How-To: Mazda6 SPC Adustable Upper Ball Joints Install

[6jen]

Tools needed:
- Torque wrench up to 120 ft. lbs
- 1/2" or strong 3/8" ratchit
- 17mm wrench/socket
- 5mm or 6mm Allen wrench
- 18mm wrench/socket
- 1 1/16" wrench/socket
- 13mm wrench
- Hammer
- Ball joint press tool
- credit card for tool rental
- Eat your wheaties for strength, the damn press tool is heavy and the ball joint is tough to press out
- Floor jack and jack stands
- TEIN gloves
- shot glass, ice and mini bar for relaxing beverage
- Cola, OJ or (add fav mixer here) if you're a mixed drink drinker...lol

Torque Specs:
- 13mm control arm bolts = 36.2 to 49.1 ft. lbs.
- 18mm SPC ball joint nut = 29.2 to 39.3 ft. lbs.
- 1 1/16" SPC top lock nut = 120 ft. lbs.


There are many reasons why you would want to adjust the camber in your car and since the Mazda6 in stock form doesn't allow you to do this in the front, you must replace them with aftermarket ball joints. I had to do this because of how low my car sits on coilovers. I chose to use the SPC upper ball joints...



Raise and support car SAFELY using jack stands in the proper locations. Relieve the tension of the suspension using floor jack or stock jack


Stock upper ball joint


Grab your 17mm wrench, unscrew nut so a few threads are visible (do not remove nut completely) Tap with hammer a few times to break the seal, then remove the floor jack to allow the spindle arm to drop down. You may need to tap it a few times again after the jack is removed. You will know its loose when the spindle drops to meet the nut


Use an allen wrench (might be a 5mm or 6mm, sorry forgot the size) to hold the ball joint bolt in place while you use the 17mm wrench to remove the nut




You can now remove the nut completely and seperate the upper control arm with the ball joint from the spindle arm


Using a pic tool or hook tool, remove the snap ring and rubber boot. The snap ring might not be visible due to road dirt/grease. Clean that area away to make sure that you see it, because if you try to press the ball joint out with the snap ring in place you can cause damage to the upper control arm


As you can see in this picture, the snap ring has 2 coils (they are not seperate, it is one ring with 2 coils). The snap ring and boot will probably come off as one when enough of the bottom coil of the ring is released


the boot is full of grease


Snap ring and boot removed from upper ball joint


If you do not have a ball joint press, head to your local autozone and rent one. Our cost with tax was approx $107.00 and was fully refunded upon return. Make sure to test the threads of the tool while there, because the first one we got was cross threaded and we had to go back to get another one. Instructions for use are on a big sticker on the bottom of the case. READ THEM...RTFM


Now grab your 13mm wrench and loosen the 2 bolts holding the control arm to the body (we used a pipe extender to crack the bolts and it is a tight fit between the spring/shock. None of our rachets fit


Once bolts are loose, control arm moves freely and drops down


The ball joint press tool comes with several different rings for diff sized ball joints. Use the proper ring that fits snugly around the top of the upper ball joint


Thread the ball joint nut back on so that it is flush with the ball joint bolt bottom. Install tool as indicated by instructions on the case. Line up the ball joint bolt as straight as possible
NOTE: The ball joint press tool is heavy as f***. You may need to use some sort of support to hold the control arm up as you use both hands to position the tool. Its 3 seperate pieces plus the c clamp


You can screw the tool up pretty high as the ball joint bolt is a ball joint and can be swiveled into place. You can see our silver support pipe holding up the control arm in the center of the picture.

Grab your adjustable wrench or 24mm wrench (we were unable to use a socket as there was no room from the angles that it was at and the other suspension components in place). You will have to wrench on it like a sumbitch until it pops out. You will know it is out when it turns freely


POP! It's out


Now grab your SPC ball joint, read the instructions with it, disassemble it, and place the slide plate perpendicular to the dimple marks on the control arm


We used a ruler to position it as precisely as possible

[6jen]

Once you have the slotted plate positioned in the upper control arm, pinch it as tight as you can to hold it in place and keep it from slipping out of it's precise position.
NOTE: It is very important the slider plate be perpendicular to the dimple marks. Take your time, MEASURE TWICE, PRESS ONCE!!!!!!!
Position the ball joint press tool as before (when you removed the stock one) by first positioning the upper ring and top hat


Again, using your support tool, suppot the control arm (damn that press tool is HEAVY!!!) and thread up the striker and position the bottom hat FLAT against the bottom of the SPC slider plate. Be sure it sits FLAT. Possible damage to the slider plate ridges can happen if not positioned properly, thusly inhibiting the smooth slide action required for adjustment.


Using your adjustable wrench or 24mm wrench press the slider plate into the upper control arm. This part was very easy. It slips in nice and smooth


Now grab the rest of the SPC ball joint parts and assemble the ball joint into the slider plate (as indicated by the SPC instrucitons). The offset is positioned towards the outside of the vehicle. Be sure to position the upper lock nut and washer properly!!! The lock not is recessed into the top plate, so the proper positioning of the lock nut is crucial to the proper operation of the SPC ball joint. Lock nut is 1 1/16" in size.

NOTE: for extreme positive camber correction, position the SPC ball joint offset towards the INSIDE of vehicle. In most (if not all) cases this much positive camber is not needed. Our case was probably as extreme as it gets (with the exception of accident damage) so positioning the offset towards the OUTSIDE will be sufficient.


Reversing the order of removal of the stock ball joint, insert ball joint bolt into spindle arm


Install the supplied nut with your 18mm wrench taking note of the position of the hole in the bolt to line up with the slot in the nut


Insert the supplied cotter pin and bend the tabs over the bolt as shown


Sit back and relax your wrenching arm with a cold beverage of your choice, his being Corona, mine being Tequila Repeat process on other side.
NOTE: Be sure to retighten the 13mm control arm bolts!!!!!!!


Camber steetings will vary with vehicle ride height, in our case, we obtained close to 4* of negative camber!!! Sweet as hell for racing, but teh suk for street driving. We did this mod for camber correction, not racing camber. The SPC upper slider hat has indicator marks for adjustment. Adjusted towards OUTSIDE is for negative, adjutment towards INSIDE is for positive camber.

This pics shows max negative camber, as we were not able to tighten the upper lock nut to the full 120 ft. lbs of torque required. As a result, once the car was dropped down, the weight of the vehicle slide the adjustment to it's max negative position with a nice CLUNK...ugh. Do your best to tighten the upper lock nut as close to the 120 ft. lbs to get it to the alignment shop with as minimal slippage as possible.

NOTE: If you do not have the necessary tools to do a proper alignment, then you should take it to a shop and have one performed immediately after this mod




My Spec sheet from the alignment that I got after doing this install....

[Intruder]

Nice write up! Enjoy your fresh alignment.

[pigeon]

Awesome write up Jen!
Did you notice any difference/improvements in how it drives?

[6jen]

Thanks Intruder and Pigeon! Well, it doesn't turn as well...hahha, but for real, when I had that much camber the car turned real well, but i didn't like how much play was in the steering wheel. And it pulled really bad to the right. Now I have no pull and the steering wheel seems tighter, which as a driver, makes me feel more comfortable...i don't know why?! Also, it feels better cuz I am on brand new tires Hancook Radial K106 225/45/17 so of course that also helps the feel of the drive. And FYI the tires are SUPER quiet which I really like!

The shop did tell me that the only way to get ALL the numbers in spec would be to raise the car up some because of the wishbone suspension, but I am happy with the specs and don't think it is necessary. They told me that I really need to be consistant rotating the tires to help with the wear, because the way the back of the 6 is made , it is known for slight inside tire wear (so they tell me).

[pigeon]

Its most likely driving more controllable now since everything is symmetrical.
Your alignment now is a pretty good balance between performance and drivability

[Nealio]

Good job Jen.

[Goldstar]

Great write-up. Very informative.

Happy Motoring!

[Waldo]

Great write up, but there's one detail that needs to be added.

When you tighten up those 13mm bolts, the position of the control arm is critical. If you tighten them while the suspension is still hanging in the air, you will wind them up 30-40 degrees when you put the car back on the ground. This will change their rate (makes them stiffer in compression, softer in rebound) and will greatly increase their wear. It will even increase the ride height by a little bit (maybe 1mm).

The best way to do it would be to re-attach the spindle to the control arm as you've described, but then jack up the suspension to the point where the car is starting to come off the jackstand. Then tighten those 13mm bolts to spec.

Incidentally, the hole in the arm (seen right below the wrench in the shot where you're removing the 13mm bolts) is where the factory sticks a pin through the arm into the body to hold it in place before it's torqued. This position is actually in rebound though and is not ideal, but the plant couldn't attach the spindle without chaining down the body if it were any higher. So you want to get the arm above the position where those holes line up before torquing.

[6jen]

^^Most excellent extra tip/advice! I appreciate the input!

[FunkRider]

Steering feels 'tighter' because you have a more tire touching the ground when car is not rolling right or left.

Did you gain any ride comfort after the alignment?

[6jen]

^^^ohhh, i didnt put that together about the tires touching the ground, good call! but, i dunno, the comfort has always been great IMO...