While doing my brake bleed this weekend I investigated a clunking sound coming from the front end suspension. What I found was that the passenger side ball joint has some slight movement in it and I'm assuming this is the dreaded failure a lot of people are seeing on their CX5s on the forum. The car is a 2015 GT with 97k miles.
The symptoms are:
My questions are:
Anyway, I appreciate any information. I want to get this taken care of as soon as possible as we don't have a spare car for my wife to drive.
The symptoms are:
- Tiny movement where the LCA ball joint connects to the knuckle. You can't see it but you can feel it with your hand while someone wiggles the rotor. I've attached a pic with the area in question circled in red.
- Clunk sound as you hit a driveway approach
- A subtle *bump you can feel in the steering wheel turning left...maybe felt two times in one full left turn of the steering wheel
- Sometimes an audible clunk while turning.
- A general looseness in the front end...could be my imagination but it doesn't feel tight.
My questions are:
- Are the symptoms I'm experiencing indicative of this failure?
- Regardless of if the loose ball joint is the cause of the symptoms...I'm assuming I need to replace the passenger side LCA for safety reasons? It shouldn't have movement in it, right?
- Since the ball joint is probably worn, is a complete LCA replacement required?
- Based on the condition of the bushings in the pic, should I just go ahead and replace both front LCAs?
- Are aftermarket LCA options good? If so, what brands have people had success with? I see a couple of brands on Rock Auto.
Anyway, I appreciate any information. I want to get this taken care of as soon as possible as we don't have a spare car for my wife to drive.