Rear Illuminas
 

Anyone have Illuminas installed in the back of their Protege? I have a question .. a rather simple one too. There's a metal plate at the top of the stock struts right below the piston nut, and it doesn't seem to fit over the top of the Illuminas. Should I make the hole bigger and make it fit, or can I do without it? I can post pics if needed .. but if anyone can answer my Q without them, that would be great.

Oh, and one other thing. My stock struts didn't seem to have any bump stops when I took them off .. just the black rubber boot on the bottom and a metal cap on top of it. Is that gonna be a problem?

not subject related but your sig has doubled in size since i became a member an i love them all lol

Thanks zoomer.

Anyway, I figured I would make this easier by including a picture. The blue circle refers to the item in the first post, and the red circle refers to the item in my second post. Just how important are bump stops anyway?


http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...9/e89e386e.jpg

Well .. I think I figured it out.

I replaced the metal place on top with a thick washer, and I said screw the bump stops cuz I probably won't even need them on the back. I'll report back in a week or so and let you all know on the status of the install. I will also post a how-to with some pics once I get the front done as well.

Don't know about the blue circle, but the thing circled in red is the rear bump stop. Bump stops are important--if you bottom out your suspension without them you will destroy the strut. Get MSP bump stops for your lowered suspension, part number BN7H-34-111, 7$ each at onlinemazdaparts.com.

Too late .. the struts are already in and I don't feel like taking them apart again. I should probably get some for at least the front though .. thanks Josh.

Oh and the picture is from another thread I found, that was not taken by me. So I didn't have the bump stops for sure..

Wait...you don't have any bumpstops at all!? Seriously, take that shit apart or do it right, or your going to end up doing it again anyway and spending more money. The bump stops prevent the strut from bottoming internally. It's SERIOUSLY bad for them. And if you can't find your bump stops, check your dust boots. If they're not in there, call mazda, and order a set of mazdaspeed bump stops. They're better anyway ;)

No .. I have none. Dunno what happened to them or where they went, but they were nowhere to be found.

You guys are killing me tho, I know I should really have them in there and all but I can't believe you're gonna make me take it all apart again!! Arrrrgh! But I guess it's worth another painful day of labor to save my brand new kickass struts.

Part # for the MSP bump stops?

You've lost your wrenching privileges.
PM liquid_ag. He's a PG rep and got me mine.

So what makes the MSP ones better? As far as I can tell, they're just like the front ones of the P5 but shorter.

Is the MSP one enough for the P5? Well then again .. ANYTHING is better than NOTHING hehe!!

http://www.msprotege.com/members/Bal...Stops%2001.jpg

They're shorter, that's the point ;)
You get max suspension travel that way before hitting the bump stops, letting the suspension do its job.

Alrighty then .. thanks for the advice Maff. Glad to have ya around so you can slap some sense into me and overpower my laziness. Spot on mate :wave:

PN is post #6.

If there's one thing I'm good at, slapping is it!:pfanndina