How-to: MSP FSB Install

[Laser03pro]

cross member...hmm.. i guess I'm not exactly sure what you mean by that..although i did do a motor swap, i'm not familiar with some of the parts.

The thing you have to drop down to get the sway bar out.

 

[Dpwhitehead1]

The thing you have to drop down to get the sway bar out.

oh ok. so you wanna give it a bit of support..I gotcha... well I'll work at it tonight if i get to it... it just totally was pissing me off last night. hehe.thanks for the help.

 

[Laser03pro]

No problem yeh I had my struts out at the time too so it would of fell down on me if i didnt support it.

 

[Dpwhitehead1]

No problem yeh I had my struts out at the time too so it would of fell down on me if i didnt support it.

well..i went to work on it. i took out the motor mount, and the 2 bolts. however, it still didn't work. i dunno wtf is going on man...

 

[Laser03pro]

well..i went to work on it. i took out the motor mount, and the 2 bolts. however, it still didn't work. i dunno wtf is going on man...

The front motor mount has 2 bolts did u take the rear mount bolt out of the center that goes through it?

 

[Dpwhitehead1]

The front motor mount has 2 bolts did u take the rear mount bolt out of the center that goes through it?

well somehow the front mount bolts got stripped,.... so i pulled the actual bolt out of the mount...ummm. no i didn't take the rear one out i don't think... but i'll have to double check it. i NEVER thought that this was going to be such a PITA

 

[gar777]

Try prying around to see where the tightness is and then look for bolts to loosen there. For example, at the rear of the cross member mounts, there are 5 bolts per side but you only have to remove 3 - maybe you missed one of the ones you need to remove? Also, the front-rear support member, front motor mount, etc. wherever it still seems attached, look for a bolt and try loosening it and see if that permits you to rock the subframe more. This is what I did until I was able to get it loose enough to pull the subframe down a few inches in the bak and get the bar out. It took awhile to find all of the bolts and I may have even unbolted the struts as well. If you keep trying, and loosen every bolt holding the subframe on, you should eventually be able to rock it out and drop it down a few inches. I think there is also some friction on the various studs/bolts so you may want to play with a jack under oil pan (with a 2x4) or back of the subframe to take weight off the various studs/bolts while you're wiggling the subframe. If you keep at it, you should eventually get it. Once it breaks loose, it should come right down (gravity will help). Also, it's not too likely but you may want to shoot some WD-40 on the studs/bolts and where the subframe metal meets the chassis--it's possible you have some rust or whatever there and it's sticking a bit. Good luck and report back when you get it.

 

[Laser03pro]

You need to remove the brace the goes from the front to back also that the front motor mount sits on. I should of took more pictures during my install also. Once I took everything loose that needed to come loose it dropped right down.

 

[ke20sprinter]

After a few months of looking at my rear motor mount insert & front RB sway bar sitting in the garage, I decided to put these parts in the Protege5. I started to follow your steps in removing the crossmembers, when my dad-in-law came over and decided to help. He looked at what I was doing and said I didn't really need to remove all that to remove the bar:

We removed the subframe bolts, but left the 1 bolt attached to the upper frame on each side (bolts w/the pointed end): Here's the picture for illustration.
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=74886

Removed the cotterpin & tierod bolt on one side and the bolt attaching the strut to the control arm (underarm?). Don't need to remove both sides, since you're pulling on one side.

Removed 1 of the front shifter linkage.

Unscrewed the 4 bolts to the sway bar bushing & end links, and slide it out the side where we moved the tierod & strut bolt. (you need 2 people, one to pull the sway bar and another under the car to shimmy the subframe with a long screwdriver). We slid the bar between the CV shaft & control arm, it slid out.

Reversed order to put it back in.

But, since we were down there, I wanted to put the RR-Racing rear motor mount (We did that different than the other "how to" since we had the cross members off). Took off the bracket to the tranny & rear mount and did it backward, since we wern't taking the mount off.

WiL

 

[Laser03pro]

I just unbolted the shifter linkage, exhaust, and rack and dropped the crossmember down I didnt remove the tie rod ends or anything like that I didnt drop it totally out either just down far enough. It really wasnt too hard at all. It helps also to remove the batery and intake you get a much better shot at the motor mount bolts.

 

[ke20sprinter]

I just unbolted the shifter linkage, exhaust, and rack and dropped the crossmember down I didnt remove the tie rod ends or anything like that I didnt drop it totally out either just down far enough. It really wasnt too hard at all. It helps also to remove the batery and intake you get a much better shot at the motor mount bolts.

Well, the "how to" seemed to be a bit more detailed and too much stuff to remove. i.e., exhaust, and rack & pinion. The crossmember was lowered just an inch or so. When you unbolt the sway bar & links, it's curved like a "U" shape to slide between the CV shaft & under arm...

I removed the battery and intake to get to the rear motor mount, but it doesn't look like that needs to be removed for the front sway bar...

I guess what I'm trying to say is, this is just another way of taking it out.

WiL

EDIT: BTW, I've had the front motor mount insert for a few months, and just installed the rear inserts...Dude, the car shakes alot. I assume it'll settle in and subside, but if this is just inserts, how are the AWR mounts?...Maybe, I should find the other thread on this.

 

[Laser03pro]

Yeh I had to unbolt the endlinks first of course and no the battery and tray doesnt have to be removed it just helps and is easy to do. I was trying to do it like some other people did first and thought ill just undo the other 2 bolts and drop it down a little that made getting the harness holder off soo easy and alot more room to get a socket on the mount bolts.

 

[Dparks7]

i snapped one of the braket bolts inside the rear cross member...it was the nut that us welded to the inside of the crossmember... the one that faces the ground and i need advise on what to do thaks

 

[wildo]

I posted this elsewhere, but it is most applicable here:

For the most part, I just followed the how-to on here. I found some of the steps needless, however. I can recap the process that I followed as such:

1. Remove four-point brace. This is 4 bolts
2. Remove the rear-most nut from the front-to-back brace that the front engine mount attaches to- 1 nut
3. Remove the 2 nuts that hold the front engine mount in place. This allows you to flex the brace downward outta the way. 2 nuts
4. Remove endlinks (hopefuly by this time you've upgraded to the DIY endlinks, AWR endlinks, or some non-stock ones that make this step *not* a pain in the ass)
5. Remove 3 bolts on either side of the main sub-assembly. Check out the P5 manual and get under there and look. It's pretty obvious which three of the five you need to take out.
6. Support the passenger side of the sub assembly and remove the main nut on the top-most mount point (this is in the wheel well)
7. Pry the assembly down and wedge a 2x4 block between the car body and the lowered sub-assembly
8. Move to the other side of the car and remove the main nut on that side. The sub-assembly is not going to just fall out- no worries
9. The HARD part- remove the front-most bolts holding the swaybar horseshoe brackets in place. You only need to loosen the rear bolt (Again, see the P5 manual).
10. Pull the bar out from the driver's side...

The swaybar bracket bolts gave me hell. No joke- I probably spent an hour trying to get the passenger side out. Overall, it probably took me about 4 hours to do the job. It wasn't difficult at all, just time consuming.


...I will add- I had the bar in my garage for over a year uninstalled because of all the people on this forum crying "understeer foul!" with the FSB. But I have to tell you, the front coupled with the AXR Clunk Fix (or a DIY option in my case) and the RB rear sway yields an incredibly balanced car. I could imagine that without the clunk fix brackets- there'd be an increase in understeer, but with the brackets- the car is quite neutral and corners on rails. I can't find the chart, but a while back someone posted a chart about rear swaybar effectiveness, and the RB plus clunk-fix brackets were the most effective by far. I actually found the car pretty rear end happy with the only the clunk-fix + RB rear, and stock front.

 

[pablosqy]

i know its an old thread but it will really help taking out the fsb... i was trying to take out the bushings... but a ******* bolt doesnt want to go out >=( i fight with it for an hour and a half! but he won =( later ill continue the fight =P

 

[mig360mBJ]

good write up

 

[MonctonP5]

So...at the end of the day, stock P5 endlinks or MSP endlinks if I'm doing this on my P5?