Mazda rear shocks

[ohioan]

Our stock shocks


They suck so f'n bad! I swapped them out with the koni (rear only) and look at these pos's!

I credit the middle of my one tire being bald to this, and my crap ass gas milage too!

I changed them out on thursday and the clunking noise stoped, from the rear, and drove (from cleveland) to niagra falls, canada with the lady. My milage is a little over 28 mpg's. Before that, on long trips that were all highway, I was only getting 24mpg.

Mazda shocks blow ass!(piss)

 

[freeflyfreak]

Our stock shocks


They suck so f'n bad! I swapped them out with the koni (rear only) and look at these pos's!

I credit the middle of my one tire being bald to this, and my crap ass gas milage too!

I changed them out on thursday and the clunking noise stoped, from the rear, and drove (from cleveland) to niagra falls, canada with the lady. My milage is a little over 28 mpg's. Before that, on long trips that were all highway, I was only getting 24mpg.

Mazda shocks blow ass!(piss)

Shocks Struts should be THE first upgrade to this car IMO.
I had mine off within 7000 miles. The car was dangerous with them.

 

[BigDaddyMS3]

Shocks/Dampers/Struts

Shocks Struts should be THE first upgrade to this car IMO.
I had mine off within 7000 miles. The car was dangerous with them.

What kind did you put on?

 

[absolutamente]

Yes I am in the market as well... Also blown in the back and clunking.

 

[thajones]

Me too - cupping in the rear has cost me

Didn't have any drivability problems though until I rotated tires front to back

 

[freeflyfreak]

What kind did you put on?

I used the FSD's, I have a love hate relationship with them.
I love them mostly, but to get them to work correctly you have to cut the bump stops, which leads to issues with tire/fender liner contact because the stock springs without the bumpstops are too soft at higher speeds.

There are no aftermarket springs that will work either because the drop they give is not compensated for with enough spring rate increase. Plus the FSD's could not handle a higher spring rate IMO.

If I was in your position I would probably give bilsteins a try, its either that or mazdaspeed or kw coilovers.

 

[BigDaddyMS3]

Bilsteins

I used the FSD's, I have a love hate relationship with them.
I love them mostly, but to get them to work correctly you have to cut the bump stops, which leads to issues with tire/fender liner contact because the stock springs without the bumpstops are too soft at higher speeds.

There are no aftermarket springs that will work either because the drop they give is not compensated for with enough spring rate increase. Plus the FSD's could not handle a higher spring rate IMO.

If I was in your position I would probably give bilsteins a try, its either that or mazdaspeed or kw coilovers.

Thanks, I'll check the Bilsteins. Did you ever consider the Koni Yellows with the FSDs and if you did what did'nt you like about them? As previously posted Tirerack has a sale on all Konis until the end of June.

 

[Silver Ecstasy]

I have nothing positive to contribute to the thread, other than, I felt like I was watching an episode of Tosh.0 and I was expecting your hands to lose their grip and the shock to bounce up and punch you in the balls LOL.

There's a ton of great conversation on shocks on the "other" forum. You guys should look into it. Lots of great dialogue about Konis and Bilsteins.

 

[SRTie4k]

Interesting that you bring this up, because I was looking at my car in the garage yesterday thinking to myself that the rear of the car seems ridiculously low for stock suspension. I have a feeling I'm pretty much riding the bump stops at this point as evidenced by the constant clunking I get in the rear and the extremely obvious sag.

Good thing I'm still under warranty, because if I see any fluids when I jack the car up this afternoon, it's going to the dealership for new shocks.

 

[meicalnissyen]

Interesting that you bring this up, because I was looking at my car in the garage yesterday thinking to myself that the rear of the car seems ridiculously low for stock suspension. I have a feeling I'm pretty much riding the bump stops at this point as evidenced by the constant clunking I get in the rear and the extremely obvious sag.

Good thing I'm still under warranty, because if I see any fluids when I jack the car up this afternoon, it's going to the dealership for new shocks.

shocks dont control ride height

 

[Mid_Life_Crisis]

shocks dont control ride height

For that matter, how the hell do rear shocks affect your gas mileage by 4 mpg?

 

[Design]

Interesting that you bring this up, because I was looking at my car in the garage yesterday thinking to myself that the rear of the car seems ridiculously low for stock suspension. I have a feeling I'm pretty much riding the bump stops at this point as evidenced by the constant clunking I get in the rear and the extremely obvious sag.

Good thing I'm still under warranty, because if I see any fluids when I jack the car up this afternoon, it's going to the dealership for new shocks.

The rear suspension is a bit different from most conventional suspensions. It's believed that the upper bump stop on the piston actually contributes to the cumulative rear spring rate. It's believed the car is designed to ride on the foam urethane stoppers. Initial contact would be very soft, but would stiffen quickly as you apply more pressure (as opposed to one solid THWACK). So, in theory, lowering the rear could in fact increase the spring rate using the OEM bump stops.

The front fender design can be a bit deceiving when it comes to the preceived rear "sag." Best way to judge is to look at the center caps relative to the rocker panel below the doors. They should be relatively even.

 

[Nliiitend1]

The rear suspension is a bit different from most conventional suspensions. It's believed that the upper bump stop on the piston actually contributes to the cumulative rear spring rate. It's believed the car is designed to ride on the foam urethane stoppers. Initial contact would be very soft, but would stiffen quickly as you apply more pressure (as opposed to one solid THWACK). So, in theory, lowering the rear could in fact increase the spring rate using the OEM bump stops.

The front fender design can be a bit deceiving when it comes to the preceived rear "sag." Best way to judge is to look at the center caps relative to the rocker panel below the doors. They should be relatively even.

I have to take issue with the part I bolded above...

I don't believe that the car is "designed to ride on the foam urethane stoppers." Yes, the jounce bumpers act as auxiliary springs, but they are not meant to be (or designed to be) engaged at static height. Furthermore, although I've yet to prove it, I think that the prevailing opinion (at least on the "other" site) that the car is only 0.5" away from resting on the rear bump stops at static OEM height might be a bit inaccurate, and that there is probably a little bit more travel than that before engagement. Again, I haven't been very vocal about my dissent because I've yet to take the time to try and prove I'm right, but I just have a hard time believing there is so little rear travel before you're into the jounce bumper on the OEM setup...

(dunno)

 

[Mid_Life_Crisis]

I just have a hard time believing there is so little rear travel before you're into the jounce bumper on the OEM setup...

(dunno)

Easy enough to test. Measure height of wheelwell with car empty. Start putting large adults (or sandbags, something heavy) into car until it stops going down.
Measure height of wheelwell.

 

[Nliiitend1]

Easy enough to test. Measure height of wheelwell with car empty. Start putting large adults (or sandbags, something heavy) into car until it stops going down.
Measure height of wheelwell.

That won't work...

The jounce bumpers (AKA "bumpstops") don't stop the car from going down until they're as compressed as they can possibly be.

If you're trying to measure when they become "enganged" (i.e., when the just begin to compress), your proposed method will not work.

 

[Design]

I have to take issue with the part I bolded above...

I don't believe that the car is "designed to ride on the foam urethane stoppers." Yes, the jounce bumpers act as auxiliary springs, but they are not meant to be (or designed to be) engaged at static height. Furthermore, although I've yet to prove it, I think that the prevailing opinion (at least on the "other" site) that the car is only 0.5" away from resting on the rear bump stops at static OEM height might be a bit inaccurate, and that there is probably a little bit more travel than that before engagement. Again, I haven't been very vocal about my dissent because I've yet to take the time to try and prove I'm right, but I just have a hard time believing there is so little rear travel before you're into the jounce bumper on the OEM setup...

(dunno)

Yeah that was not the right terminology to use. Rather, the jounce bumpers work to assist the rear springs under moderate compression. My personal theory is that the rear dampers can't compensate for the rapid increase in cumulative spring rate, which is why the rear suspension overreacts to sudden changes in the road.

I'll be changing out the suspension in about a month or so and will be taking some additional measurements, including the length from the top mount to the lower control arm. I have to reuse the rear OEM bumpers on the new damper and want to know if there will be any free suspension travel on the springs alone. At stock height, my guess is that there's about .4" of rear suspension travel before the jounce bumper makes contact with the shock body.

 

[cymx5]

I will repost my comment from youtube here for all to see: You an are idiot to believe ANY factory shocks or struts will last more than 20-30k miles. 55,000miles is a great life for factory shocks. Quite your bitching. You were lucky they lasted that long.

 

[///M Compact]

I think that the MS3 shocks are simply inferior from both a performance and a durability standpoint. None of my other vehicles have required shock replacement before 90,000 miles at the earliest. The silver lining is that now I don't need an excuse to fit Bilstein HDs.

 

[freeflyfreak]

Furthermore, although I've yet to prove it, I think that the prevailing opinion (at least on the "other" site) that the car is only 0.5" away from resting on the rear bump stops at static OEM height might be a bit inaccurate, and that there is probably a little bit more travel than that before engagement. Again, I haven't been very vocal about my dissent because I've yet to take the time to try and prove I'm right, but I just have a hard time believing there is so little rear travel before you're into the jounce bumper on the OEM setup...

(dunno)

Nliiitend1

If you are still on stock suspension you can easily measure directly, get under the car in the rear, reach up, pull the dust boot down and measure directly top of shock to bumpstop....... if there is anything to measure at all.
My belief after measuring directly on my cut stops and knowing what I cut off is that they sit on the rear stops full time.
I am waiting for some one who has not already cut to measure directly, because I cannot.

So you could do it if still stock..... or someone else could do it for us.

It can be measured directly that way because I have done it, but I am already cut, so it doesnt count

 

[Design]

Nliiitend1

If you are still on stock suspension you can easily measure directly, get under the car in the rear, reach up, pull the dust boot down and measure directly top of shock to bumpstop....... if there is anything to measure at all.
My belief after measuring directly on my cut stops and knowing what I cut off is that they sit on the rear stops full time.
I am waiting for some one who has not already cut to measure directly, because I cannot.

So you could do it if still stock..... or someone else could do it for us.

It can be measured directly that way because I have done it, but I am already cut, so it doesnt count

I will do it before I replace the stock suspension.