Klunk fix bracket and camber plate pictures

[Micaspeed!]

Ok, here they are, sorry I could not get one to load with the thread, but here is the link which will show some development pics of the bracket, hollow bar and a pic of the stainless/aluminum camber plate we offer which will work with stock shock/springs, and the KW coilover kit we offer. No other camber plate will work with the KW kit or stock set up. I believe it will work with the TEIN coil over set also.
The pics are a bit raw, I wanted to get them up before I go in for surgey this week, so thais is the best I can do for now. The web site is undergoing host changes and will be down for a few days. We will do better pics for the site. The hardware shown on the prototype is not plated, hence the slight surface corrosion. In production, hardware will be nickle plated. Also note the pic of the dedicated Klunk fix work bench! Some of the other pics are unrelated to the bracket and are for other use. Enjoy!

http://homepage.mac.com/jasonblitzdesign/Delsing_Motorsport/PhotoAlbum57.html

Godspeed!
DAVE

 

[505zoom]

WOW, very impressive... when can I order???

Good luck with your surgery Dave.

 

[Mike R]

Damn that's friggin tough looking! Great job!

How much!

Good luck wit the surgery!

 

[ARunto]

how thick is that rear bar?

 

[Bigg Tim]

Yeah, when can we get one?

 

[ping]

Bueller? Bueller? How ya doin, there Dave?

Hope the surgery goes very well, praying for you and hope to hear from you soon, and I'd like a rear bar setup too!

-L

 

[Micaspeed!]

Thanks guys, I feel the surgey thing will go well. I will be using the recovery time to make calls and such. Still working on the pricing end, doing what I can to keep it all resonable. One thing for sure, when you get the car set up, you are going to love the way it handles. Quite feasible to do camber plates, rear brackets and bar with stock tokicos and be a contender in STX. I will post any pricing developments as they come together. Thanks again!

Godspeed!
Dave

God is good all the time!

 

[Ryoga28]

Looks great and very solid. Thanks for supporting the msp community.

 

[PaulMP3]

Great news... Cant wait to hear pricing.

 

[FrozenMazda]

Hope the surgery went well.

Keep us posted on the status and pricing for the fix and camber plates.

 

[I'm Allen]

I would pay a lot of money for this!

Allen-

 

[rocketspeed]

I checked the site and it looks like the clunk fix is as simple as an improved bushing? Is this right, or are there more parts?

 

[FrozenMazda]

Yeah. I think there are more parts. The main difference is that he's made brackets to move the bushings farther out (where they should be).

With where the bushings are located currently on our cars (stock), they not only absorb a twisting force when we turn, but also a bending force. Take a look underneath the car and you'll see what I mean about them being too much toward the center of the car. The constant bending force stressed the stock bushings to where it opened up the holes that the swaybar goes through (Kind of like when you drill through a piece of wood and then mive the drill around with the bit still in the wood. Kind of makes a wider hole). That is what is causing the klunk.

The brackets that Dave tested moves the bushings closer to where the bends in the swaybar near the wheels. This drastically reduces that bending force to almost nil and only lets the swaybar twist (it's intended purpose).

This is how I interpreted the problem and solution. If I am wrong, please disregard all above information and I throw myself at the mercy of the forum. (bow)(whip)

 

[rocketspeed]

Sounds plausible. If there are new brackets as well, will be have to drill holes to mount? I'm not nuts about drilling or cutting into the car, but if its the only thing that will fix it......

Why didn't Mazda just stick them further our on the bar? Durability? Can't be that. Ride quality?

 

[FrozenMazda]

Rocketspeed,

If you go to the link in the first post of this thread and look at pic DSCN4945.JPG, you'll see two bolts. The shiny silver one is in the stock location and if I remember right, the rusted one is in another hole that's already in our car bodies. Don't hold me to it though, I haven't been under the car recently.

I'm still wondering about why Mazda didn't fix it in the first place. I think it was more of a plush ride thing and they never thought that the Protege would turn into a "tuner" car when it first came out (then it was reserved for the Miata and the RX-7).

The best way to find this stuff out is to PM Dave or wait and see what happens when he recovers

BTW: Speedy recovery Dave. Can't wait to have you back at 100% and save our asses in the suspension arena (no pun intended )

 

[SDMSP]

hope you have a speedy recovery, keep us posted.

 

[ping]

Yup - mounts to the stock bolt locations, no drilling necessary... and looks GREAT. Can't wait, Dave, hope your recovery goes well and you're back at the keyboard (and parts-making process!!) soon!

IMHO, FrozenMazda's correct: Mazda never thought the suspension would get so stiff, and with a lesser bar there is no problem as the bar itself flexes in the softer rubber bushings, so no clunk. The harder bushings and the physics of the bar cause the problem as the bushings wear. For an amateur's explanation of the problem, read on. If you're not so technical, skip this part, just know that micaspeed's solution addresses the root cause of the clunk and will work (IMHO).

Said it before, say it again: Take a pen and bend the pocket clip out at a 90 degree angle. Hold the pen at the very base of the pocket clip (nearest the clip's bent inner edge) and push on the clip. See how the pen simply rotates? Easy physics there. Now grab the pen further down toward the middle, and push on the pocket clip. See how the pen wants to both rotate AND BEND(or "tip")? That's what I'm talkin' bout, Willis.

If there was a bushing at the "base of the clip" ( or at the bend in the swaybar), the bar simply acts as a torsional spring - predictable and stable. That's what micaspeed's bracket will do, move the bushing out to the bend in the bar. With the bushing further inboard (as Mazda designed it) the bar is held both in torsion (predictable) and it bends while in torsion, which creates an unstable condition if the bushings are soft or loose. Stiff bushings, when new, will control a lot of this, just like gripping the pen harder keeps it from moving as much. This will not, however, control all of it, and when the bushings wear, even a little (and they'll wear faster because the bar is both rotating in them and bending around them), they allow more and more movement, eventually clunking up a storm while allowing the bar to bend and move in them. A true "fix" is not possible in the stock location because the root problem of sub-optimal bushing location is not addressed.

I actually don't mind Dave taking a little time - he needs to heal up AND it's too darned cold and messy to work on the suspension now (but I'd sure do it if the fix came out, ol' #1108 is clunking up a storm!)

Sorry long post, hope it helps...

 

[AutoBox]

YEH I HOPE ALL IS WELL DAVE....im plannin on ordering the klunk fix and rear sway bar.....when i get a full specs list on the kw suspension i think ill go with them along with the camber plates......keep us updated

 

[Mike R]

Hope the surgery went OK, and the recovery is going well. I had a "minor" surgery in November and I'm still recovering.

Another added benefit of these brackets is that the sway bar will become more effective, since some of the force was lost bending the bar instead of twisting it. I'd like to try it out on a stock P5 sway bar. The 16mm is so dinky, and I'm sure it bends alot. Maybe with the brackets it would act more like the 19mm bar. (with the stock brackets) Might be a big help for auto-xers that have to run the "stock" size bar.

 

[ping]

Mike R - it'll definitely stiffen up the feel - you're right that the bending force will be turned into "anti sway" torsion. Don't know the degree of stiffening tho.