SuperPro or OEM Suspension Bushes?

[Yugen]

Hi guys I'm gonna be tearing off and refreshing my suspension soon and was wondering do I go superpro bushes or OEM, or what's the best combination of both? Cheers!

 

[Gunnytron]

From what I have heard stock are best, but they are stupid expensive so most to poly.

 

[Tangelos]

I went with superpro but the kit doesnt come with the lower rear bushing. Powerflex does it but its better to go OEM for that part. 2x FD0128460 for the bush and 2x FD0128461 for the rubber spacer on the other side, and the rest superpro with new OEM pillowballs.

 

[Yugen]

Awesome! Thank you fellas!

 

[Joeybratten]

I went with superpro but the kit doesnt come with the lower rear bushing. Powerflex does it but its better to go OEM for that part. 2x FD0128460 for the bush and 2x FD0128461 for the rubber spacer on the other side, and the rest superpro with new OEM pillowballs.

Why better to go oem? Black series would be stiffer no?

 

[Ceylon]

Stiffness really isn't everything. Super pro analysed how each bush was used and only made poly replacements if they could improve on it's function. They came to the conclusion poly had no positive affect and didn't perform as well as the oem bush in this location so suggest you use an OEM one instead.

 

[4packet]

Why better to go oem? Black series would be stiffer no?

The suspension twists as well as rotates. OEM are spherical bushes encapsulated in rubber (for NVH) to allow for this. Poly bushes are only designed to rotate. That said, I used the Superpro kit with the black series poly for the lower inner. I'd be amazed if anyone could tell the difference. I checked for binding before fitting the damper and all seemed well. I originally wanted to stick with the OEM bushes, but my NS lower inner was worn. Made the handling scary on track as it toes the wheel out when loaded, making the car over rotate.

 

[Joeybratten]

Ah ok, I didn't realise that bush was a spherical inside, I have a black series in that bush currently

 

[CarbonRX]

Don't forget the pillow ball bushes while at it. It certainly increases the overhaul cost but removes the most clonks.

 

[giryan]

yeah, new OEM is better than poly which is better than knackered 25 year old OEM, which is why most people see an improvement going to poly bushes

 

[Jake_rorx7]

I went all poly on my 350z, felt nice in twisties but the CREAKING at low speeds oh my god. If you drive like a granny like me, get OEM, unless you cant source one for the price you want, I guess. Seems poly is cheap compared to OEM on the 7's. If you grease the crap out of it, its ok. Will still make noise though.

If its a track car then every track driver I know says poly.

 

[Yugen]

So I'm gonna go all OEM I reckon, I did it with my Eunos and I dont regret that! Does anyone have access to all the part numbers I'll need? I've found a few on the forums but I cant locate all of them. To be clear I'm looking to change every bush on the underside. Cheers!

 

[giryan]

I used this:

Мазда РХ-7: rear lower arm & subframe Запчасти

Mazda RX-7 - каталог запчастей. Запчасти на Мазда RX-7 в кузове FD3S.

mazda.epcdata.ru

and this

Lower Damper Bushing

Buy Mazda - Lower Damper Bushing F123-34-710A direct from Japan, 100% genuine parts shipped worldwide.

www.nengun.com

to work it out, it wasn't too hard to look at all the pics and correlate the bits.

Then I went into Mazda with a printout, and the guy at the parts counter could find everything on their system, it was almost all available without any trouble (just slow shipping times)
I ended up actually ordering from Nengun for the OE parts, it was more expensive, because I got airfreight instead of Mazda putting them on a boat

I did get this set for some of the bushes instead of all OE:

Hardrace MAZDA RX7 FD REAR UPPER ARM BUSHING PILLOWBALL + RUBBER 8PCS/SET

HARDRACE:7763Pillow Ball Bushing: 6 PCSHigh Density Rubber Bushing: 2 PCS8 PCS/SETPillow ball bushing provides excellent driver feedback. Precise control and solid suspension feel. High durability and reliability. Excellent driver feedback. Increase steering response . Solid response. OEM...

www.driftworks.com

that actually took longer than the parts from Japan to arrive though

 

[Yugen]

I used this:

Мазда РХ-7: rear lower arm & subframe Запчасти

Mazda RX-7 - каталог запчастей. Запчасти на Мазда RX-7 в кузове FD3S.

mazda.epcdata.ru

and this

Lower Damper Bushing

Buy Mazda - Lower Damper Bushing F123-34-710A direct from Japan, 100% genuine parts shipped worldwide.

www.nengun.com

to work it out, it wasn't too hard to look at all the pics and correlate the bits.

Then I went into Mazda with a printout, and the guy at the parts counter could find everything on their system, it was almost all available without any trouble (just slow shipping times)
I ended up actually ordering from Nengun for the OE parts, it was more expensive, because I got airfreight instead of Mazda putting them on a boat

I did get this set for some of the bushes instead of all OE:

Hardrace MAZDA RX7 FD REAR UPPER ARM BUSHING PILLOWBALL + RUBBER 8PCS/SET

HARDRACE:7763Pillow Ball Bushing: 6 PCSHigh Density Rubber Bushing: 2 PCS8 PCS/SETPillow ball bushing provides excellent driver feedback. Precise control and solid suspension feel. High durability and reliability. Excellent driver feedback. Increase steering response . Solid response. OEM...

www.driftworks.com

that actually took longer than the parts from Japan to arrive though

Thank you so much for this! I'll rifle through and get a definitive list and post it up here for people who'll need it in the future

 

[Jester*]

Thank you so much for this! I'll rifle through and get a definitive list and post it up here for people who'll need it in the future

A definitive list would be very handy. Thanks for putting the leg work in. Am a fan of Hardrace bits so the link above is also really useful to see.

 

[rx_dreamer]

I like the way their solution is a cable tie to the brake hose for the ABS sensor

 

[Yugen]

Okay so I've located all the bushes needed! I'll post up the 5 digit catalogue identifying numbers for now since that's what you'll need to get the parts from a mazda dealership. When my heads less frazzled I'll get the actual part numbers in case you want to buy from Nengun or Amayama!

 

[Yugen]

The fella couldn't find 28-8C0 but here is the valuation... I had to add that remark

 

[giryan]

The fella couldn't find 28-8C0 but here is the valuation... I had to add that remark
View attachment 30727

Yikes.
Although when I replaced the rears IIRC the HardRace kit + the OE parts was probably about a grand, so might not be super far off ?

 

[Yugen]

Yikes.
Although when I replaced the rears IIRC the HardRace kit + the OE parts was probably about a grand, so might not be super far off ?

I'm too young for this FD life