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Old 12-05-2012, 10:13 AM   #1
SAGE
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Dodgy Work ( Update with photos).

Had the astina hatch lowered last year. New Tokico struts, springs and a auto exe front/rear sway bar.

As it stand now, from the day it was installed, there was a noise in the front passager side, as if something was stressing, the noise of something been done up too tight. When hitting a corner a certain way it would strum "BRRRIIIIN".

Near impossibe to explain, but a definatly sound of something being too tight. Anyway, caught up with other crap, i ignored it of course now it got worse over time, and its completly fcked. Clanging e.t.c.


It is going back in on Monday. What is really ****ting me, is i just dont trust these fricken mechanics. The dude who did the work is quite young, and i just know he has not got the head to pay attention to any important details.

The struct mount on the passenger side is now out-of-alignment, its not centered, but pushed up against the side. Clearly the sway bar has not been adjusted correctly.

Also i paid $70 for set of camber bolts, which i dont think were even fitted.

It is pissing me off no end. Where i live, there is no one who really has any experience working with anything other then bloody utes and commodores. So they are generally stratching their heads when it comes to my Astina.

It is possible to remount the struts in a way, wherin they are sitting WRONG?. Is there anything i should point out in advance, that someone working on this would miss ? .


It ****s me, you pay good money to have "professional" install, and what you end up with is fcking careless work, by someone who clearly is guess working their way around your car!!!



Last edited by SAGE; 13-05-2012 at 11:00 PM.
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Old 12-05-2012, 10:47 AM   #2
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All I can say is DIY mate. Get some stands, a socket set and some spanners. Spend $300 and ask for help along the way. Strut tops cannot be centered. Take a photo to explain. The more the better!
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Old 12-05-2012, 12:07 PM   #3
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All I can say is DIY mate. Get some stands, a socket set and some spanners. Spend $300 and ask for help along the way. Strut tops cannot be centered. Take a photo to explain. The more the better!
You know what, not such a bad idea. Nothing i cannot learn on the way i guess. Sick of handing over $ to these ppl.
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Old 12-05-2012, 12:06 PM   #4
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Bring it to Beerwah. I'll fix it.
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Old 12-05-2012, 12:10 PM   #5
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Project Racing: thanks......If all else fails mate, I might! LOL.
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Old 12-05-2012, 12:18 PM   #6
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the strut mount is supposed to be off centre

it's meant to provide camber and caster for the suspension

before being so quick to blame the mechanic, first calm down and try to figure out what is wrong... there's several common causes of suspension noises with our cars

if it's front clunking or creaking noises, especially when turning, it's the strut mount bearings... they're just plastic rubbish that breaks overtime, so replacement is ALWAYS recommended, but nobody knows/thinks about this... usually it's mazda dealers or people with lots of experience with mazdas know this

if you're hearing louder clunking that sounds like it's coming from the lower front suspension, it could simply be the drop links... common for them to wear out over many miles... again, replacement is recommended when you upgrade the sway bar.... remote possibility also are worn lower control arm bushes

another possibility is loose crossmember bolts up front... I remember one of mine was loose after I upgraded my front sway bar, so I tightened that bugger up!

then there's spring noise.... if you got progressive rate springs, some of the coils maybe packed closely together, so you may hear a clunking or rattling sound as you hit bumps... it's the spring coils making noise.... this can be fixed by installing spring silencer sleeves, or the cheap bastard way to do it is to fit plastic spiral loom (used for wires normally) or a rubber tube around it, but its effectivness is not as good as real spring silencer sleeves.... if you have tightly spaced coils, I recommend the Tein Spring Silencers... they are cheap too

yet another one... rear strut mounts making a clunk noise... this happens when the rear strut mounts are overtightened to the strut pistons, it always happens when you use a rattle gun... there are 2 dish shaped washers that sit between the strut mount and the nut to tighten them all together... the washer has a "D" shaped hole that can easily get rounded out causing loose fitment, which makes the noise... a workaround fix is to fit a rubber o'ring or rubber washer under the steel washer, then stack 2 more M12 sized regular flat washers up top

then last but not least, it's also possible that the sway bar bushes got stuffed... seeing as you got 2nd hand parts, it won't be any surprise that they're worn out
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Old 12-05-2012, 12:25 PM   #7
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Thumbs up

Extremly helpful!. Thanks


I know. Your right, it may not be the mechanic. Just frustrating as the upgrades, were in part due the simuliar noise, but it was link pin back then.




Also love your FAQ, refer to it frequently. You should be commended on your work!

Last edited by SAGE; 12-05-2012 at 12:28 PM.
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Old 13-05-2012, 10:57 PM   #8
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It is going back in tommorow. Here are the struts. I read recently the white markings are important, more so on lowered.

Running ebach? *spelling* springs and tokico blue struts.

I am trying very hard to be calm!


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Old 14-05-2012, 05:46 AM   #9
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see http://www.astinagt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2632

this is where the dots are supposed to be:
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Old 14-05-2012, 08:36 AM   #10
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At least it's a easy fix, but will need a re alignment after turning the strut
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Old 14-05-2012, 10:55 AM   #11
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no you don't
it does not change the toe at all... rotating the top hats only affects the camber and caster!
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Old 14-05-2012, 11:24 AM   #12
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So wouldn't you do a wheel alignment to fix the camber as it was set with the wrong top position? I didn't mean to affect the toe at all.
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Old 14-05-2012, 11:36 AM   #13
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rotating the top hat sets the camber and caster, there's only 4 different positions you can set it, there is no fine adjustment... all you would do at the wheel alignment shop is get a reading of what the camber/caster is at, nothing more... the factory set positions are shown in the pics I posted... there's very little reason to rotate the top hat to any other position unless something is seriously bent in the car and can't be corrected with parts replacement... that thread I linked explains to you what I just did
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Old 14-05-2012, 01:22 PM   #14
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Ah ok I didn't realize the astina has zero camber adjustment at the point where the strut attached to the wheel. I swapped my suspension a long time ago, and it has a arched slot for the upper bolts to give some adjustment form the bottom rather than all from camber plates. I just assumed stock was like that. My bad
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Old 14-05-2012, 03:13 PM   #15
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yeah, it's one of those subtle differences between the BA and BJ
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Old 14-05-2012, 10:11 PM   #16
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I find it funny how **** they can be, if they work on commodores. There front end is no different to any mazda strut - based type suspension.

But being in QLD, your behind the 8 ball. Due to the lack of a wide spread of experience on wide variety of cars. One reason I don't travel any of mine north.

But I think it might be a common problem, is some palces don't put back the rubbers. Or insulators. Common problem with Well hate to say it Aussies - or at least those who don't really understand engineering or how it all works. Because if it ain't on a commodore it ain't needed. Of course on statesman they have heaps on them.

But if you fitted up sway bars they might binding and casuing that noise. I get it every months on the rear of my wagon - the urethane bushes need greasing.

So you might find it's nothing major as pointed out. Tops are in the right place.

Tony - did you know back in the day for Europe Mazda have in some workshop manuals listed the postion of the strut top and how it changes the camber -castor and depending on where in the world how it would be fitted.
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Old 15-05-2012, 05:32 AM   #17
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Ok post edited since it doesn't make sense any more
Rod- wow really? Thats pretty smart I think, to have that configurability. But wouldn't that lead to confusion, especially in today's Internet helping age?
So does that mean that how sage has his fitted is correct?
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Old 15-05-2012, 09:23 AM   #18
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What the hell are you on about tony?
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Old 15-05-2012, 09:31 AM   #19
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What the hell are you on about tony?
A deleted post in there.
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Old 15-05-2012, 09:55 AM   #20
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I disagree about the sunny coast. Mechanics may not know the specifics of the mods and whats best for our cars but not all of them fell from a great height and lost there brain.
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