Are you sure it’s in the front? Did you check the back bearings? I’d definitely replace the other ball joint too.
Pretty sure ... not positive, but it sure sounds like it's coming from the front.
I replaced both LCAs in 2017. No slop in the ball joint on the one I just replaced, but with the torn boot it wouldn't have lasted long.
Hi had best luck with jacking up one front wheel, chucking the rear wheels, ebrake and then start the car and put it in gear at idle. A bad bearing will definitely make noise then.
Of course do it at your own risk.
This wouldn't work with a manual transmission, though, would it? I think I'd need both front wheels off the ground.
Sometimes sealed wheel bearings and hub type bearing are hard to catch because there is more than one row of bearings.
One row could be worn/damaged and the other not which will cause it to make noise but feel pretty much okay. when you had the cv axle out did that hub turn free smooth and quiet? If so I would say move on to the other side or the rear.
Sound can transmit making it sound like it is coming from somewhere else in the car. I would check the rears also with no pad contact and see if they rotate smoothly and quietly.
That's very possible, and I hope it's the case.
The hub turned fine on the L (driver's) side when I had the axle out. I also thought the noise was more from the right, but I know it can travel through the different parts and be deceptive as to location.
At this point I'm suspecting the front R (passenger) side hanger bearing, the interface between the joint shaft (a.k.a. jack shaft) and the outer drive axle. There are a few posts on Mazdas247 about this going bad and making "wheel bearing noise". Having said that, it seems that the failure of this bearing is rare - wheel bearing failures are way more common.
But when I was underneath a couple of days ago, it did look like there was some grease on the joint shaft near the hanger.
As well, the noise does not vary with turns as one would expect with a wheel bearing.
But the wheel bearing is original, and after 191K km (c. 119,000 miles) and 12 years on our atrocious roads, it could well be on the way out.
I think I'll pull the hub - as I dig in, it should be easier to diagnose things. Will keep you all posted.
Thanks for all the feedback to this point! I appreciate it a lot.