Front swaybar bushings...

P

Pastime-Gamer

Member
:
2001 Mazda MP3 {Blue}
So I installed an OBX header last month and love it, but when I was under there I saw my front sway bar bushings are totally shot to hell.

My first question is do 2001 protege bushings form a local auto parts store fit the my MP3?

Second how on earth do you change the bushings...
 
Have you raised the car and looked at the set up? If the MP3 is anything like the MSP you can get to the top bolt on each side with a 14mm combination, the bottom bolts are right there. It will be tricky to thread the bolt back in but not impossible without dropping the sub frame. At least that is my take after looking at it after fixing something else on the front end.
 
I just e-mailed Jason at http://www.onlinemazdaparts.com/ and he sent back a message with the part I needed. Here's the Part Number, BN7H34156A.
Click to expand...

I am looking to replace my front sway bar bushings as well, so I went on the above mentioned website to see what the price of the bushings would be. However, I noticed a problem. If you enter that part number in the search box, the result specifically states that the bushing is for a Protege W/O (WITHOUT) the sport suspension. This leads me to believe that this is NOT the correct bushing. Has anyone looked into this any further? Has anyone actually purchased these bushings?
 
I bought those and installed those on my MP3 it was pretty easy. It is the correct part number but if you don't believe me just email them.
 
Pastime-Gamer,

It's not that I don't believe you. I thought maybe they emailed you the wrong part number after seeing the part description on their website. I was not aware of the fact that you had actually ordered and installed them.

Just before you replied I called Montgomery Mazda's parts department and tried to explain what I found on their website because I wanted to confirm if the bushings were the correct part number before ordering them. I spoke to a guy named Eric who was actually quite rude when I tried to explain to him what part I wanted and why I was calling. I told him that I was checking because the part description on their website did not seem correct. After I questioned whether that was the correct part he told me to call back with my VIN number and hung up on me. I could understand that kind or reaction if I had been rude to him, but I was not. Even if that is the correct part, I do not know if I will order it from them now.

By the way, did your front sway bar make a clunking noise (similar to the infamous sound that the rear sway bar makes) when your bushings needed replaced? I have a clunk coming from the front right now. My front sway bar bushings do not look all that great so I was going to go ahead and replace them and hope that they were the source of the problem. If not, they probably need replaced anyway.

ggrab
 
My front end did end up making the oh so wonderful clunk but it was from the end links. I didn't have the time to trouble shoot and took it to a shop they replaced the end links and the front clunk left me alone, though I wish I would of done it my self and saved a couple bucks...

I would suggest replacing both at the same time.

Oh and I've only dealt with Montgomery Mazda through e-mail but I've only been pleased with the service.
 
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Thanks for the info about the front end links. I will look at them too when I get under the car, hopefully tonight.
 
so how hard was it to replace the front bushings? my mp3 rear sway bar gave me a problem which was fixed by evolv's clunk fix. now my msp's front sway bar gives me a problem lol
 
323 said:
so how hard was it to replace the front bushings? my mp3 rear sway bar gave me a problem which was fixed by evolv's clunk fix. now my msp's front sway bar gives me a problem lol
Click to expand...

Lol Basically I jacked up the front end, and took off the front wheels.
Then I worked on getting the old bushings off which wasn't too hard. It was tougher to get the bushings/bracket back on but it can be done without too much trouble.

The rear is much much easier. If only I could figure out my problem... I have evolv's bracket, new bushings- installed before winter... and new end links put in this summer, but the clunk has returned.... :(
 
dam. i didnt have much of a clunk i dont think, just squeaking when going over bumps. evolv's fix worked for me. i took the rear sway bar off the mp3, the endlinks and the clunk fix and put it on my black ES and it never gave me any noise either
 
Yeah I'm thinking I'll try some Mazda rear end links this spring, the ones on the car now are autozones... Hoping that fixes my problems...
 
OK, I just got back in the house from the shop and the front clunk is GONE! It was a loose sway bar end link (driver's side, top bolt). It was not obvious at first because the bolt was not very loose. I had to do a lot of pushing and pulling on the front suspension (with the wheel off) before I could notice the movement due to the loose bolt. After I checked and tightened all the end link bolts, I also shot some grease in the boots on the end links with the needle on my grease gun. The car rides down my 1/8 mile, pot hole infested, dirt driveway with absolutely no squeaks, rattles, or clunks (AXR Rear clunk fix was installed previously). Let's hope it stays that way for a while. Thanks for the suggestions about checking the end links. I may not have found the problem had I not been looking there.
 
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Pastime-Gamer said:
Lol Basically I jacked up the front end, and took off the front wheels.
Then I worked on getting the old bushings off which wasn't too hard. It was tougher to get the bushings/bracket back on but it can be done without too much trouble.

The rear is much much easier. If only I could figure out my problem... I have evolv's bracket, new bushings- installed before winter... and new end links put in this summer, but the clunk has returned.... :(
Click to expand...

So it sounds like this might be an issue of all of us thinking it's going to be terrible (from reading in the manual that you have to drop the subframe) when it's really not that bad. Just a thought :)
 
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