Lateral link bushings ??

[ftjandra]

The MX3 LCAs are wider than the others.

--Ferdi

[j.sher350]

hmmm....only reason i ask is cuz i saw on stupid bay that a pair of LCA were for all 3. but now that i know this!

[Mazda_Powered]

mx-3 LCAs are longer like Ferdi said, with different swaybar style mounting, but the balljoints are the same as the escort/323/protege though. as well as the LCA bushings.

also do you think aluminum would be better than steel? i'm not sure of the strength of our oem links in comparision to the dom piping.

[j.sher350]

alright. welll thanks for the info bout the front LCA's.

Jack... i plan on using 7/8 aluminum bar stock for these (main body *orange*)and 1 1/4 inch steel tubing for the bushing housing with a wall thickness of 1/16. dont know if that answers your question. i plan on using bar stock not DOM piping.

[Mazda_Powered]

cool so its solid aluminum? lol not doubting you, just wondering how strong they are lol.

also what bushings you planning on using? i can suggest a bushing if you're still unsure. its actually a universal bushing CP has used to replace the link bushings

[j.sher350]

lateral links will be suffering static pressure not radial. (with the placement of these...static would be side to side and radial would be front to back) and with 7/8 bar stock...it should be fairly strong. i'll run some diagnostic tests. and see if i can come up with any failures. may make it out of steel if tests show is ****ty.

i plan on using a universal Energy Suspension bushing that is about an inch thick and an 1 1/8" dia.

give me the link for that bushing you were talking about. see what thats all about and what i can maybe do with it.

[Mazda_Powered]

sounds like you've got your bushings figured out already just keep me posted, i'm in NO rush, still waiting on my money to come in meow

[j.sher350]

oh yes. im gonna finish the design tonight and make it all bushing-style end link. and throw the sway bar link on there..

on second thought..i'm going to make this out of steel. i dont want to take the hassle of welding the aluminum tab (or paying someone to do it) on for the sway bar. and dont want that tab to bend or break off after x amount of stresses. and steel is much easier to work with.

[j.sher350]

sooooo heres the re-worked edition. minus the sway bar link mount. i gotta get measurements for that tomorrow. but you get the big picture behind it.

as for measurements...add a little more than an inch as they are not measured center to center. ALSO, adjusters and such are halfway out so you can see how much there is to work with.

[ftjandra]

FYI, the front links are not straight. They are offset.

--Ferdi

[j.sher350]

kinda one of the reasons i wanted to use heim joints on the end. Thought they weren't straight on.

I'll measure it up tomorrow and see what i can come up with.

Thanks Ferdi!

[j.sher350]

REVISED FRONT LINK! has 1.5 inch offset over a span of 16 inches = ~ 5 degrees.

ferdi...you can double check if you want, but this geometry should be correct. Ryan tells me you are an engineer.

[j.sher350]

Link_assy

[SgtRauksauff]

Looks good.

Quick question, though, do you really need the extra turnbuckle in the middle?

With both ends already threaded, if you have a flat on the shaft, or just weld a big nut on the outside of it, that should make it easy enough to adjust. you're already running 1 LH thread and 1 RH thread with the turnbuckle, so just put the thread on the other end, and get one heim with the opposite thread. If the heims themselves have enough movement, it's only one piece that you've got to make, not counting a swaybar mounting tab.

Just something I figured I'd throw in there to see what you thought about it.

--sarge

[MATT91GT]

would this still need the metal spacers or not?