BC Racing Coilovers for Mazda 5 - Unboxing

[njaremka]

Welcome. Back to work, will finish write-up tonight. You can browse the directory I'm linking the pictures from if you want a sneak peek.

just got done going through all 144 pictures. HOLY CRAP! nice job with the documentation.

i SERIOUSLY want to do the exact same with the wife's mazda5, but with kid #2 on the way, it probably wont happen.

 

[Silentnoise713]

Looks good Phunky! Can’t wait to see/hear about your install. I’ve been waiting to see how you went about cutting the access hole for the camber adjustment bolts and exactly how much you needed to cut. I like how you went about using the BC plate (or is that the stock plate) as a guide to cut the hole and that you cut bottom-up. Any reason why you choose to cut bottom-up vs. top-down (lacking working space, metal debris?)?

Also, did you need the access hole to be as large as it is? Looking at the pic where you cut out the two rings, could you have gotten away with just cutting the inner most ring? Would this give you enough space to access the camber bolts? It looks like the thin ring is from another overlapping panel and cutting could be avoided. IMO, less cutting is good (rust).

I couldn’t make out how you made provisions to access the rear adjustable turn knob. Looking forward to that.

For my reference (hopefully links/file names don’t change )
http://hondaswap.com/~mike/mz5/2012...r_ms3_rsb_ts_camber/mz5_susp_inst_800_029.jpg
http://hondaswap.com/~mike/mz5/2012...r_ms3_rsb_ts_camber/mz5_susp_inst_800_031.jpg
http://hondaswap.com/~mike/mz5/2012...r_ms3_rsb_ts_camber/mz5_susp_inst_800_035.jpg
http://hondaswap.com/~mike/mz5/2012...r_ms3_rsb_ts_camber/mz5_susp_inst_800_046.jpg
http://hondaswap.com/~mike/mz5/2012...r_ms3_rsb_ts_camber/mz5_susp_inst_800_048.jpg
http://hondaswap.com/~mike/mz5/2012...r_ms3_rsb_ts_camber/mz5_susp_inst_800_060.jpg

 

[phunky.buddha]

Looks great! Are you going to lower the front a tad bit. I'm sure it's even but it would look better with a tiny bit of rake in front. It almost looks like a bit of butt sag.

I guess it could look like a little bit of butt sag, but that's just from looking at the car at stock height with the rake in it. The rear spring rates are almost even with the front (stock is WAY softer), so the car squats a lot less under load and acceleration. I don't want to lower the front any more than it already is, especially since I'm planning on stuffing more tire into the wheel well. It'll look pretty full when I'm done. I prefer even wheel gaps all around anyway, even in my truck. I think it just looks better.

just got done going through all 144 pictures. HOLY CRAP! nice job with the documentation.

i SERIOUSLY want to do the exact same with the wife's mazda5, but with kid #2 on the way, it probably wont happen.

Aw man, so you spoiled the surprise for yourself! That was cut down from about 400 pictures too. I won't use them all in one writeup though- I'm splitting between the coilovers, camber arms, and sway bar.

Looks good Phunky! Can’t wait to see/hear about your install. I’ve been waiting to see how you went about cutting the access hole for the camber adjustment bolts and exactly how much you needed to cut. I like how you went about using the BC plate (or is that the stock plate) as a guide to cut the hole and that you cut bottom-up. Any reason why you choose to cut bottom-up vs. top-down (lacking working space, metal debris?)?

Also, did you need the access hole to be as large as it is? Looking at the pic where you cut out the two rings, could you have gotten away with just cutting the inner most ring? Would this give you enough space to access the camber bolts? It looks like the thin ring is from another overlapping panel and cutting could be avoided. IMO, less cutting is good (rust).

I couldn’t make out how you made provisions to access the rear adjustable turn knob. Looking forward to that.

I can't wait to write it- hopefully I can finish tonight... but I still have to get to NTB before they close and bribe the guy to not charge me anything additional for the alignment (slip a $20 into his pocket, that rear camber is going to be a pain!) and I had to bring work home.

I wanted the access hole to be the same size as the recess in the top plate to give maximum room to work in. It's pretty tight in there as is- no need to piss off the alignment tech more than necessary. The outer ring came out as a consequence of the drilling- I didn't plan or not plan to go through it- I just wanted to cut everything that was in the way. No significant structural integrity is lost, so I didn't really want to have a small hole. And no rust issue- that's what the Rustoleum is for.

Rear knob, easy.

 

[dasboot]

Awesome job on the cut. Pretty clean! What'd you use, a plasma cutter or something?

 

[phunky.buddha]

Sorry for the delay on the writeup guys- it's been a crazy week. I got the alignment done on Tuesday though: -1 degrees camber front, -1.5 degrees camber rear, 0.0 toe all around.

Awesome job on the cut. Pretty clean! What'd you use, a plasma cutter or something?

Hole saw.

 

[Silentnoise713]

Sorry for the delay on the writeup guys- it's been a crazy week. I got the alignment done on Tuesday though: -1 degrees camber front, -1.5 degrees camber rear, 0.0 toe all around.

Patiently waiting for the write-up and your review!

How did you conclude with those alignment specs? Specifically, why did you choose to go with zero toe all around?

 

[phunky.buddha]

Sorry, went out of town at the end of last week and have had no sleep. Will finish writeup this week.

I like my cars twitchy, and honestly zero toe isn't bad at all on the highway. The response is pretty immediate. On my S2000 I run zero toe up front with a bit of toe in on the rear since it's a tail happy car, so I tried to do something similar but with more aggressive toe settings in the back to help turn-in feel and reducing understeer. The bushings are probably flexing while the car is in motion and pushing them to a toe-out condition on the road though, so I'll probably dial a bit of toe-in back into the system to make sure the car is more stable. It's not like I'm taking it to a race track or something. I'll likely tell my alignment tech to put the rears back to the minimum toe-in spec listed by Mazda.

 

[daan]

OK unless you put all these pix somewhere I can't see... how are the rears accessed to adjust? Or don't you adjust those? If the adjuster sticks out into the cabin, is the knob something the kids back there can grab and mess with?

 

[Trdkamuri51o]

OK unless you put all these pix somewhere I can't see... how are the rears accessed to adjust? Or don't you adjust those? If the adjuster sticks out into the cabin, is the knob something the kids back there can grab and mess with?

simply put dan.. take out your cupholders and u can adjust the damper... as for the spring perches well its easier to drop the lca... and adjust from there than trying to get the wrenches in there under the car

 

[phunky.buddha]

OK unless you put all these pix somewhere I can't see... how are the rears accessed to adjust? Or don't you adjust those? If the adjuster sticks out into the cabin, is the knob something the kids back there can grab and mess with?

There are some more waiting to be uploaded... working on it right now. At this rate it'll be 2013 before I finish everything.

simply put dan.. take out your cupholders and u can adjust the damper... as for the spring perches well its easier to drop the lca... and adjust from there than trying to get the wrenches in there under the car

Yup, they're right under the cup holders in the rear. If I had figured that out first instead of following the service manual's disassembly instructions, I would have saved myself quite a few hours of work ripping out all the back plastic (and seats) and then putting them back in.

 

[rat240]

what size hole saw did you use to cut out the holes in the front upper strut towers

 

[njaremka]

what size hole saw did you use to cut out the holes in the front upper strut towers

this was taken from his installation directory:
http://hondaswap.com/~mike/mz5/2012...r_ms3_rsb_ts_camber/mz5_susp_inst_800_037.jpg

 

[rat240]

cool thank you for the info

 

[phunky.buddha]

Yup, 3 1/8. Sorry, life gets in the way. I'll have a writeup like... this year.

 

[phunky.buddha]

Install / Review thread here: http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/search.php?searchid=785891

 

[HalfaBrick718]

Install / Review thread here: http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/search.php?searchid=785891

This link don't work brother

 

[phunky.buddha]

This link don't work brother

Fixed. Probably got broken when the thread was moved to the DIY section.

 

[HalfaBrick718]

Fixed. Probably got broken when the thread was moved to the DIY section.

Got it! Great Tutorial bro!! I downloaded all the pics on my iPhone and I will use it to install my coilovers and camber arms this weekend. Question. Did you have trouble with the camber arms? I've read in other ones that on the passenger side there's a really tight space to work with and remove a long bolt. Any tips?? Again great tutorial!

 

[phunky.buddha]

Got it! Great Tutorial bro!! I downloaded all the pics on my iPhone and I will use it to install my coilovers and camber arms this weekend. Question. Did you have trouble with the camber arms? I've read in other ones that on the passenger side there's a really tight space to work with and remove a long bolt. Any tips?? Again great tutorial!

Welcome- I did have trouble with the camber arms. The driver's side inner bolt on the upper control arm will be blocked by an exhaust hanger. The "right way" to remove it is to loosen the entire rear subframe through the mount bolts and then slide the bolt out- but I didn't want to mess with that (and possibly upset the base alignment of the car) so I just cut the hanger off. There seems to be one every foot in the back of the car anyway, so losing one in the middle somewhere won't hurt. It's an easy weight reduction too.



The camber arms ARE a pain to adjust once on the car though- so try to ballpark your adjustment before you install them. I got lucky with mine and nailed the measurement the first time- if you follow the guide maybe you'll end up at the same measurement.

 

[06mazda5krew]

Do i buy coilovers made for mazda 5 or mazda 3 coil-overs for my Mazda 5?

I have a few questions I need to address before I invest in a set of coil-overs for my 2006 Mazda 5 Sport.

First question I have is:


a) Does any Mazda 3 coil-over will direct install onto a 2006 Mazda 5 sport or do I need to buy newer Coil-overs made for the Mazda 5 to have proper fitment? If coil overs are not a direct fit, what has to be done for a correct installation?

b) Does it matter if I bought Mazda 3 or Mazdaspeed 3 coil-overs for my 2006 Mazda 6 sport.

c) Since we have a mini van, does it matter if we get Raceland Coil-overs or better spending a lot on a set of track ready set-up coil-over? I just want stance and able to driver around slammed, please advise.

Thanks