TheDosDog

I thought the 8 was a nimble machine stock but after the installation of RBs springs and sway bars all I can say is wow. The handling through the high speed twisties is greatly improved. With only modest input the car turns fast, flat and smooth. Its very neutral not loose or tight. As far as a change in ride quality, I think it is improved. I can now feel the suspension working (this IS a sports car, right?). It's not rough or abrupt at all. Handling in turns on poor roads is also improved. Bumps that previously upset the car are now smoother and there is no loss of traction or jumping. Needless to say I'm satisfied with Racing Beat's package. The instructions were complete and very easy to follow. Kudos to RB for something done just right.

PUR NRG

How'd the spring install go? Did you rent the same type of spring compressor murix used? I now have a full set of metric impact sockets (deep and regular) on order for the next time we need to do something similar. A full set of SAE impact sockets is next on the list...
________
HERBAL VAPORIZERS

brothervoodoo

No, we had access to an "industrial" spring compressor, one good turn of the crank and the springs were compressed!

As for ride quality after the install, I was really impressed. I rode shotgun and drove dosdog's car and can say their was no noticible difference in normal everyday ride quality. Actually it seemed smoother than mine (I have 16K on my stock potenza's).

blksf8

oh I am excited now...tonight we're going to dosdog's place to install my RB sway bars. Should be a good time!

Racing Beat Inc

Glad you guys like our gear! After you complete the install, give me some feedback on the instructions and let me know if I should make any changes to ease the installation process. Once I review the process a couple of times it all makes perfect sense, but it is always refreshing to receive feedback from a "first time" installation effort.

Jim Langer
Racing Beat, Inc.

Silverarrow

Hey jim, just curious, were there instructions for the springs? I had instructions for all the other stuff in the kit (swaybars, links) but didn't find any for the springs. I ended up using some linked off of this forum (for another brand of springs) but all in all i am very impressed with the new suspension. Should the car be noticeably lower? I haven't really noticed a difference with mine, had them on for 3 days only though, do they settle over time? Anyway, kudos, can't wait for the ecu/ intake, for the time being i got the afe drop in and was quite impressed with the craftsmanship. Good call.

murix

It seems none of the springs are shipping with instructions but they do indeed exist and are very good. You are the third I have heard not to get them including me. Not sure why they are not included but I had RB email them to me.

I am happy with my install but am fighting the 'clunk' issue. It is driving me nuts though I know everything is torqued correctly and it handles just fine. SF streets are rough so I can feel it clunking around quite a bit but having a hard time working out just what it is.

blksf8

thedosdog kindly installed my front and rear sway bars tonight on his lift. I didn't offer much assistance other than taking a few pics and tightening or loosening stuff here and there...

I am very pleased w/ the Racing Beat products. The car is more responsive and doesn't just plow into turns. It actually turns responsively and flat as others have noted. I'll have to drive it more to give a better evaluation. Until then, here are some pics of the stock vs. RB parts and pics from the completed install.

William

front sway bars....RB one is much thicker and heavier. (no, we didn't weigh them)

blksf8

rear sway bars...

blksf8

front endlinks. RB one is much thicker and sturdier...

blksf8

bushings...

blksf8

bar clamps...

blksf8

rear sway bar installed...yes, it's time to get a new exhaust.

blksf8

front sway bar attaching to front end links

blksf8

front sway bar installed

blksf8

thanks again to thedosdog for all his help. He's an example of yet another great member of this forum offering his help and resources to fellow 8 owners in the bay area. thanks Randy, I owe you dinner and at least a few beers!

Racing Beat Inc

I have checked with our shipping guys and they apparently sent out several sets of springs without the instructions. (Sorry!) I have talked with them and we have established a better method to make certain that ALL future sets are shipped with instruction sheets. If you require a set (or just want to make sure that you performed the installation correctly), give me a call or send me an email note.

I am not certain about the "clunk" issue, we have not experienced this on our car. I will contact "murix" and obtain more informantion.

Jim Langer
Racing Beat

Racing Beat Inc

One more item…. let me address an item that was brought up in a previous message.

Ride height drop – It is VERY important that the suspension components be tightened with the car on the ground – not suspended from a lift with the suspension at full droop. (Since the installation instructions were not supplied, it is logical that you were not aware of this step.) Step 8 from the installation instructions reads as follows:

“8. Reassemble the suspension in reverse order, with one exception! Do not fully tighten either of the upper A-frame inner ends, or the shock lower attachment bolt - just install the nuts “finger tight”! Lower the car to the ground and perform the final tightening after pushing down on the chassis to settle the car. This method of tightening is difficult but important - if you tighten the rubber bushings with the suspension in “droop”, the bushings can be over stressed and the ride height will be incorrect.”

If you have already installed the springs, simply loosen the attachment bolts and perform step 8.

Thanks again for the feedback, your comments are highly valued.

Jim Langer
Racing Beat, Inc.

goforwand

Can I assume that you kept the stock shocks in?

I'm finding this quite puzzling...I've read a very informative thread here about how one should change the shocks and the springs together.

I've contacted RB and Jim Langer was very helpful in explaining that the performance of the RB suspension kit is well fitted to the stock shocks. He mentioned that the RB chief engineer gave high praise regarding the performance of the stock shocks in the Rx-8.

Outside of the MS suspension kit, I can't seem to find a "matched" spring/shock set up.

Adding to the mix was my seemingly well-informed Mazda service manager/weekend racer whom swears by RB products and his two cents were that they were as good, if not better, than the MS products and a "bargain" to boot. (FWIW)

As my new Velocity Red GT M/T sits patiently in the my garage awaiting car seat installation and the obligatory family ride I ponder what to do.......Full MS or RB with stock shocks

TheDosDog

RB springs are over stock shocks/struts. During installation the bump stops are cut down and reshaped (~ 1.0" front and rear 1.75"). The result is somewhat firmer suspension with more linear travel. Since the increase in spring rate is modest I think the stock shock still works fine.

Sputnik

Actually, the point was not that you have to change the shocks if you change the springs. The point was that the springs and shocks should match. Whether a stock shock is matched well enough depends on the car itself, and the spring you are putting in. So there are instances where a stock shock will work well with an aftermarket spring.

---jps

goforwand

Thanks for the clarification!

Racing Beat Inc

We have heard that some RX-8 owners are concerned with a "groaning, creaking, clunking, etc...." sound from their suspensions after the installation of a front sway bar. The descriptions of what is occurring have been rather vague, making an exact diagnosis of a potential problem difficult, but we are recommending a couple of alterations to the installation procedures as a possible remedy.

When tightening the sway bar retaining fasteners, we suggest that the bar clamp retaining bolts be tightened to 30-36 ft/lbs, and the end link nuts to 42-44 ft/lbs. (These torque settings do not exceed Mazda’s recommendations, they are merely in the upper range of their suggested settings.)

Give us your feedback and let us know if this has resolved your noise issue. If you would like to review a copy of the installation instructions, I have placed a copy on our website that can only be accessed through this link:

Front Sway Bar (900K PDF): www.racingbeat.com/PDF/14018.PDF

Rear Sway Bar (19K PDF): www.racingbeat.com/PDF/14019.PDF

Best regards,

Jim Langer
Racing Beat, Inc.

Z00M RX8

I installed the RB suspension kit (sway bars and springs, didn't change the end links) in my 8 yesterday. Here are some notes from that installation:

Rear

1) The tools required list for the rear springs doesn't list a spring compressor obviously you need one, I got mine at Sears.

2) I removed the sway bar first, with the sway bar out I found I only had to remove the rear upper link retaining bolt in order to remove the shock assembly. This was nice since the front link bolt is a pain to get to.

3) Removing the bolt securing the ABS wire support just below the upper rear link gives more room to work without worrying about damaging the ABS sensor wire.

4) Modifying the bumper stops is a real pain, they are difficult to cut. I used a saw to cut them to length and then used a utility knife to shape them. They don't look very neat. I would be nice to either include modified stops in the kit or have the option to purchase them separately.

5) During re-assembly I used a floor jack under the lower shock mounting point to lift the spindle assembly slightly; this made it easier to position the rear upper link in the correct position to re-install the bolt.

6) After everything was assembled I used the jack to raise the spindle to point where the weight of the car just came off the jack stand. Be careful and leave the jack stand in place in case the jack slips. This raised the suspension to its normal position; I then torqued the upper link bolt and the lower shock bolt. It was much easier to access the bolts with the wheel still off.

7) I had one end link nut which refused to come off the rear sway bar. I tried using an Allen wrench to hold the bolt while turning the nut but just rounded points on the Allen wrench. I removed the other end of the end link and removed the sway bar with the end link attached. I then sprayed it with WD-40 and let it sit while I worked on the springs. When I tried it again it came right off. It might be a good idea to spray the end link nuts with WD-40 the day before you change out the sway bar.

8) Wear latex gloves when applying the grease to the sway bar bushings, that stuff is hard to get off your hands, soap and water doesn't remove it.


Front

1) The tools required list for the front springs doesn't list a spring compressor.

2) I removed the spring assemblies first, this made removing the sway bar much easier. Instead of having to push the bar into the under tray area in order to get the sway bar over the tie rod, as referenced in the instructions, I was able to just flip it around the other direction until it was in the correct position for removal.

3) Again removing the ABS wire supports gives more room to work without having to worry about damaging the wires. The plastic mount which secures the wire to the under tray just pops out.

4) Again modifying the bumper stops is a pain.

5) Similar to the rear I used a floor jack to raise the suspension to the point where the car just came off the jack stand and then tightened the upper A-frame bolts and the lower shock bolt.

Overall

Installation pretty much took the entire day from 10 AM to about 7PM working by myself without benefit of air tools (my arm is sore today from installing and removing that spring compressor 8 times). About 2 hours was spent trying to find a spring compressor, all the auto parts stores were out of stock and I ended up going to Sears, should have started there. All in all it was a nice day listening to the radio and bonding with the car

I haven't had a chance to really test out the suspension mods yet, but I did take a short cruise last night and was pleased with the ride.

Z00M RX8

Update:

I just got back from an Ortega Hwy run, the suspension is marvelous! The only negitive is that the ride is harsher than stock on rough pavement (I-5 south getting to Ortega is badly washboarded) but it wasn't to the point where it was shaking fillings loose. Great bang for the buck with this mod.