[Drake Bond]

Here are some more photos below of various light settings. The two last shots of the represent lighting output. The first is with just the light pods on full. Second is with both light pods on full and high beams. The lighting out put is very good on the pods, I would consider them to be a good mixture between flood lights and spot. The nice in between for driving.

Link to video of product demonstration:

 

[SlyCoopers]

I swear mazda could not have done a worse setup on the endlink bolts.. Ive been on this one bolt for an hour now and finally managed to stop the spinning nut/bolt horror

My solution which I dont recommend: Hammer in something in the open hole at the end of the bolt, and use a 14mm open wrench to slowly undo the nut, major amount of pb blaster was consumed during this tragedy.

 

[SlyCoopers]

Front confirmed to work, raises height exactly its specs. Now for the rear.

 

[SlyCoopers]

Rear strut confirmed working. I ran into an issue with the rear spring given that my generic "macpherson" spring compressor will not fit on the rear spring because its either too long or has awkward points to hook onto. Somehow this tool ended up being too bulky. This might get pushed to tomorrow until I can get a new spring compressor and hope it works. Other than this hiccup everything seems to fit.

Update: Springs apparently dont need compressors to take off, see corksport install guide for lowering springs. The issue now is how to the hell to compress it in such a cramped area since its adding 30mm spacer haha.

 

[Drake Bond]

Super excited to see the end result. Hard to believe how we even got to this point... I mean raising a Mazda out of all things. Don't think I've been so excited for a mod not even on my own car haha. Best of luck with the rear and compressing the spring and thanks for the updates.

 

[SlyCoopers]

I regret to inform that the rear spring spacer (30mm) will not work on the mazda cx-3 suspension
If this was literally any other suspension it may have worked but the torsion beam setup is atrocious for lifting capabilities in our case. The axle/spring base area does not come straight down but angles outward on a hinge (like when you open a box but upside down). I even went as far as trying really dangerous manners of compressing the spring to go with the spacer until I gave up after realizing that this will not work given the angle it wants to take and even if by some ungodly manner I did manage to install it, there would be no way to take it out seeing as how it would have gone in is not happening the other way back.

Verdict: Do not buy :/

R.I.P. any hope of lifting lol which is a shame since the front took so well.

 

[SlyCoopers]

Also its worth noting that if you think about installing the front set and then decide to go back to stock height, you will need to buy a new top plate for the strut because mazda doesnt sell the bolts separatly and removing the oem studs will damage them in the process.

 

[Stokers Rule]

Is it possible that the open hole at the end of your end link bolt was actually an allen key socket?

 

[SlyCoopers]

One would think so but it looked like a perfect circle and my hex bits were either too small or too large and the one that just fit wouldnt catch. I ended up using a slightly bigger star bit which gripped it enough to get the final length out. The nut comes out a good distance before the spinning starts and with enough pb blaster/lubrication the endlink is easily held in place while taking a open wrench to it.

 

[Project_Jackal]

Forum for Off road Cx-3

sly I share your dream of wanting to off-road my 17 cx-3 maybe you should create a forum for us weirdos to put all of our ideas in

 

[SlyCoopers]

Not all hope is lost but I doubt any vendors are thinking about making higher rear springs which would replace the need for spacers which cant be installed lol. Time will tell.

 

[Drake Bond]

I regret to inform that the rear spring spacer (30mm) will not work on the mazda cx-3 suspension <img src="http://www.cx3forum.com/forum/images/CX3Forum_2014/smilies/tango_face_sad.png" border="0" alt="" title="Frown" class="inlineimg" />
If this was literally any other suspension it may have worked but the torsion beam setup is atrocious for lifting capabilities in our case. The axle/spring base area does not come straight down but angles outward on a hinge (like when you open a box but upside down). I even went as far as trying really dangerous manners of compressing the spring to go with the spacer until I gave up after realizing that this will not work given the angle it wants to take and even if by some ungodly manner I did manage to install it, there would be no way to take it out seeing as how it would have gone in is not happening the other way back.

Verdict: Do not buy ?

R.I.P. any hope of lifting lol which is a shame since the front took so well.

Can’t believe are dreams of a lifted Cx3 have come to an end... Either way Thank you again Sly for doing the research and being the guinea pig once again. Leading us in this small and strange Cx3 off-road niche haha.

 

[SlyCoopers]

The quest will never be over haha. I firmly believe that a one piece extended spring would be able to fit and lift the car without the danger of slippage from spacers but alas its a pipe dream at this point. This experience has taught me to appreciate the mazda for what it is in the meantime.

Heres an example of the pitch of the suspension at dropped at its lowest. The space is just enough to wiggle the oem spring off without compressors but you will struggle to get it back on for sure.

Edit:
You can also see the strain on the brake line which also made me worry about trying to force the spacer/spring on. I was not willing to disconnect the brake lines for maybe a bit more drop because there was no guarantee it was going to work in the first place.

 

[SlyCoopers]

Heres some of other pics for future reference I took when I assumed it was going to be a successful project lol. Like I said earlier the front does work as intended. New studs were perfect size accomodating the 40mm increase. Hammering out the smaller studs was such a pain and you almost certainly have to do it on a surface you dont mind being damaged and should use a socket to brace the plate and catch the stud. Ofcourse by doing this you will hate your life in trying to go back to stock without buying a new plate because the studs will not cooperate in staying still when trying to reinstall the small ones and wont pull through 100% like oem. Thus you would need a new plate for piece of mind and security.

The rear shock was also very simple to remove as you just access the 2 nuts from beneath. When replacing shocks in the future you can literally just take off the wheel, undo the top and bottom of the shock and easy swap.

Also a reminder if anyone is doing anything with the rear springs/suspension, you need to lift both sides of the rear at the same time because the suspension will only "drop" if can evenly do so evenly. "Flexing" it(trying to drop it on just one side) will not work as is the point of the torsion beam setup.

 

[SlyCoopers]

So my curiosity got me looking into more elaborate ways to compress a spring and if any lowprofile compressors exist and I came across this tool set. Video of it in action. There is a slight chance this MIGHT work (absolutely no guarentee) in compressing the rear cx-3 spring while its installed but still am unsure of the clearance of the surrounding parts which blocked the traditional side clamps. Unfortunatly it still does not solve the issue with the flexed angle the spring would take with the additional height that i posted a rough illustration of 2 posts ago.

The one star reviews also dont seem too promising since multiple sites which sell this kind of spring compressor have had people complain about the same issue of the screw breaking thread when trying to uncompress the spring.


That being said, this is probably the last post I am going to do about these parts mainly because I dont want to go through the ordeal of dismantling and resinstalling the rear suspension and spending more money on parts that may fail plus that I wont use more than once. If anyone else wants to take up the mantle and see if they can install the coil spacers, I wish you the best of luck and suggest you only attempt the coil spring spacer so you arent wasting money on the whole set if it doesnt work. But for me, thats a wrap with this venture lol.

https://www.harborfreight.com/single-action-strut-spring-compressor-43753.html

 

[Drake Bond]

Props to you Sly for investing so much time and money into this venture! Hope someone who has the means can and will take this over.

 

[NotAPreppie]

So, to really make this work you'd need:

• A spacer curved at the same radius as the spring that can also capture the final spring coil. I could see a spacer with fingers that curve up and over so that you slide it laterally onto the last coil.
• An extension for the brake lines.
• Possibly an extension for the ABS sensor wiring.

I have a set of what I call the "widow maker" spring compressors. I do not recommend them but I have used them without killing myself. If you're only trying to compress the springs maybe a half inch for clearance to get the spacers in there, it will probably be fine. Even if the springs were something wacky like 800 lb/in, half an inch of compression will only be 400 lbs spread across both compressors.
https://www.amazon.com/8MILELAKE-Spring-Compressor-Remover-Installer/dp/B0791B3BZ9

Just don't put yourself in the line of fire when doing it.

 

[SlyCoopers]

I have a slightly durable set of those "widowmakers" and I can confirm they will not fit on to the rear springs because of the extremely small clearance of the surrounding parts blocking you. They are too bulky especially since you have to use 1 on each side. You might be able to get away with it by maybe cutting off a few inches of the end of the large screw/bolt but then you would severely reduce the structural integrity of the compressors which is even more dangerous.
https://www.harborfreight.com/macpherson-strut-spring-compressor-set-63262.html

Another issue is goingto be how the compressor is going to be removed after installing it with the spacer, if that is ever accomplished. The spring is going to be extremely compressed preventing the space allowing the clamp to be removed. I also saw it as extremely unlikely for the springs to ever be removed if the spacer is installed unless you dismantle and drop the entire torsion beam suspension off of the car itself because it will be too compressed to allow space for the clamp to latch on.

The only extreme way I can see this working is complete detachment of the torsion beam suspension and then reinstalling it after the spring is set with the spacer (assuming death does not occur in the process). But as you can imagine this is an unreasonable route to take for maybe an inch of lift.

I have made my peace with the stock height of the cx-3 after contemplating all of this lol.

*********************************
Note: Its important to note what notapreppie said about the compression strength. This is a serious factor to consider as it compounds almost exponentially the more you compress the springs. I wrapped the springs with a 9000lb strength tow straps on each side as an extra precaution because of the extreme amount of compression I was applying when I attempted the original install. Spring compressors are called widowmakers for a reason so stay safe .

 

[NotAPreppie]

Note: Its important to note what notapreppie said about the compression strength. This is a serious factor to consider as it compounds almost exponentially the more you compress the springs. I wrapped the springs with a 9000lb strength tow straps on each side as an extra precaution because of the extreme amount of compression I was applying when I attempted the original install. Spring compressors are called widowmakers for a reason so stay safe .

This is true.

An 800 lb/in spring:
Compress 1" = 800 lb of force
Compress 2" = 1600 lb of force
Compress 3" = 2400 lb of force

Most people are only used to the springs that make retractable ballpoint pens work but automotive/industrial springs are no joke and nothing to play around with.

I have a friend that teaches industrial and automotive technology at a high school and he lets me use his $1000 strut/spring compressor that is safety checked weekly. If I didn't have access to that, I'd definitely let professionals do any work that involves compressing springs more than a half inch.

 

[richyboycaldo]

What would be the benefit of spacers if the spring/strut travel remains the same? Do a larger tire, 235/18/55 for example, hit the inner fender first while leaving room for more compression?