Do it. I've put mine off for quite sometime and now wish I had done it much earlier just b/c the noise drove me crazy and it made me dislike driving my MZ5. Now with the noise gone, I'm feelin great about this "sport wagon"..
Suspension Clunk - Left Front (2010 Mazda5)
- Thread starter Sounbwoy
- Start date
Do it. I've put mine off for quite sometime and now wish I had done it much earlier just b/c the noise drove me crazy and it made me dislike driving my MZ5. Now with the noise gone, I'm feelin great about this "sport wagon"..
foxhound1979
Member
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- Mazda 5 GS
i HAVE to do mine, it's driving me crazy..when the weather has a high humidity rating they squeak...my car sounds like an old POS when this happens...i'll give the new OEM a try.
thanks for the quick reminder !
edit : 27$ for the OEM, including taxes. not too bad! now time to read the how to.
thanks for the quick reminder !
edit : 27$ for the OEM, including taxes. not too bad! now time to read the how to.
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- 2006 Mazda5 Touring
Its kind of funny, mine clunked on the drive home from the auction where I bought it and by the time I got home I knew both what the sound was and how to fix it. It has become white noise to me, but i do need to get it done before winter....
S80crewchief
Member
I have finally fixed my front end noise, 2 struts (Monroe), went thru 4 links, finally ended up with Moog links, O'Reilly Part Master links kept on breaking, 4 sway bar bushings, Moog bushing's did the trick. Now I'm going to the rear & change the control arms. Thinking about the AC Delcos # 45K0187. (2006 5).
This is kinda weird. It's almost a year ago when I started this thread, and I just now today got around to replacing the bushings. Did brakes as well. First: Bushings. Yes. They are a pain in the rear to change. I was able to do it without loosening the subframe (I just didn't want to bother with all that - that's my reason and I'm stickin' to it!!). I got the vehicle up and sitting on jackstands then took several minutes looking at my options and decided to go for it. For me (and I must emphasize that this is what worked for me), I worked from underneath, behind the subframe, with one hand behind and one hand in front of the subframe and worked by feel. Since I knew what it looked like, it wasn't difficult. Loosened the bolts (14 socket with a small extension for the front bolt), raised the bar with a jack a little to remove and replace the bushing, lower the bar, locate and replace the bolts. The driver's side is little harder because the power steering lines are in the way, but same method applies. From start to finish, the bushings took about an hour or so. These are the old ones
. I purchased the new ones from the dealer ( I didn't want to deal with lubrication and zerk fittings etc. I'm lazy) so they are just like the ones in Post #34.
Brakes were a simple affair. I purchased a
Powerstop kit from Rockauto (Ceramic pads and drilled/slotted rotors). Yes I know about drilled/slotted rotors on the street, but was a good deal. When I teach HPDE's or Decisive Driving, if I use the car, I can change pads quickly. The old rotors do need to be hammered to take them off. I sprayed Sea Foam lubricant on the hub and lugs then used a block of wood and a hammer and off they came with little effort. Everything fit well except the caliper spring retainer 
on the driver side. It didn't fit as securely as the stock one. Curiously, the passenger side one fit fine, however, I reused the stock ones. Here's what the old pads looked like: 
Pads are bedded in and everything feels good. Oh yeah. These are the original pads and rotors. The car is a 2010, bought new, now has 65, XXX miles on it.
I'll check back in later on this week.
. I purchased the new ones from the dealer ( I didn't want to deal with lubrication and zerk fittings etc. I'm lazy) so they are just like the ones in Post #34.Brakes were a simple affair. I purchased a
Powerstop kit from Rockauto (Ceramic pads and drilled/slotted rotors). Yes I know about drilled/slotted rotors on the street, but was a good deal. When I teach HPDE's or Decisive Driving, if I use the car, I can change pads quickly. The old rotors do need to be hammered to take them off. I sprayed Sea Foam lubricant on the hub and lugs then used a block of wood and a hammer and off they came with little effort. Everything fit well except the caliper spring retainer on the driver side. It didn't fit as securely as the stock one. Curiously, the passenger side one fit fine, however, I reused the stock ones. Here's what the old pads looked like: Pads are bedded in and everything feels good. Oh yeah. These are the original pads and rotors. The car is a 2010, bought new, now has 65, XXX miles on it.
I'll check back in later on this week.
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- 2008 Mazda5 GT
Thanks for posting this and confirming it can be done without dropping the sub-frame! I can completely understand where you are coming from. You are definitely not lazy, rather time is precious and have your priorities straight.
My fronts started banging this week. It was perfectly quiet when I got the car in Feb (cry). I’m going to wait to see what happens this winter and decide to follow your route now that we know it can be done or do the MS3 FSB after all.
It's been a week today since I installed the bushings and brakes. All is well. Clunking is gone and the response to steering inputs is back. It feels good. Maybe next time I WILL upgrade to poly bushings! The brakes are great as well. Takes a little getting used to. They are not grabby (and I'm not a heavy braker as it is) but they slow the car down a little faster than the stocks did new. The only thing I have left to investigate is a potential bearing noise... just not sure about it yet, or which end of the car it's on, but my ears are telling me it's the right rear... I may just go ahead and change them both for peace of mind. Time for a little more research!
No pics. There was no room! Basically it sits on top of the sub-frame. The sub frame roughly where the footwells are located. Two bolts hold the bushing retainer on either side (fore/aft). Unless the bushings are shot completely you'll have to raise the bar a little to remove and replace the bushings. I used my jack under the bottom of the strut to lift the wheel assembly.
I don't think I mentioned it, but if you do it this way, I'd get all the stuff you need before driving the car anywhere. The exhaust and one of the cats are RIGHT there and you would burn yourself if you tried to do anything after driving the car.
If I have to do it again I'd make sure I get the car higher on the stands; which reminds me of a small rant.. jack and hard points on the 5? pffftt..
I'm gonna need to go to a shop and have some plates or something made up and welded.
I don't think I mentioned it, but if you do it this way, I'd get all the stuff you need before driving the car anywhere. The exhaust and one of the cats are RIGHT there and you would burn yourself if you tried to do anything after driving the car.
If I have to do it again I'd make sure I get the car higher on the stands; which reminds me of a small rant.. jack and hard points on the 5? pffftt..
I'm gonna need to go to a shop and have some plates or something made up and welded.
interceptor
Member
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- 2010 Mazda 5
Long time lurker, first time poster. Front Bushings is a bit of a PITA but do-able. Definitely have a 14 MM wrench to take off both sides of the sway bay (2010 has a 5 MM Hex despite previous posters saying 6 MM but I didn't need it). The passenger side isn't too bad, but the drivers side is really tough to get at so you'll want to disconnect the sway bar for wiggle room. My front bushings actually looked in pretty good condition and at 43 K I was surprised to have to replace them. But, the new Moogs reduced 85% of the noise. I just replaced the rear shocks and bushings a week later to get things completely quiet. All in all, not a bad job for a shade tree mechanic who has jack stands and basic tools. I'll post pics of the rear bushings since nobody else seems to have done that, but basic at best to do.
Attachments
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- Mazda 5, Sport
Followed the post by these guys and was able to tackle the job. I'll add something that made it a little easier for me...Other than the use of a combinatin of U-joint socket and extension, I used an open end wrench on the rear bolt to help loosen and tighten the bolt a lot easier. Test drove it right after I replaced the bushings, and I was pleased that the clunking sound was gone. And yes it feels like a new car without the annoying clunky noise. Attached pic shows the new bushing (left), next to the old one (right). Notice the new design; cut out on the side, thicker piping with extra waxy surface, also the new bushing feels more tougher and rigid than the old one that I pulled out which was very flimsy and soft. No wonder the FSB was making contact with cross member, the old bushing was too weak to hold down the FSB...
Since you installed these new bushings, how has the ride been and any noise? I just added non-petroleum grease to my bushing and re-installed them.
since doing this work the clunking is gone and the ride seems smoother...I think I may need to replace the rear shocks...now the ride seems a little soft. lol
We bought a used '08 Mazda 5 a few months ago with 99K on it. With the temperatures dropping, the front and rear clunking was getting more noticeable. I replaced the front and rear swaybar bushings yesterday evening with Raybestos bushings from rockauto. The rear took about 20 minutes, the front about 45 minutes. With the front jacked up and sliding underneath with my legs coming out behind the front wheel of the side I was working on, there was plenty of room to get my hands around the subframe and have access to the bushing bracket bolts with a regular 14mm socket on a 3/8" wrench, no extension. There's room to rotate the wrench a bit more than 1/8 of a turn when the wrench is pointing towards the middle of the car for each side. If you're 300lbs with forearms the size of 2 liter bottles, yes, this might not work for you, but for a reasonably-sized person there's no need to drop the subframe. You want a tight space? Remove the upper two bolts holding in an aircooled VW engine. (unamused)
mazdadude
ZOOOOOOOOOM ZOOOOOOOOOM
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- '16.5 Mazda CX-5 Touring
How is the clunking now? Is it gone? I am getting front end clunking when weather and engine is cold, but if the temp is warm or the engine is warm, there is no clunking...
I also replaced my front and rear bushings with Raysbestos last month. The clunking I had last winter has not reappeared this winter.
Took care of the clunking completely. When we bought the car, I replaced the rear struts, and still have the new front struts in the garage waiting to go in, but the bushings alone made a huge difference. Really tightened things up and quieted things down.
phunky.buddha
Booga Booga?
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- DFW TX
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- No mo MZ5 want MX5
Looks like this is getting added to the list of fixes for this winter for me too.
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- 2009 Mazda 5 Touring & 2012 MS3
So happy i found this thread! Im installing coils and when i finished up the first side i went for a quick two block test drive when ker-CLUNK. My heart sank. After sooo many hours installing my new goodies and it drives like crap?! I'm ordering OEMs tomorrow. Glad i found a good group of fellow tinkerers!
I finally got to my clunking front sway bar bushings. Why did i wait so long? Feels and sounds great now after some cold mornings. I just went with oem from tasca parts. The job kinda sucks but was easier than I expected. I found that that 3/8 drive breaker wrench and a stubby ratchet with the adjustble handle/knukcle made it easier to handle the 14mm bolts in the tight spot. Also a deep socket was nice for the forward bolt to get clearance over the sway bar.
Lesson learned is you might not need to disconnect the end links like i did. try sliding the old bushing outboard and up the slope of the sway bar bend to get it off. Opposite to fit up the new one. I learned this because I put the passenger side bushing in the wrong spot where fortunatly it could come off. And then it hit me not to undue the end link again, just slide it down the bar into the correct spot. Subtracting distractions like driving to the store for lithium grease, it took me about 2 hours with maybe an hour of that under the car. Not sure if the wheels needed to come off either which would have saved time.
In hindsight I would have ordered replacement rear bushings anyway as shipping charges probably wouldn't have changed much. They'll probably clunk in a month.
Lesson learned is you might not need to disconnect the end links like i did. try sliding the old bushing outboard and up the slope of the sway bar bend to get it off. Opposite to fit up the new one. I learned this because I put the passenger side bushing in the wrong spot where fortunatly it could come off. And then it hit me not to undue the end link again, just slide it down the bar into the correct spot. Subtracting distractions like driving to the store for lithium grease, it took me about 2 hours with maybe an hour of that under the car. Not sure if the wheels needed to come off either which would have saved time.
In hindsight I would have ordered replacement rear bushings anyway as shipping charges probably wouldn't have changed much. They'll probably clunk in a month.
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- mazda5 GT 2009
How much should replacing front sway bar bushings cost (labor)? The weather is definitely an issue. when i park my 5 outside i hear the clunk in the morning but when i park it in the garage i dont hear it.
