Mazda Protege Safari5 EP2-Total suspension replacement (what a nightmare!)

[@taylordarr3]

There is NO way this car spent it's life in Texas 😂

[@BrunerTuner]

Right?! If it did, it was on the coast!

[@SkywardOne]

I just picked up the exact same car for $500, did some engine work and runs like a top. Not bad for a car with over 225,000 miles. Shocks all the way around are next.

[@BrunerTuner]

That's awesome man, what a deal. These cars are undervalued. Hope you enjoy it!

[@Rustyk_IwL]

I'm the same, I got one for 500 and the only fault is the shock absorbers 🔥

[@BrunerTuner]

That's awesome! These cars are SUCH slept on vehicles for the value.

[@drivestickshiftNYC]

scary research for my 99 protege rear impeding suspension job, thanks for taking the time to film and edit this

[@BrunerTuner]

You're very welcome! Let me know if you have any questions

[@drivestickshiftNYC]

@@BrunerTuner just did the rear shocks and sway links(both links needed the grinder treatment), shocks were cooked but it didnt get rid of a click i hear at low speeds from the back end, thinking it has to be the lateral or trailing arms, jacked her up and wiggled each one around, the sound doesnt come up without the weight of the car on the rear end, sadly. And the bushings still look whole (tho dryer than a nun). when she is on the ground and i shove her side to side in the rear, i hear the click. thinking to start with the trailing arms as they seem a lil more manageable, is somewhere you found its possible to get the hardware for the beefier bolts, or just the local hardware store? in hindsight any pointer beside load up on Nut Buster fluid? any tips for lateral and trailing arm job on a old gal like a 99 protege? - thx for your time and consideration in advance 🙏

[@BrunerTuner]

@drivestickshiftNYC interesting, I wish I could hear the click myself! For me, one of my trailing arms was shot so bad it was clunking badly. PB blaster, an impact, breaker bars, just get ready for the rust battle! The long bolts that go through the rear knuckle can also be a nightmare, so possibly get ready to deal with those.

[@karmatose]

Reminds me of working on.... Every car I've ever owned. I gotta get out of the rustbelt. And your reflections on life at 28:35... Been there too many times. Gave me a chuckle.

[@BrunerTuner]

Bless your soul if you're working on that belt cars all the time! LOL, you know all too well how these type of projects go. Thanks so much for watching!

[@nedimprintjobs5397]

is dust cover behind hub/bearing assembly? I am about to buy hub/bearing assembly and want to make sure I can keep dust shield on my car with new parts. xD

[@BrunerTuner]

It is, you just put it back on once you put the new hub assembly on.

[@andrewkratochvil9260]

About to bust down my p5s suspension this weekend and I am thankful that me and my car live in the south and have no rust😅

[@BrunerTuner]

Nice man, hope it goes well! Lol, dude so do I and apparently this is a Texas car, idk what happened!

[@JasonLeung-4roller]

Subaru Impreza owner here. I like what I see.

[@BrunerTuner]

Hell yeah, thanks man. Even the Subaru owners are on board with my off brand Subaru.

[@JasonLeung-4roller]

The Protege has always been one of my favorites. I am glad to see someone giving this car a redo. I always envisioned. A street build. But Safari the world!

[@BrunerTuner]

It's always looked appealing to me, so I'm glad to have ended up with it. It's a blast. A street build would certainly be fun, but with a cleaner and less rusty example is what I'd go for if going that route. It's been great tho!

[@BrunerTuner]

Hope you guys enjoyed this episode! There was so much work to do in this one, the episode is long! The other episodes won't be quite this long.

[@charasdoodle]

Do you still have the part numbers, or dimensions for the correct parts?

[@SkywardOne]

@BrunerTuner what part of Texas? I'm in north Austin area with the same car

[@BrunerTuner]

@@SkywardOne I'm in Dallas!

[@nevido84]

Are you on mazda247 forum? I cant decide what to do with my suspension and want to finish in summer :) l am about to give up haha

[@jhonviel7381]

bro so much rust... 🙈🙈🙈

[@BrunerTuner]

Please send help 😭

[@davidbruner2754]

This seriously took me so long to do all this

[@woodFTP]

hey you mentioned rockauto has the wrong part numbers for some of the rear control arms... i just checked and thge part numbers are still the same between the protege and protege5. what are the correctg part numbers that you ordered? getting ready to do a complete suspension rebuild as well.

[@BrunerTuner]

What's up man! Shoot me an email and I'll dig into it, since I'll have to go back and do some digging to find the correct numbers. [e-mail]

[@godiegogo91]

So cool! Good job btw!

[@BrunerTuner]

Thanks man, appreciate it!!

[@HFNoOdLe]

I am about to tackle replacing the rear suspension on my Protege5. Do you have the link to the forum regarding the lateral control arm lengths?

[@BrunerTuner]

Right on, it's a little bit of work, I hope yours isn't too rusty! Are you on the Protege5 groups? Is Yours is a protege5, or protege sedan?

[@HFNoOdLe]

@@BrunerTuner I've already replaced all the front suspension and looking to order the rear parts. It's a Protege5. Which groups?

[@BrunerTuner]

Gotcha. Sorry, Protege5 owners group Facebook. It's mevotech part #801220

[@HFNoOdLe]

@@BrunerTuner Yes I am in a couple Facebook Protege groups. Looks like the length is different. 801220 is 23in and CMS76127 (from Rockauto) are 22.5in. I'll measure the length of the forward lateral on my car before I order. Thanks for helping out the community!

[@BrunerTuner]

So, their listing is wrong, that CMS76127 is an inch longer, at 23.5. The 801220 mevotech are 22.5, which are good to go! Glad to help, it will save everyone a bunch of headache!

[@TrainAndWin]

Hi, is your Mazda lifted? I own 323F BJ '99 and I would like to increase clearance. You installed stock suspension?

[@BrunerTuner]

Hi, mine is not lifted. I hope to lift it in the future, however, nothing right now.

[@jasonsimpson4805]

Looks great! 👍🏼

[@dietmarmoll8178]

Hello, I see you from Germany. Recently was able to get a Maxda 323F 2003, buy the same car as yours. 1st owner, 64000 km, almost none Rust. After completing rust prevention this year I would like to lower it and put wider rims on it. Our market for such cars is very limited. Can you give me tips on who I can contact, e.g. Dealers who sell such parts. Thank you in advance...greetings from Germany

[@BrunerTuner]

Hi! Congrats on the car! They are so fun and under rated. Unfortunately, the rust is a big issue. I don't know too many companies that support them, but there is one called Cork Sport that has some parts I believe

[@dietmarmoll8178]

Thank you.......greetings from Germany/Heidelberg.@@BrunerTuner

[@patrickcortinas9894]

Hey bro do you have a video on the roof install or taking it off or a link on that roof rack/ cage need one for my p5 my oem rack is cracking

[@BrunerTuner]

How's it going man? So, I never messed with the stock roof rack, just added my harbor freight one on top of it. All the plastic OEM ones are cracking at this point, mine is the same. I believe you have to remove the headliner to get to it.

[@zacharyhui965]

Unfortunately you will have to take the headliner off to access the bolts to take the OEM rack off. It can be a little bit of a pain but if it is cracking then what other choice do you have to other than fully replacing it. I suggest replacing it with a Yakima rack with Jetstream bars which is what I did.

[@bigc6812]

This car’s CV axles teach you what frustrating really looks like holy crap they were bad on my 2002

[@BrunerTuner]

Oof, I've yet to have to do them yet but I'm sure it's a pain

[@bigc6812]

Oh no have fun hahaha this video was super helpful with all the rear suspension things I still need to do. The problem with mine when doing the CVs was that neither would come out of the wheel hub. I had to take both assemblies completely off so that I could press them out in a hand press.

[@BrunerTuner]

Oof, that is a massive pain indeed..hope I have a little easier luck with mine hahaha!

[@doctorlobsteroctopus]

U rlly gonna rev da suspension up for sure!!

[@davidbruner4114]

Yooooooo it'sa me!!

[@cosmicsman666]

Hello there.... How many miles on this protege?

[@BrunerTuner]

Hi! 173k

[@cosmicsman666]

@@BrunerTuner just got one with 36,000 on it. None rustbelt area example for $1200.

[@BrunerTuner]

Woooow that's impressive! These cars are criminally cheap, they're so fun and are great.

[@TasteTheRambo]

This looks like an insane amount of work. The end result seems worth it though. I hope you bought this thing another 10+ years of life!

[@BrunerTuner]

It's been a staggering amount of work. It really took much more than I was intending to do. I sure hope I can squeeze more life out of it!

[@TasteTheRambo]

@@BrunerTuner your road trip to VA is a good start. 😎

[@BrunerTuner]

It is! It's going very well.