Steering Idler Arm Bush

[chc]

Ross is a champ and easy to deal with even if you order the wrong part

Yes - a TOP man and the speed of their deliveries is brilliant with an excellent price for this particular part (especially when you add in the 15% discount he is offering to us all)

[A7RXY]

Just had an email saying mine is on its way ................... Santa must be a busy man

Arrived this morning .............. now where did I put those spanners ........ nah beer has won ...............

[chc]

.............. now where did I put those spanners ........ nah beer has won ...............

Wouldn't want to "steer" you in the wrong direction but did you leave them at "The Mechanics Arms"

[ian65]

fitted this bush last night... easy 10 minute job..... has tightened up the steering noticeably but it's still got plenty of play in the steering. I wonder how long these will last before they need replacing?

[Johnnyboy]

I have been reading the various posts about FB steering with a degree of interest and an equal degree of confusion...
Miss January's steering is not what I would have called "razor sharp", but I was brought up on MG Midgets and Mk 1 Ford Escorts so I am not totally impresseed by anything made in the last 30 years.

Miss January had new idler bushes about 8 years and 6,000 miles ago at Tims, down at RX Motors, after about 80,000 miles (we had not noticed a problem but Tim sort of implied it was something he did as part of a 12,000 mile service......). Steering is a bit heavy at parking speeds (which I have always blamed on Elford 6" rims and 205's) but precise enough and does not wander on motorways....

You guys are getting me worried. Am I missing something or is it that I should be buying yet more polyurathane bushes and getting them changed in advance of a problem?

John

[ian65]

My take on them is this.... ( and others will have their own experiences with them)....

genuine Mazda bushes seem to have a tendency go brittle and crack....these are genuine bushes with less than 10,000 miles on them





Poly bushes are more durable but soften with age letting the idler arm spindle move about within the housing.
The bushes I took out of my car yesterday were poly, I don't know what make....





they are very soft, I can compress them with my fingers and the hole in the centre is bigger than in the new superpro bushes, which are much harder.

The idler arm bushes are the weak point in the entire steering setup and the stresses and strains will probably eventually knacker whatever bushes are in there.
I think whatever bushes are installed will have a degree of movement in them. If you intend to keep your car long term / forever, a Moog arm would be the way to go as it's bearing construction, not rubber bushes.

My steering still isn't great but is better since I put the superpro bushes in the idler arm but it is slightly lighter at low speed. I'm going to fit the power steering box in the spring and this should tighten things up nicely..... apparently the PAS box is the best steering box for the 1st gen in terms of losing the wondersteer as it has slightly different internals to the standard manual steering gear.... we'll see.

[Steve-A]

I have been reading the various posts about FB steering with a degree of interest and an equal degree of confusion...
Miss January's steering is not what I would have called "razor sharp", but I was brought up on MG Midgets and Mk 1 Ford Escorts so I am not totally impresseed by anything made in the last 30 years.

I also came to FB steering from a very sharp manual rack and pinion system, the mx5 is often claimed to have one of the very sharpest steering set-ups of its time. Should give the midget and escort more than a run for its money

Either way I was pleasantly surprised that my FB steering didn't seem all that bad to begin with, certainly not the vague driving through a 50's movie steering that people talk about. This was with brand new polly bushes in the front end, new Mazda idler bushes and a freshly adjusted and cleaned out steering box. After the first 1,500 miles or so I noticed a deterioration in the steering quality, and re-checked the steering box adjustment, is was a little out so I gave it a tweak. After that it was good for another 4 months. Just recently it started feeling a bit wandery again, and it looks like my steering bush has snapped like Ian's had. This is after 6,000 miles.

I'll be interested myself to see how it feels with pollys in, mine came the other day but I'm so busy with work I've not had to chance to fit them.

On a side note I think the general condition of the suspension and drivetrain will make quite a difference to how vague it feels. My mums Mx5 feel pretty vague to begin with till we changed a knackered rear suspension bush and now it feels much sharper. Also things like lowered stiffened suspension with wider lower offset wheels will make any car wander much more easily.

Finally (I have rambled a bit!) there's gotta be a decent element of what you get used to. Hop into an FB out of a modern car with only a few thousand miles on the clock, fresh suspension bushes/ball joints/bearings, and a powered rack and pinion steering system and the FBs steering box is never gonna feel super responsive.

[chc]

fitted this bush last night... easy 10 minute job..... has tightened up the steering noticeably but it's still got plenty of play in the steering. I wonder how long these will last before they need replacing?

Could it be the remaining 'steering play' is simply worn track rod ends?

[ian65]

fitted this bush last night... easy 10 minute job..... has tightened up the steering noticeably but it's still got plenty of play in the steering. I wonder how long these will last before they need replacing?

Could it be the remaining 'steering play' is simply worn track rod ends?

yeah, possibly... I'm going to replace the inners and outers when I change the steering box.... plus the lower ball joints.

[KiwiDave]

on ebay:
Poly idler arm bushes..... £10.56 shipped

Mazda RX7 1979 - 1/1986 Superpro Front Idler Bush SPF1003K

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mazda-RX7-197 ... 2eb93b6fda

I read a while back that these last longer than Mazda bushes... I've ordered a set so we'll see... worth a go for a tenner me thinks

Just fitted my Superpro bushes recently, vast improvement, the originals were minced to tiny pieces. £10.56 well spent,