[dturro88]

Hello guys, i just self installed the Eibach pro kit on my Mazda 3 2017 hatch 2.0 a few days ago with the Progress RSB.
It took me a while to pull the trigger on suspension mods cause i have always been terrifying of uneven wheel gap, so i guess my fears/nightmare became true. the front are fine, only 1/8 higher on driver side at 26 3/8, but on the rear is 1/2 lower on the driver side 26'' even /forums/images/Mazda3Revolution_2014/smilies/tango_face_sad.png
Any suggestions? i followed all the guides and instruction on installing the springs, could the sway bar be the culprit? I read that i should tie the bolts with the suspension loaded, which i did not do. Any help would be appreciated, car is at 20K miles and in stock springs was very even all around.
I am thinking on taking the rear springs out and swapping sides to see, or........
Have a long trip coming Saturday, will do alignment on Friday but for what if more than likely I will have to work on that rear suspension again.
Man this is stress I don’t need lol

Edit: take away from this, always clock your bushings when altering the height of the car. None of the guides I read ever mentioned this.

 

[Shawn M]

how long ago did you do the install, they may need to settle.
Otherwise Im guessing your sway bar has pre load on it which is causing the difference.

 

[dturro88]

how long ago did you do the install, they may need to settle.
Otherwise Im guessing your sway bar has pre load on it which is causing the difference.

Installed last Saturday, i have put almost 500 miles on it already. I forgot to mention sway bar is on the soft settings, and probably didn’t adjust it right. Instructions don’t mention nothing “important “ about how should the links be tied other than the torque
Note: i tied the side sitting higher first with unloaded suspension, lifted jack just enough to bring the end link up to the RSB. Then repeated on the other side(lower one)
Should I just disconnect endlinks to release tension and see if that spring levels up?

 

[arathol]

Installed last Saturday, i have put almost 500 miles on it already. I forgot to mention sway bar is on the soft settings, and probably didn’t adjust it right. Instructions don’t mention nothing “important “ about how should the links be tied other than the torque
Note: i tied the side sitting higher first with unloaded suspension, lifted jack just enough to bring the end link up to the RSB. Then repeated on the other side(lower one)
Should I just disconnect endlinks to release tension and see if that spring levels up?

There should not be any tension on the rear sway bar when the car has all four wheels on the ground.
The correct way to install the bar is with the car on ramps so the suspension is loaded. The ends of the bar should be parallel to the chassis. Set the length of the end links so the studs slide through the hole freely on both ends. If you have to jack one side to install the endlink you could end up with one side of the car higher than the other and the sway bar will not function as it should, ie it will allow somewhat more body roll in one direction than the other.

 

[dturro88]

There should not be any tension on the rear sway bar when the car has all four wheels on the ground.
The correct way to install the bar is with the car on ramps so the suspension is loaded. The ends of the bar should be parallel to the chassis. Set the length of the end links so the studs slide through the hole freely on both ends. If you have to jack one side to install the endlink you could end up with one side of the car higher than the other and the sway bar will not function as it should, ie it will allow somewhat more body roll in one direction than the other.

I had the car in jacks, both sides, from there, removed the wheels.
took OEM bar out, put progress one in, tied the bracket bolts to 50lbs.
Now, here is where i know i messed up after reading your comment.
with the progress bar in placed, brackets tied both sides, end links bolted to the arm, i lifted the arm a bit until i was able to put the top end-link screw in the sway bar hole (sorry i don't know car parts terminologies in English)
I really never put attention if the sway bar ends where parallel to the chassis. Tied down one side at a time(both sides still on jacks), from there i installed the wheels and took one jack at a time. Took the passenger side down first, then the driver (which stands lower).

So when i get home, i will lift a side at a time, loosen the end-links from the top, then i will reverse the car on my auto-zone plastic ramps, then i put the bar ends parallel to the chassis, and with car on the ramps (suspension loaded) i connect the endlinks. My links are OEM, Did i followed that correctly?
If not, i will have to stop by the professionals to fix my mess, although i would rather tackle this myself so i don't take the L hahaha

 

[arathol]

You will probably adjustable end links. The OEM links on my car were a bit long and the geometry was off. The sway bar ends were too high and tapped on the bottom of the car on bigger bumps.

You also need stronger endlinks with a big rear bar. The OEM parts were designed for the spring loading of the small OEM bar. They are actually held together by those four plastic nubs....

 

[dturro88]

You will probably adjustable end links. The OEM links on my car were a bit long and the geometry was off. The sway bar ends were too high and tapped on the bottom of the car on bigger bumps.

You also need stronger endlinks with a big rear bar. The OEM parts were designed for the spring loading of the small OEM bar. They are actually held together by those four plastic nubs....

Makes sense, I don’t know why progress says is ok to use OEM link, obviously marketing I guess.

I’m in the car right now , the lower side link was very tied, bushing would t freely move like I read is supposed to. The other side could freely move.

I will by links I guess, but for now I have to roll with OEM.

Should I load the suspension before getting the link in the bar? Or should I get the link in with unloaded suspension, then tie it up once is loaded.?
The bar should also be parallel to the chassis like you show on those pic and I show mine on one here.

 

[dturro88]

Alright, car in ramp, loaded with end links disconected, still driver side is lower. Bummer

 

[arathol]

Well, I suppose with the OEM links it doesn't make much difference, but you should not have to force anything into place. Its a lot easier with the weight of the car on the suspension. If you need to jack something up with the suspension loaded, something is not right. Thats one reason adjustable links work better.
While you are at it, make sure the sway bar bushings are lubed. If they are binding up the bar may not rotate properly and this could also make one side of the car higher.

 

[arathol]

Alright, car in ramp, loaded with end links disconected, still driver side is lower. Bummer

Are the springs seated correctly?

 

[arathol]

Something else to try-
If you removed the bolts that connect the lower control arm to the rear hub to replace the springs, loosen the bolts on both sides a bit then load the suspension. If that fixes the problem, just tighten everything up loaded. Sometimes if you torque a control arm bolt with the wheel hanging the bushing gets stuck and won't allow full rotation.

 

[dturro88]

Alright, car in ramp, loaded with end links disconected, still driver side is lower. Bummer

Are the springs seated correctly?

Yes, double checked, the are sitting perfect

 

[dturro88]

Something else to try-
If you removed the bolts that connect the lower control arm to the rear hub to replace the springs, loosen the bolts on both sides a bit then load the suspension. If that fixes the problem, just tighten everything up loaded. Sometimes if you torque a control arm bolt with the wheel hanging the bushing gets stuck and won't allow full rotation.

Will do

Also, do I need to tie front links with suspension loaded?

 

[arathol]

You should yes. I think though that the problem is not in the front.

 

[dturro88]

Well, I think is as good as it would get.
Handling feels way better now, way better after doing what you suggested.
Thank you @arathol

 

[dturro88]

Today I tried something, took rear wheels off, loaded suspension, measured from center hub to fender and they where both equal. Haaa
What do you think about that? Alignment would fix it?
Suspension sitting on arms same gap, on wheels is uneven.

 

[arathol]

Today I tried something, took rear wheels off, loaded suspension, measured from center hub to fender and they where both equal. Haaa
What do you think about that? Alignment would fix it?
Suspension sitting on arms same gap, on wheels is uneven.

How did you get the suspension loaded properly without the wheels on the car?

 

[dturro88]

Today I tried something, took rear wheels off, loaded suspension, measured from center hub to fender and they where both equal. Haaa
What do you think about that? Alignment would fix it?
Suspension sitting on arms same gap, on wheels is uneven.

How did you get the suspension loaded properly without the wheels on the car?

I let the arms rest on top of bricks, same size of course.

 

[arathol]

OK, so how exactly are you measuring this? Car on flat even surface, center of hub to top of wheel arch or from the ground?

 

[dturro88]

OK, so how exactly are you measuring this? Car on flat even surface, center of hub to top of wheel arch or from the ground?

Yep, even surface, measured from center hub to the fender. Got 13 1/4” dead on.

Then I put the wheels, I measured floor to the arms (same spot both sides) same height @5 3/4”

Then, wheels still on, i get different height when measuring from floor to the the fender.(same result from wheel center to fender)
But with suspension loaded on the bricks like mentioned above, same distance from hub to fender (arch wheel)

On a side note, i tied front shocks with suspension unloaded, now I know that’s wrong, could that be affecting the rear?