To me it looks like a lot more wheel wiggle than control arm wiggle. But Pitter would have mentioned it if they were replaced in addition to the control arms. Maybe it's a good thing I have an optometrist appointment the day after tomorrow for yearly eye exam . LOL
CX-5 Feels squirrelly
- Thread starter Pitter
- Start date
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- 2016.5 CX-5 GT AWD titanium/black 2016 Miata Club ST MT white
I agree with RedBaron. From what I can see in the vid, it's not the wheel bearings.
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- 2020 CX-5 Signature Azul Metalico
Well the repair is complete and the car is back on the road. Here is an image of the replaced parts (one side). The service manager admitted that no my car is not designed to resist rough roads so I should buy a CX-50 which IS (...he says). Maybe but I wonder if the componants replaced on mine are really more rugged/wear resistant on that model. Hmmm.
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Well that's good then. Pitter didn't need more expense.
I've never seen the suspension of a CX-50 but I'll venture a guess to say that I think you are correct to go "Hmmm". I don't think Mazda makes anything heavy duty enough to hold up to your punishing conditions. Maybe a Toyota Forerunner or similar would do better.
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- 2020 CX-5 Signature Azul Metalico
Thanks very much to all of you for indulging my issue. Well it took four years to reach this point and of course now it is fixed so I'm not going to try to change vehicles in the near term but when I do I will certainly look at Toyotas.
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- 2023 CX-5 2.5 Turbo AWD Auto
RIP 8/23:2013 CX-5 Sport FWD Auto 120k
Yeah, id question the CX-50 claim as well. I’m skeptical. I just haven’t seen anything presented that demonstrates the 50 is more off road capable than the 5 besides clever marketing. It’s got slightly more ground clearance, a different rear suspension setup, and can tow more if properly equipped (3500 vs 2000 lbs). But it’s not like a base vs TRD trim difference that you’d see in a Toyota.
Glad the suspension is sorted for now. Thanks for sharing here!
Glad the suspension is sorted for now. Thanks for sharing here!
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- 2020 CX-5 Signature Azul Metalico
On the CX-50 I was in the dealership the other day and they had one in the showroom. That thing has 20" wheels! I can just imagine how comfy the ride would be on rough unpaved road. What's more, reading a review of the car in Motor Trend the principal criticism was ride quality (and that presumably on paved roads). Certainly not an alternative to the CX-5 for my road. Sneaky service manager. Back to my repair I see that it is the bushings in the control arms that wear. I wonder if those bushings are somehow more rugged in some vehicles than others.
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- 2014 & 2019 CX-5 Touring(s)
Yeah, I thought so (been there, done that
):As for the CX-50 (I have one), YES it's harder on the road than the CX-5 - certainly with the 20" wheels, but changing tires improves it. Also, the non-turbo models come with 17"/18" wheels here in US. Even so, the shocks/springs are harder as well, so ride comfort would still not be as good. However, they have said they are softening the ride/suspension as on the November '23 build (2024 MY) cars.
After all that's said, though, the suspension is probably no more robust than the CX-5.
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- Plano, Texas, USA
Not surprised to see the anti-sway bar link at the top of the picture which is one of the front suspension parts got replaced. Usually that’s the culprit of clunking noise from front suspension on CX-5. But all of these front suspension parts got replaced in 33K miles? Really?
Here's pix of my LCA bushings (big rear bushing) at ~ 60,000 miles. New LCA's were installed shortly after these pictures taken. In the 2nd pic, left side control arm, one of the 'spokes' is torn completely through horizontally @ 7 0'clock position. When jacked up with the wheels hanging down, the upper and lower halves of that 'spoke ' shift opposite directions sideways indicating a clean break and not a surface crack. Also tears at ~ 10 o'clock and small tear at ~ 2o'clock. Notice 'spoke' at ~ 5 o'clock position tearing away from metal center bushing.
In the first picture (right side control arm) it shows similar and notice along the circumference on the left half that the rubber is separating from the heavy casting.
I don't have rigorous driving conditions (some roads are lousy with patches and could stand resurfacing but they don't jostle the car around too much), just a lot of stop signs and lights from in- town and suburban driving. You can tell that the bushings have been degrading for some time, this didn't just happen all of a sudden at 60k miles.
These were not the original bushings but were "updated' bushings installed per TSB back in 2014 right after I bought the car because of my complaint of squeaking. They fixed the noise and they also improved the ride.
Pitter, it would have been interesting to see the condition of the bushings in your LCA's just for comparison.
In the first picture (right side control arm) it shows similar and notice along the circumference on the left half that the rubber is separating from the heavy casting.
I don't have rigorous driving conditions (some roads are lousy with patches and could stand resurfacing but they don't jostle the car around too much), just a lot of stop signs and lights from in- town and suburban driving. You can tell that the bushings have been degrading for some time, this didn't just happen all of a sudden at 60k miles.
These were not the original bushings but were "updated' bushings installed per TSB back in 2014 right after I bought the car because of my complaint of squeaking. They fixed the noise and they also improved the ride.
Pitter, it would have been interesting to see the condition of the bushings in your LCA's just for comparison.
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- Plano, Texas, USA
I can’t believe the LCA bushing on your 2014 CX-5 looked like that with only 60K miles! Looks like I need to check my front LCA bushings more often than I planned as I’ve seen a couple of TSBs which are related to bad LCA bushing.
I'd like to add that about 6 months prior to finding this, that all 4 rubber boots on the tie rod ends and ball joints had split and there was luckily no play in any of the joints. So, I sealed the boots with an adhesive sealant and used a grease needle to give each joint 4-6 shots of grease right through the boots. *** Side note here*** The immediate effect was that the car steered much easier. A nice and very noticeable difference. I've noticed this same effect years ago on a previous car. It's almost like the original grease in the sealed joints dry out because on that car none of the boots was torn, I was trying to remedy a binding that didn't allow the steering wheel to freely return to center and required constant correction.****
Now going back to the bushings, I want to state that the car didn't ride real harsh or go crashing over bumps, but after seeing the bushing condition and that the ball joint boots were patched up, I decided on new (MAZDA OEM) LCA's. Since the tie rod end boots were also patched and an alignment was going to be needed anyway, it got new tie rod ends. Although not bad, they still had ~ 60k on them.
The new control arms firmed up the ride comfortably and improved the handling. The first time on the interstate (@~ 70 mph) when moving over into the exit lane the car responded immediately, like it moved over right now. Took me by surprise. Not that the old bushings were sloppy, but a noticeable difference for sure. Also noticed, to be expected, the steering wheel was harder to turn because of tight new ball joints and tie rod ends. In a matter of days the steering effort got easier, more normal.
Shortly after the LCA's were replaced, I had my mechanic replace the front stabilizer bar bushings. They made a more minor effect but tightened things up further. They weren't really bad looking but comparing measurements with new, they experienced some "compression set".
Some of what I just wrote was mentioned in earlier (months ago) more lengthy posts that detailed parts and labor costs etc.
Now going back to the bushings, I want to state that the car didn't ride real harsh or go crashing over bumps, but after seeing the bushing condition and that the ball joint boots were patched up, I decided on new (MAZDA OEM) LCA's. Since the tie rod end boots were also patched and an alignment was going to be needed anyway, it got new tie rod ends. Although not bad, they still had ~ 60k on them.
The new control arms firmed up the ride comfortably and improved the handling. The first time on the interstate (@~ 70 mph) when moving over into the exit lane the car responded immediately, like it moved over right now. Took me by surprise. Not that the old bushings were sloppy, but a noticeable difference for sure. Also noticed, to be expected, the steering wheel was harder to turn because of tight new ball joints and tie rod ends. In a matter of days the steering effort got easier, more normal.
Shortly after the LCA's were replaced, I had my mechanic replace the front stabilizer bar bushings. They made a more minor effect but tightened things up further. They weren't really bad looking but comparing measurements with new, they experienced some "compression set".
Some of what I just wrote was mentioned in earlier (months ago) more lengthy posts that detailed parts and labor costs etc.
Is the pic I attached what leaking strut would look like? I have no idea what that part is but this 23 cx5 is driving me crazy with how it's driving. No real clunky noises but the steering feels like I'm low on air and it's at recommended air.
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- 2014 & 2019 CX-5 Touring(s)
That's not the strut, so cannot tell if it's leaking. The strut is the rod and spring part like the pic below, which shows a leaky strut. See the wet areas inside and around the spring.
