridges. That goes by the book as well.

   Reassembly is straight forward. The new bushings that require lubrication come with an industrial strength, gooey, sticky, ain't-coming-off-your-hands lubricant packaged with them. Make sure to properly torque all fasteners and pin them in place. Then make sure to grease the fittings, or you'll be doing this again soon.

   Remembering how difficult it was to get a wrench on the caliper brackets, I took a grinder and removed about 1/8" from the bottom inside of the backing plates. Made wrench access to the bolt much easier.

   Driving to the alignment shop was interesting. I found out before I got out of the driveway that if I let go of the wheel, the car was turning. Didn't know which way, but it was turning. $40 for alignment, and it tracks great and steering feels a lot better.

   I didn't replace the idler arm bushings. Apparently my pitman arm puller walked off somewhere. I couldn't feel any play in the arm, so I decided to let it go. You'll need a puller to replace the bushings.

   It goes without saying that when you do this, you also have to repack the wheel bearings, so make sure you have the seals handy.