Need help! CX-5 not stable on highway

F

faust222

Member
:
Mazda CX5
(Repost from tires/suspension, sorry if someone is upset, just trying to get responses from you knowledgeable people)

First off, I have driven a few different mazda cars over the years. I got the CX-5 about a year ago and just hit 4k miles.

So, I drove on the highway last week and was having some difficulty controlling the car side to side. At anywhere from 50-70MPH I feel it pull to the left or the right. Feels like it is coming from the rear end of the car. I know road conditions change, wind, trucks passing etc, but this wasn't right. I had two friends/family members drive the car on different days/roads and they felt it pull in either direction. I took it to the dealership where they checked tires, put it on a lift, etc. Still had the issue. Had a mechanic drive it with me, it was fine when he drove it; we could not replicate it. Later, I noticed the tires in the back looked different. Took it to a tire place and he measured the tires (...with his hand..yeah) and said the left tires are a different distance to the TOP of the fenders than from the right tires. Took it back to dealership for the 3rd time and did another drive. He didn't notice anything and said the tire distance was fine. At the dealership, I find myself being talked into a loaded Mazda 3 for an even trade. The car is fully stock and came with 19inch wheels. I cannot figure this out, my only conclusion is it is the lightest CUV on the market and road conditions,wind, and trucks passing are causing this to be present at sometimes and nonexistent in other BUT I did not notice this for the first 3.8k miles. Extremely frustrated and I feel the car is not safe.

Anyone have a clue what could be going on? (I promise that its not the driver, haha)
 
Okay, so you have a GT package. Is it FWD or AWD? 2013 or 2014?
Which tires do you have? The Toyo, or something else?
Are the roads you're driving on asphalt or grooved concrete?
Certain tire tread designs give you a floaty feeling on grooved concrete at highway speeds.
The car is rock stable, it just feels loose because of the tire tread blocks are squirming about in the concrete grooves.

Has your car ever hit anything (huge pothole, or another vehicle)?

If it were my car, I would get under the car, and look for a blown shock/strut in the front or rear of the car.
Wipe your hand all around them to feel for oil leakage.

If you don't find signs of a bad shock, I would lift up one corner at a time, and test each wheel bearing to see if one has gone bad.

If that doesn't bring an answer, I would then go to an alignment shop, and have the alignment checked.

Finally, if that doesn't bring an answer, test drive another CX-5 with teh same package as yours, on the same exact road, at the same speed, to see if it does the same thing.
My 2014 Touring is rock stable at highway speeds here in Colorado, and that includes on grooved concrete, and smooth asphalt.

BC.
 
Tramlining should not be an issue with Geolanders and the Toyo A32's on the CX-5.
 
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/show...-Community-please!-CX-5-not-stable-on-highway
Here is the other post if you wanna see some troubleshooting we talked about.

Its a 2013 FWD with 19s (I couldn't tell you the package of the top of my head). No I haven't hit a pot hole, etc but the streets in one of the cities that I live in is really, really bad. Was my initial thought that that caused it. The struts look different on each side, pointed it out, and they said that was nothing. Measured from center of wheel to fender line...identical. Gonna get alignment done, again.

I think I am coming to the conclusion that the car does not do well with wind on the highway. Drives perfect in the city. Its got similar surface area, but less weight that other CUVs and this may be the reason. Still don't know for sure if something else is going on.
 
faust222 said:
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/show...-Community-please!-CX-5-not-stable-on-highway
Here is the other post if you wanna see some troubleshooting we talked about.

Its a 2013 FWD with 19s (I couldn't tell you the package of the top of my head). No I haven't hit a pot hole, etc but the streets in one of the cities that I live in is really, really bad. Was my initial thought that that caused it. The struts look different on each side, pointed it out, and they said that was nothing. Measured from center of wheel to fender line...identical. Gonna get alignment done, again.

I think I am coming to the conclusion that the car does not do well with wind on the highway. Drives perfect in the city. Its got similar surface area, but less weight that other CUVs and this may be the reason. Still don't know for sure if something else is going on.
Click to expand...

I have mine for a year now and never had any issue. I drove it in really windy condition and never had this kind of trouble, at least not to that extend.
I would bring it back to dealer and hold my ground until they find something.
 
I will, the problem is that it has not been replicated when they drive it as it is an intermittent issue. But they sure as hell want me to trade it in for a loaded mazda 3...
 
It could be a faulty 4wd issue? sound unlikely I know, but how do you get a intermittent suspension fault, or steering fault, I would expect such a issue to be present all the time?

From what you're saying it sounds like the dealer knows something that they don't want you to know, a cover up?
 
Well its not AWD, its FWD. You are correct, its a weird issue and hard to troubleshoot. Idk about a cover up as they are really nice and seem genuinely wanting to help. The salesman even drove it to check it out. I hope this issue doesn't ballon into something real bad as I keep driving it.
 
faust222 said:
I will, the problem is that it has not been replicated when they drive it as it is an intermittent issue. But they sure as hell want me to trade it in for a loaded mazda 3...
Click to expand...
Stealerships all suck. All they care about is selling the next car and then its "see ya, wouldn't want to be ya!"
 
As always when posting a problem it helps to provide full model details.

Perhaps updating the "box" would generate more replies.
 
How are the tires wearing? Take a picture of them up close and post. If the alignment is out it will show up in how the tires are wearing. Next time that happens pull over and check each wheel brake rotor to see if they are consistantly the same temperature. If one is hotter then the others than it could mean you have a brake issue. Use a laser thermometer ($30 at Harbor Freight Tools) to check the wheel and tire temperatures too. They should be consistantly from left to right.
 
faust222 said:
I will, the problem is that it has not been replicated when they drive it as it is an intermittent issue. But they sure as hell want me to trade it in for a loaded mazda 3...
Click to expand...

I've had a CX-5 (GT + tech, FWD) for a couple weeks now, and think I can help. I too noticed some unusual driving characteristics in my first forays at highway speed. This only happened when I was solo; a second person's weight negated the problem.

The problem is that AWD and FWD have different weight characteristics, and your car is set for AWD specs. You'll also notice this if your auto-leveling HIDs seem low, meaning the rear of the car is higher than it would be with the extra 100-150 pounds of rear hardware in the AWD.

Approach your dealership about ta four-wheel alignment. (Not just the front.) You should get a detailed report of camber, toe-in, and caster. Compare these to the shop specs for a FWD model (not AWD).

Why check all four tire positions? The rear tires are set for toe-in because that helps straighten the car out after going over a bump. We found out about this with our 3rd-generation Acura TL -- people were reporting rear tires were scrubbed bald in less than 11,000 miles, and it turned out Acura had dialed in too-aggressive a position for stock driving conditions. Even a heavy suitcase in the trunk altered the car's geometry sufficient to cause rapid wear. (Plus, the OEM Bridgestones were soft and crappy.)

My own feeling in this is that the Toyos are a serviceable tire. The alignment is something I may request to have done, now that there's a thousand miles on the car.
 
Last edited:
faust222 said:
The salesman even drove it to check it out.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure why a salesman was being used to troubleshoot a suspension issue. Sounds like you are dealing with the wrong department. You need to make an appointment with the service department to check the alignment. The issue could be as simple as not enough toe-in. This could be caused by hitting a road hazard (large pothole at speed or a curb) so it may not be covered by warranty but I recommend using the dealership because you don't know what the issue is yet and, if it's not damage from a road hazard, it should be covered under warranty.

I hope this issue doesn't ballon into something real bad as I keep driving it.
Click to expand...

You are sending mixed messages. In your first post you said it was unsafe to drive. Now you are concerned it could turn into something "real bad". If it's unsafe it's already there, get it fixed now, don't wait.
 
This is too odd..

A vehicle should not become "More Stable" if you simply add a second person in the front.

If it is indeed dangerous and uncomfortable to drive, I sugggest seeking out someone who lives near you with the exact vehicle specs and comparing the two.

Select a stretch of highway. Meet up at a mall lot, switch cars, follow each other then stop, switch and drive back.

This will isolate weather it is the car design... or only your car that has issues.
 
BRIAN_MP5T said:
Select a stretch of highway. Meet up at a mall lot, switch cars, follow each other then stop, switch and drive back.

This will isolate weather it is the car design... or only your car that has issues.
Click to expand...
Seems like a waste of time. We already know that a CX-5 is not inherently dangerous or unstable at speed.
 
Isn't a waste of time if the OP has a different concept of "Instability" than the rest of us.

By driving a similar vehicle he can compare impressions with the other driver and either be reassured that it is fine, or that there is infact something wrong.
 
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I do notice the CX-5 gets "pushed" around a little bit when there are very strong crosswinds. The left-right movement could come from the car moving between different gusts of wind. For example if there is a strong left to right crosswind your vehicle will be pushed to the right by the wind, so you will be over compensating to the left to keep the vehicle tracking straight. When you pass the area with the gust of wind you will now be steering too much to the left and the car will feel like its pulling left. Rinse and repeat.

The movement in cross winds that I've experienced hasn't been significant enough for me to think of it as a serious safety issue, though I do notice it a lot more than in my e90 328i. The listed curb weight for the E90 is around 3500lbs while the CX-5 is in the 3400lbs range. The lighter weight combined with an 8.5in ground clearance certainly help contribute to the problem.
 
Good idea

BRIAN_MP5T said:
This is too odd..

A vehicle should not become "More Stable" if you simply add a second person in the front.

If it is indeed dangerous and uncomfortable to drive, I sugggest seeking out someone who lives near you with the exact vehicle specs and comparing the two.

Select a stretch of highway. Meet up at a mall lot, switch cars, follow each other then stop, switch and drive back.

This will isolate weather it is the car design... or only your car that has issues.
Click to expand...
 
Interesting post.

Some one on another topic was complaining about his head lights being low.

jginnane said:
I've had a CX-5 (GT + tech, FWD) for a couple weeks now, and think I can help. I too noticed some unusual driving characteristics in my first forays at highway speed. This only happened when I was solo; a second person's weight negated the problem.

The problem is that AWD and FWD have different weight characteristics, and your car is set for AWD specs. You'll also notice this if your auto-leveling HIDs seem low, meaning the rear of the car is higher than it would be with the extra 100-150 pounds of rear hardware in the AWD.

Approach your dealership about ta four-wheel alignment. (Not just the front.) You should get a detailed report of camber, toe-in, and caster. Compare these to the shop specs for a FWD model (not AWD).

Why check all four tire positions? The rear tires are set for toe-in because that helps straighten the car out after going over a bump. We found out about this with our 3rd-generation Acura TL -- people were reporting rear tires were scrubbed bald in less than 11,000 miles, and it turned out Acura had dialed in too-aggressive a position for stock driving conditions. Even a heavy suitcase in the trunk altered the car's geometry sufficient to cause rapid wear. (Plus, the OEM Bridgestones were soft and crappy.)

My own feeling in this is that the Toyos are a serviceable tire. The alignment is something I may request to have done, now that there's a thousand miles on the car.
Click to expand...
 
I just came back from a 600km (375 mile) trip this weekend on mostly windy highways. The car does get pushed around a bit because of the wind, probably because it is so light. Here in the great white north ;) two large grooves tend to form on the roads at the locations where most cars whells usually roll. This mostly occures in spring when the snow melts and heavy trucks push the soft ground in. When this gets bad, you can really feel your car jolt from left to right and back as you get in and out of the grooves. I don't know where you live, but if you are in the northern part of the US, this could be it, your problem appearing in spring and all...
 
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