Morning all,
Im in the midst of overhauling a set of spare front suspension control arms for my FD, I've already done the rears and luckily managed to piece together a good set from the two sets I had. I did get slightly caught out with broken eccentric bolts but luckily managed to get find a pair of suitable donors from my Audi project parts bin.
So planning ahead I would like to get the 4 eccentric bolts & washers and probably the correct rear ones and whilst its all apart I may as well change all the ball joint boots too. I have found these overseas but they are strong money for a fist full of bolts and little rubber boots, when you add the price of shipping and the inevitable customs & duties charges its getting a little bit silly. Are there any reliable sources of these original parts in the UK? I called my local Mazda parts desk and the guy just laughed!
So am I at the mercy of these Japanese / US parts sellers or is there somewhere in the UK selling these part? Any help would be most appreciated
Thanks,
Andy
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjovO2HyLLSAhVQFMAKHYP_BUAQFggbMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mazdarotaryparts.com%2F&usg=AFQjCNGJBdWshr-9L_5o7mnYqStpMt_HHg&sig2=-ScN-vmJhFClC9d9JhE98A&bvm=bv.148073327,d.ZGg
Clive on here the club president run Mazda Rotary Parts...can get if still available all oem stuff and has the Mazda computer system for searching for parts. Plus lots of shiny go faster bits....lock yer credit card away ha ha.
Suffice to say you get a discount being a full member and prices are cheaper than any Mazda sales desk plus so many more parts than listed on website. :)
In most cases parts arrive next day if in stock when i done my pillow balls they were order in took about 10days if my memory serves me correct.
Thanks mate, I'll drop Clive a call and see if he can source these bits. I'm surprised there NLA through the Mazda network as they are so proud of their rotary vehicle history, you'd think they would go out of their way to support the owners who care for these cars. Audi & BMW do the same thing with their older cars but can't wait for the opportunity to advertise their heritage ::)
So thought I would follow up on this with some costs to compare.
I need to replace all 6 camber adjust bolts including the eccentric washers & new nuts to make life easire come alignment time. As I've already snapped the two rear ones changing the suspension arms over to the spare set I didn't want to risk it happening to the fronts as I'll be doing the work in a rented garage bay using a 4 poster and would need it out of there at the end of the day. Whilst the front arms are off the car waiting to be fitted i thought I might as well change all 4 ball joint boots and repack with grease as there starting to perish.
So shopping list is simple:-
4x front eccentric bolts
2x Rear eccentric bolts
6x eccentric washers
6x nuts
2x upper ball joint boots
2x lower ball joint boots
So the prices are in!
J-autos in the states £249.88 delivered excluding VAT & duties
Mazdarotaryparts £625.32 deliver inc VAT but excluding any discounts
The first thing that strikes me is just how bloody expensive these few small parts are but the biggest thing is why the HUGE difference in costs? It makes it very difficult to support UK businesses when you end up paying a massive premium to do so, nearly fell off my chair at the £600+ quote!
Needless to say I've opted for the cheaper quote! I thought this feedback would be beneficial to someone.
Pleased you found them cheaper.
You did well as post Brexit we have found that in almost every case Mazda prices work out the same here as America now if not dearer by the time .
shipping and duty is added.
Just yesterday I got a quote for a low level sensor for an FD, £77.70 over here and in america it was £5 cheaper without getting it here.
Evening Clive, my post wasn't meant to be antagonistic in anyway so apologies if that's how it came across. I appreciate your efforts in helping me out but also understand why I didn't take you up on the offer. Im still staggered at the costs for these bolts but I've learnt in the past the importance of proper alignment and doing so with ease & without risk of snapping the bolts is a must. The car needs them and they do perform a critical job so I just had to suck it up! Looks like the car is going to cost a lot more than anticipated to get it how I like my cars.
Thanks again
Andy
Quote from: Talkwrench on March 03, 2017, 06:51:14 PM
Evening Clive, my post wasn't meant to be antagonistic in anyway so apologies if that's how it came across.
Andy
Hi Andy,
No,no, no, I didn't view your post that way at all, so don't worry, in fact it was worth knowing you found these at a better price :)
I'm not too clued up on FD parts.. But have you tried Rockauto.com? Us FB guys use it all the time. Cheap and great parts. Shipping stings but still works out much cheaper than buying in the UK for us haha