Rear control arm bushings/alignment

[matt9]

Car: 2007 Mazda 3 Sedan, 85000 km.

So I go in to a Mazda dealership to replace oil and filter and they notice my rear tires are excessively worn (especially on the inside) and that the rear bushings are worn out and should be replaced. It seems that he believes my rear bushings are worn and thus my rear tires are wobbling too much causing excessive wear. However, I was told by other people that I am experiencing excessive wear on the inside of the tires (all 4) most likely a result of my car being lowered (Prokits).

They recommend and quote "Rear control arm bushings/alignment service" for 599.95 (before discount). Includes 4-5 hours of labour, full brake servicing and wheel alignment. Still sounds like quite a lot for a relatively new car? They gave the impression that it is something I probably want to fix asap and esp before putting on any new tires.

Any input would be appreciated, thanks.

[Hoodzy]

Get them to break down the costs. You can always get parts from somewhere else cheaper. Probably be able to get an alignment somewhere else for cheaper.
Get bushings online.. have mazda install them. Go somewhere for an alignment.
If your rear bushings and tires are messed from you being lowered then you may want to invest in some camber bolts.

[Cosmo77]

Its rather labour intensive a job. You have to remove the entire rear control arms and press out (and back in) the bushings. This involves taking apart the entire rear braking system as well.

The parts rather inexpensive. Its mostly all time.

As for the age of the vehicle, I find there is no real rime or reason to the wear....although I am sure that spirited driving would accelerate the wear.

[matt9]

Thanks for the information.

So this is a typical repair that most people around the ~100Kkm mark?

[Booter22]

Thanks for the information.

So this is a typical repair that most people around the ~100Kkm mark?

again not so much about time, or mileage, however i did just call a client for his 2006 mazda 3 with 99,503km and he also requires the rear trailing arm bushings to be replaced, the bulk of the cost it self is labor, to remove and press the old bushing out and the new bushing in as the parts are about approx $39.00 each + hst.

[matt9]

Thanks for the info.

[peterm15]

If it's the same part I'm thinking of it is rather time consuming but not hard. One of my bushings is shot and will be doing the work myself when I raise my car back up for the winter.

Will probably take me about 2 hrs but I also have to remove the rear springs.

[matt9]

I wonder how critical this repair really is. Sure the bushing (made of rubber?) is damaged a bit, but does that mean nothing is working properly anymore? I doubt it.

Instead you look at the symptoms of this problem which was excessive wear on tires. Actually most of the excessive wear on the tires was on the inner side which is more likely a result of the fact the car is lowered...

[mazdabetty]

^ it is critical and it isn't. I let mine go for about 30k before I started hearing the knocking sounds. When that started I took it in right away but it didn't cause any kind of damage. it doesn't have anything to do with your prokits either as mine were starting to go long before I was lowered.

The estimate sounds about right. My estimate actually came closer to $1000 but there were other things that needed replacing. I did buy the bushings for around $38ish each though. If you want to save and know what you're doing you can do it yourself, you would just have to bring your trailing arms into a dealership to have them pressed. Gabbygenier changed his himself and pretty sure a few others from the Ottawa board have done it themselves as well. It's a long job but it's not overly complicated.

[woodsball_delight]

damn, just searched this.... as mine are also apparently worn out.

[bluemazda3]

had mine repaced around 100k