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I am looking for one of these:

Do you guys think I will be able to find one at Auto Zone?
I'm just missing 1 but a set of 4 will be good

Those are disc brake pad return springs. Mazda part name is "M-Spring" for the front disc brakes and "V-Spring" for the rears. Front and rear are a bit different in shape. Dealer part. At least, I've never found them anywhere else...

You can order them from Napa. They will run you about $5 a side. You can get them through Mazda, but only if you buy their brake pads..

jaydog5678 wrote:You can order them from Napa. They will run you about $5 a side. You can get them through Mazda, but only if you buy their brake pads..

Arent there other cars that use these Springs?

they aren't necessary to have. The aftermarket ones I bought rusted and broke in less than 4 months!

They are only for easy installation of the caliper when installing new pads, nothing more.

Since we have floating calipers the pads will float with the piston no matter what so those springclips don't do anything when the caliper is bolted on

Gro Harlem wrote:they aren't necessary to have. The aftermarket ones I bought rusted and broke in less than 4 months!

They are only for easy installation of the caliper when installing new pads, nothing more.

Since we have floating calipers the pads will float with the piston no matter what so those springclips don't do anything when the caliper is bolted on

Can anyone comfirm this

So let me get this straigh, I DO NOT NEED the M-Springs or V=Springs?
I already have the new brake pads ready to install but no M-Spring

Not sure. I replaced my front M-springs when they corroded cuz I could hear the front pads sometimes when they were riding/"floating" on the disc when no braking pressure was being applied. But Gro seems to feel pretty strongly so... your call. Lotsa brake pads do "float" over the discs w/o any spring-thingy on other cars and no probs. It did seem to me that the M-Spring provided a slight pressing-outward tension on my pads... maybe I just misunderstood their intended purpose.

Their purpose is to press the pads back away form the rotor when not applying the brake. They will do that, but only if your slides are in good condition (the NAPA set comes with new slides and springs). I would get them and use them always. You don't HAVE to have them, but it will prolong your brake pad life and you won't have to hear that squeeking when not braking.

Found em. NAPA p/n is 82987, "CAL HDWR. KIT" $8.49 USD/each

Like Pat said, each kit includes one M-spring + a set of new slides w/retaining pins. Cool. Hated going to Mazda for these in the past.

beware of those aftermarket ones. the NAPA ones are probably the same crap I bought which were "beck arnley's".

THEY RUSTED LIKE IN 4 MONTHS and broke in half!

Sourcing some used ones from the junkyard is a better bet. I took some off a ford escort (same exact clips) that was a 96 model and they were only dirty, not corroded. I have like 5 spare M clips and a couple of the pin-clips sitting in my bolts-drawer just in case lol

mazda dealer called them "w" clips but they are the same thing they cost me $5 each but then again they wanted to charge me $3.50 for a lug nut so I would try and find it somewhere else personally

u need the "v" clip definitely, since it keeps the pins from sliding out of the caliper while ur driving.

the w-clip is completley useless tho....seriously..do you really think it has enough force to push the pads apart? Especially on aged calipers like ours, the caliper pins are so corroded and gunked up with crap that using a friggin hammer to move the pads in & out is a chore...no way that lil w clip would do jack to keep the pads from contacting the rotor.

either way a good idea is to always sand the living crap out of those caliper pins every time you do the pads or have them out. I just did the front brakes on my protege this morning and sanded them to bare metal and they slid in nice and easy

For those same clips they were 15bucks at the dealer.... if i bought calipers with them....