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Underbrace 05/01/2009:
Tanabe offers the underbrace for the Mazdaspeed3 Part # TABTUB142F.
The installation only took about 45 minutes with common hand tools.
The tools I used were a ½ inch ratchet, ¼ inch ratchet, torque
wrench, 3 in ½ extension, 10mm socket, 16 oz ball peen hammer,
floor jack, 20mm socket, ¾ inch socket, 4 jack stands. The installation
went as followed. First, jack the car up from each side. There
is a pinch weld that is the jack point in the front due to there
not being a central jack point in the front. Put a jack stand
on the cross brace near where the pinch weld is. Repeat on the
following side. Don’t worry if there is only one wheel on the
ground. This is due to jacking it up one side at a time.
Next, remove 7 10mm bolts holding on the lower shroud on. This
is what you would have to do to change the oil as well. What this
does is expose the two front bolts you are going to need. I then
put a jack stand under each knuckle just for reassurance. In retrospect,
it probably wasn’t needed, but better safe than sorry. On the
base of each knuckle is a ¾ inch bolt. I used a ½ inch ratchet
with a ball peen hammer to loosen them since I don’t have an air
compressor yet. Remove those two bolts. Farther back, there are
two 20mm bolts on a plate. This is towards the rear of the car.
Remove those. Then, place the underbrace with the holes lining
up to the 4 bolts you removed. If necessary, hammer the 2 front
bolts on the knuck in to align the holes. The design of the bolt
allows for this. Tighten those bolts down hard. I used my torque
wrench to 100 ft/lbs. After you tighten the front 2, the rear
2 bolt holes should line up. Bolt in those 2 bolts and once again,
I tightened them to 100 ft/lbs. Replace the shroud and the 7 10mm
bolts and then you can lower your car. Your done!
Driving After I finished with the underbrace install, I took her
for a test run. Instantly, I could feel a difference in steering
response. It felt like I had more defined control over the car.
After testing it over several speed bumps, some resembling small
mountains, there are no clearance issues with factory suspension.
On the highway, I made several spirited runs. The chassis feels
100% stiffer and really shows what the car can do in long sweeping
turns on the highway. There was no rattling or scraping for the
entire night. In my opinion, there is no other solution like the
Tanabe underbrace. It delievered exactly what it promised and
then some. I am looking forward to how it performs with lowering
springs combined with it.
Lowering Springs 05/27/2009:
B+G makes springs for the Mazda3, so we thought to try them out
on the Speed3 and see if they fit. I grabbed a set off the shelf
and went to work. The part number was BGS501052.
It’s not an exact fit, but they can be made to work. The install
took about 4 hours due to no air tools and a lot of doing it multiple
times to get the correct effect. Since this was a custom install
and not a direct bolt in part, I will not give install directions.
But I will tell you that the rear springs need to have 1 coil
removed from the non-compressed end. The overall effect was that
the car is lowered to about one finger gaps all the way around.
The underbrace does scrape over the mountainous speed bumps now,
but it’s not as bad as I thought it would be. Handling improves
immensely and wheel hop diminished some. The 235/40R18
tires in the front rub now in extreme turning situations (AutoX)
and the rear 225/45R18
tires in the rear had to have the fenders rolled to clear.
Brakes 11/24/2009
Well, after 50,000 miles or so, my front brakes needed replacing.
Well, after much research, I decided on
DBA (Disc Brakes Australia) 4000 SX rotors and Hawk
HPS Pads. The DBA rotors are direct factory replacement rotors
and are cross-drilled and slotted with their “Kangaroo Paw” design.
The Hawk
Performance Brake pads are their Ferra-Carbon pads. Long lasting
and high performance pads. Anyways, on to the install! I forgot
my camera, so sorry for not having pictures of this.
First step, of course, is to jack the entire front end of the
car up. With the speed3, you have to do it one side at a time
and put a jackstand under it. Then, remove the front wheels. After
that, there are 2 bolts on the backside of the caliper. These
are a little difficult to get to, but a long 3/8 or ½ ratchet
should reach it no problem. Remove the caliper and set it aside,
aka on the suspension out of the way. Sometimes, if your rotor
is really worn and has a lip on it, you will need to use a large
flathead screwdriver or prybar on the caliper to remove it. I
had to do this. Remove the rotor.
Now….the pads on this car is a pain in the rear. Not sure what
Mazda and APS (the manufacturer of the OEM calipers/pads) were
thinking, but it’s not the easiest. Supposedly Mazda makes a tool
to remove the pads, but you do not have to have it. You need to
remove the pad closest to the outside of the vehicle first. To
do this, there is a metal retaining…well, it’s a long piece of
metal that is very thin on the front side. Take a long screwdriver
or prybar (again, I used the prybar) and on each side there is
a clip looking device slightly raised from the caliper. Pop both
these sides out and beware, it can go flying. Then, you can pop
the outside pad out. The inside pad just pops out from behind
the caliper.
Now, install the pad on the backside. Now, if you aren’t going
to bleed your brakes during this, here is a trick for you. Take
a 9” C-Clamp and very gently compress the caliper. This will back
the piston up, giving you more room to install the frontside pad.
Now, with the front pad in, and the rear compressed, pull the
backside forward to the front. Slide the retaining clip into the
slot on the pad. Its small and square. Then, this is the tricky
part, you put the ends of the retaining clip back on the top side
where they were before. It took a few tries and 4 hands, but it
is possible.
Install the brake rotor. Reinstall the caliper. Reinstall the
wheel. Drive!!!!!
My impressions of this setup is absolute amazement! The car has
much better feel when it is stopping and the bite is just incredible!
I highly recommend this setup for a good, long lasting brake system.
Parts Used
DBA
Brake Rotors
Hawk
Brake Pads
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