Brakes and Suspension Upgrades:

Powerslot Rotors with Axxis Ultimate Pads:

Left: Left front side. Right: Left rear side.

Price: $400 shipped

After recieving a very scary shaking feel in the brake pedal under highway braking, I decided it was VERY neccessary to upgrade my brakes to safer status. Looked thru FM's catalog, and found their brake upgrade kit. Saw the price, and was wondering if I could get it cheaper. Stoptech was the place for me then. With some assistance from Matt Weiss I decided on the current setup of: Powerslot rotors with Axxis Ultimate pads all the way around. While I was at it, I decided that my calipers looked a bit dull, so I painted them black to give them a clean and not much of an attention getter look.

INSTALLATION:

First off is to read thru some sort of manual to get a good idea of what is ahead of you, that's assuming your like me. I've got the Miata Enthusiast`s Shop Manual from FlyinMiata. Another good site to get some real info and photos is: Hakuna Miata Site , it's very helpful in every aspect!

Front brake:

1. Chock the rear tires, by either getting a brick or piece of wood, loosen the lug nuts, jack her up, support with jack stands, then remove lug nuts and wheels.
2. Spray the entire brake assembly with brake cleaner fluid. If you plan onto painting the calipers, then now is the time to pull out that wire brush, and spray her up with some thick coats of your color of choice. Wait till they are dry to touch, or just use a blow dryer to quicken it. Remove the lower bolt off the caliper, there are 2 bolts that hold it in place. Then lift her up and pull away from you to remover her. Place her nearby to not put much strain on the brake lines!
3. Remove the pads. As you should know, there are 2 pads per wheel. They should come with 2 clips, 2 springs (front springs are different than the rears, they come in a V-shaped style), and 2 back plates. If not, then you�ll need to get some new ones, or basically purchase a whole entire brake pad setup from Mazda. That�s if you were me who had aftermarket pads. Keep a note that the back plates will have, or should have some gunk on it. That gunk is for the keeping your brakes quiet. For me, I�ve got it on the backing plates, and the back side of the pads, so that should make them ultra quiet. FYI: put each brake hardware in nice a clean order, so you don�t get them mixed up. I suggest a newspaper, and place them a distant way from the work space.
4. Once that is done, the brackets are next. They are held into place by 2 bolts. Both will need to be removed. Mines were hard to get off, so I got my torque wrench to do this job. I suggest some sort of breaker bar of a size that can fit in there to do the job, as a torque wrench isn�t correct to do the job, but it does work ;).
5. In a general case, the rotor is suppose to come off right about now, but in mines I had to get some liquid wrench, step it overnight, and solved it with a hammer in the morning. Keep in mind that you might really have to bang up the rotor a bit to the point it might dent it!
6. To this point I�d suggest doing some more cleaning, if you�d like too. If you do, then get some more brake cleaner and spray it all over the hub. Cleaner is better sometimes.
7. Lookin good so far? I hope so ;). Now go get your new rotor, or if you doing just the pads, then you better hope that rotor isn�t dented like mines :D! For owners who are doing just the pads, stop at step #3, and head to step #9. For the owners who are doing the rotor and pad install continue by putting on the new rotor. My powerslots came with each labeled right or left, but you�ll have to keep them in the right box to figure if they are for the fronts. If you�ve already mixed them up, then for the you can figure that the fronts are larger for about an est. 1 inch. So with that out of the way, put on the new rotor onto the correct hub.
8. Go grab the correct bracket, and install it like so. Tighten them till they are well tightened. This is the hard part, don�t make them tight till you brake them, but tight enough to hold their own with abuse on them. Sorry that I don�t have the torque spec on this L.
9. Go to the brake fluid resisvor and loosen the cap or even remover it. Take the old pad and push the caliper�s piston in till it can�t go any more (have someone watch over the fluid, as it can overflow. This is for when you install the caliper, so it doesn�t interfere with the pads. Grab the pads with it�s 2 clips, 2 springs, and 2 backing plates. Install the clips onto the brackets first. For me I used two type of disc quiet lubrication. One is a aresoal can, and another is in a grease format. Both are CRC company made. I like this company, but that�s just me. I used the aresoal kind for the back of the pads. So spray a little bit on the back of the pad, trying not to overspray, as you just want it on the back of the pad, and nothing else. Then go get the backing plate, and spray the side that will contact the pad with it also. Let them make tender love together for about a few minutes :D! Grab the grease type disc quiet lubrication, and make one dot on the backing plate that will contact the caliper�s piston, which probably is the one that is going to the back of the rotor. Then give two dots for the one that will be on the front of the rotor, which it will contact the calipers two �clamping teeth� is what I call them. Now install the pads with their backing plates attached to them into the correct spot. Install the caliper, but also have the end of the bolts lubed with a hi temp synthetic brake caliper grease, so that they can do their jobs. To install the caliper, just put in the top bolt into the hole of the bracket that it�s suppose to be in, which then connects it all together. Then you can push the caliper down to clamp onto the pads, hopefully not much mess with the other lubrication is made. This step needs to be done very carefully, as it will be a mess with your fingers, so I recommend some rags around to wipe your hand. Lookin good? Okay now go grab the remaining bolt for the bottom of the caliper to be installed. Tighten both bolts as the same way as you did on the bracket�s bolts.
10. Almost there����..just a few more steps! Now if you haven�t done the other side at the same time, go do it. Remember to take your time, and don�t RUSH, I repeat DON�T RUSH IT!!!!!
11. Getting closer. Put the cap back on and tighten it up. Get in and push on that brake pedal till it�s hard like a rock! Check the fluid, if it needs more, then give it more, if not then don't. If for some reason you need to remove some, do so. Is it hard like a rock? If not, then I�m really clueless to what it might be, could be some air bubbles. If not then I suggest you to go to the forum, or a manual to solve this.
12. If you got step 11 done correctly, then put on the front wheels on, and tighten the lug nuts till the wheel spins. Jack it up a bit to remove the jack stands, and then lower her down slowly. Tighten up the lug nuts to somewhere in the 60-80 lb. range.
13. Gaze at the job you�ve done and grab a snack to prepare for the rears.

Rear Brakes:

1. This installation is nearly the same as the fronts. So do step 1 and 2 first. Except that you have to chock the front tires, and the E-brake will be off this time.
2. Step 3 on the front brake install only differs in that the springs will be of a different form. They won�t even be installed onto the pads, as they are clamped into place by the pad, clip and bracket. Another difference is the brake release valve, I think it�s called that. I remember that it�s in the back of the caliper, and has a bolt on top of it that needs to be removed. The piston of the caliper is released by using an allen wrench to do so. I can�t remember which way to turn to loosen, nor which way to tighten, but that should be self explanatory. Before loosening the piston, please get a �feel� of how the driveshaft felt, by turning it side to side. Keep this �feel� in mind for later use in the installation.
3. You can then proceed to steps 4-9 of the front brake install. Hopefully you�ve remembered what if felt like on how stiff the driveshaft was when you turned is side to side before taking any brake hardware stuff off J. If not then you�ll do what I did later on.
4. Go thru steps 10-12. If you didn�t remember the �feel� of the driveshaft, then you�ll have to test if the wheels just literally lock up while just parked. If it does then you�re WAY too tight. Adjust the valve till it is in the spot of being able to stop correctly, but also not being able to lock up. If it for some reason feels unsafe to stop with confidence, then you�re way too loose! Don�t even try driving like this. You�ll be able to hear the lock up when you�re too tight.
5. Once that is all done, then it�s time to start the bedding in process.

BEDDING PROCESS:

1. Find a convienent location to begin this process. I�d suggest a location that can allow 0-50mph accelerations, and 50-10mph stops. For me a good spot of road was closed off from main traffic, so that fit the charm, and keeping a good lookout for pedestrian is a MUST!!!
2. Once you�ve found a place you�ll do the steps like so:

8-10 runs of 50-10mph stops

Break period to cool them down (est. 10mins.) Some smoke may appear, but that�s normal.

Another 8-10 runs of 50-10mph stops

Park her in, chock the wheels, E-brake off, and go to sleep.

Wake up, and whaaaaala����better brakes for more safety :D!!!!!

RESULTS:

After over a year in use, these brakes are just wonderful. Only problem was on my behalf. Lubricate those sliding pins, or you'll be sorry for not doing so. Recheck them as a maintence job, because they dry out. This led to me having a LR caliper being stuck to it's bracket, so I had to dish out an extra $110 for a rebuilt OEM one. Lesson was that the inside pad wore out, and the outter pad was near to mint condition.

Goodridge Stainless Steel Brake Lines (Finishline):

INSTALLATION:
Pretty straight forward. Just beware when you disconnect the brake lines, it'll be dripping out, so having a rag is a smart idea. If you removed your old brake lines, and can't recall how they were configured, then just do some tests that the new brake lines don't rub against the wheel. Bleed it completely with the recommend brake fluid, I just use cheap DOT3 stuff. A clean brake system makes a huge difference verses one that is loaded with dirt and air bubbles.

RESULTS:
After bleeding the system, the pedal has increased in stiffness, not that the stock pedal wasn't stiff enough. My leaking master cyclinder could be affecting the full SS brake line effect.

Hawk Brake Pads(used):
Price: FREE

INSTALLATION:
Exactly the same as the powerslot rotors with Axxis Ultimate pads installation.

RESULTS:
Not as strong as the Ultimates, but much more better than the OEM pads. Dust is very little, almost stock-like type of dusting habits. No noise as of now.

Eibach Pro-Kit springs (used): (free in exchange for my stockers from local club member Ron, thanks Ron!)

Left: Before. Right: After the shot of RustOleum Hammered Gold paint. Paint is as good as before, with no cracks or visable signs of failure, and it was done without any prep work.

RESULTS:

Ride quality after nearly a years of use is horrible! Don't ever go this route, especially with larger wheels, the ride is so horrible that you won't want to drive your Miata. It rides on the bumpstops about 70% of the time I've had them on! Haven't shortend the bumpstops, as I now find no reason to do so. Definitely advise purchasing a shock that can handle the spring rate. Koni Sport, KYB AGX, Tokico Illumina, and Bilstein shocks are the options I've heard of at this time (2004). I advise for anyone wanting to lower their Miata to look into what works best for your goals. As you I can attest that I didn't take a step forward, but a step backwards.

Flyin Miata Sway Bars with Racing Beat Endlinks:
Sway Bar: Flyin'Miata
Endlinks: GoMiata

Dimensions (swaybar):
Front:7/8"
Rear 5/8"

Comes with front bracket/bushings, front endlink connection bolts, rear bushings (no bracket replacement for the rear), and some nice grease. Front and rear are solid bars. Front bar has two settings, as the rear has 3 settings. FM recommends the 1st hole for the front, and the middle hole for the rear.

INSTALLATION (swaybar):

Simple. For the fronts you'll have to remove the plastic type undertray that dircts air flow to the radiator, and helps protect the bottom of your important parts. Should have 6 screws to remove it. Disconnect upper endlink bolt, along with the 2 brackets that support the stock swaybar. Grab the new FM sway and slide it in. Note that it's hard to put in, as the hoses are in the way, but just be creative, and don't damage anything. Bolt up with the endlinks. Take the bushing supplied with the kit, grease the inside up along with the outside. Put it on the bar where the brackets will go. Take the new FM brackets and finish it off by tightening the nuts up. Make sure no rubbing is happening with the top of the endlink and upper control arm. Having the car on ramps is best to see this. Tighten the upper endlink bolts with the car leveled, if you have ramps this will do the trick. FM recommends the softest setting, which the hole nearest to the rear of the car.

For the rears is just the same, just that there is more room since the undertray isn't present. You'll be reusing the old stock brackets, but FM has new bushings for you. FM recommends the middle hole for the rear.

Take it for spin, don't hear no banging, or anything major? If not, then you're all set, if so, then recheck the endlink to see if it's rubbing against a control arm.

INSTALLATION (endlinks):

It's pretty simple, just remove 2 bolts on the old endlink, and slip in the new one with it's already supplied bolts. Tighten the bolts with the car leveled, so if you have ramps like I do, then tighten them like so, if not, then you'll have to squeeze under there.....if you're car is lowered like mines..I feel your pain :(.

Left: Black bar is stock, grey bar is FM unit. Right: Black bar is stock, grey bar is FM unit.

My Current Alignment Specs (est. $115):
Note: I did the alignment without me in the car, so that's a bad thing, but I was in a hurry to get it back. Next time I'll dial it in on a better one.

Front:

Camber: +.2 degrees (L) 0 degrees (R)
Caster: +5 both sides
Toe In: 1/8"

Rear:

Camber: -.7 degrees both sides
Toe In: 1/8"

TEIN Sports Spec Driving Master Type HA w/ Pillowball Mounts:

Left: Fronts Right: Rears

Specs:
- 16 way adjustable
- ride height adjustable
- pillowball mounts (rear only)
- spring rates: 5K(front), 4K(rear)
- shock settings: 8F and 4R
- ride height settings: 12.25"F and 12.5"R
- steel construction

Ride Quality:
Much improved, when comparing to my old setup of Eibach springs on wornout stock shocks. Can't comment on how the ride compares to a stock Miata on a fresh set of OEM shocks and springs. I can say the ride is stiff, so you'll feel most of the roads imperfections, but you will not be on your bumpstops all the time. With beefier tires like my currently (2005) Hankook RS2's, the ride is quite nice I might say. With my older, shorter sidewall Yokohama ES100's, the ride was much worse, almost unbareable.

Handling:
Body roll is greatly reduced, but the kit is truely oversteer bias. I took most of the oversteer out by removing the rear swaybar completely, made the shocks stiffer in the front, made is softer in the rear, and the FM front sway is at full stiff. The addition of my RS2's, the car is very neutral, I can switch from understeer to oversteer with just the right amount of throttle. Handling is drastically improved, nearly priceless.

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Disclaimer: DO ALL MODS AT YOUR OWN RISK!!! I AM NOT AT FAULT FOR ANY OF YOUR MISTAKES!!!