7 replies to this topic

[Mark Lenney]

Both of these upper control arms are off a '91.

 

Which type will I get when I order a new one from MazdaSpeed ?

 

They can't tell me for some reason.

 

 

 

 

 

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[Tom Phillips]

NA23-34-200/250A is the supercession for NA23-34-200/250, and according to pictures on dealer parts sites 200A/250A have the fully braced arms, which makes sense. I can't imagine Mazda would supercede a more braced part with a less braced one (though an arm more likely to bend could be a competitive advantage ). Can anyone confirm this for sure?

[Mark Lenney]

Thanks for the link Tom, makes sense now

[SaulSpeedwell]

The newer they get, the more braced they get, with at least 3 versions I've seen.  I have pictures of all the versions somewhere on here in the Archives.

 

None are particularly "weak", I've never seen one fatigue or bend unless "crashed".

 

Rumors of front UCAs being different lengths were never able to be confirmed, if you ask me.  We measured a bunch, and they were all easily within 1/16".

[FTodaro]

I do know that the 01+ upper control arm has a different longer upper ball joint stem compared to the 99 UCA, not sure how the 99 arm compares going backwards.

[davew]

This is all shown in my book

 

All the NA upper superceded to the latest version when you buy new.

 

99-00 use a different ball joint design and must be used with the correct upright

 

01-05 use a different ball joint. I have not compared the spindles yet, but I think they can be used on all NB spindles with a washer under the castle nut

 

Dave

[SaulSpeedwell]

What DaveW said, and his book may cover this, but the upper BJ pushes out EASILY.  So you can "convert" any 90-05 UCA for your car, but ... since it pushes out so easily, you should at minimum Loctite, and better yet, tackweld it to the UCA.

[davew]

I ALWAYS, tack weld ball joints to the control arm. I have seen too many push out.

 

Dave