In November, I purchased a 2017 Mazda CX-5 (CPO) with 31,000 miles on it. We test drove a few during the day, and all drove pretty similarly. I enjoy relatively stiff rides so naturally we gravitated towards this vehicle. I have a question about struts and dampening...longish post for context.
About a week into ownership, I noticed a creaking/crunching sound from the front end when the suspension flexed, particularly when turning into driveways. It’s easier to hear in the cabin than sticking your head out the window. Speed bumps are smooth with no noise. This wasn’t heard or noticed on the test drive, and the temperature outside dropped quite a bit since we test drove it. So I chalked it up to cold weather creaks. I’m planning to bring this up at my first dealer appointment because I believe it falls in line with a TSB for the strut and/or control arm. Another member on here dealt with it on their Mazda 6.
Anyway, I’ve never had a car with such a sharp LED projector cutoff and only recently started to notice some front end oscillation of the cutoff when driving; our roads are pretty bad here and my main stretch is concrete with expansion joints every 20 feet — so it gets pretty rhythmic. Paying more attention to it, the cutoff of the LED oscillates 2-3 times before settling when I somewhat hard brake to a stop. I can see it off the car in front of me. It’s gentle and not anything extreme...maybe an inch up and down. I performed a bounce test on the front and rear and rebound settled immediately to my eye. Though I know these may not always be reliable. My ride doesn’t feel overly bumpy or bouncy, rebound over speed bumps and big dips in the road feels composed...
My question is: is some oscillation from a shock or strut expected and normal? Everything you read says “if it bounces more than once your shocks are blown”. However, there are varying statements on this, particularly from Moog where they state “more than three times” indicates a problem with the struts. I’m kind of irritated since it’s such low mileage in my opinion for there to be an issue. I’m going to have the dealer look at it but just wanted everyone’s expert opinions.
Thank you!
About a week into ownership, I noticed a creaking/crunching sound from the front end when the suspension flexed, particularly when turning into driveways. It’s easier to hear in the cabin than sticking your head out the window. Speed bumps are smooth with no noise. This wasn’t heard or noticed on the test drive, and the temperature outside dropped quite a bit since we test drove it. So I chalked it up to cold weather creaks. I’m planning to bring this up at my first dealer appointment because I believe it falls in line with a TSB for the strut and/or control arm. Another member on here dealt with it on their Mazda 6.
Anyway, I’ve never had a car with such a sharp LED projector cutoff and only recently started to notice some front end oscillation of the cutoff when driving; our roads are pretty bad here and my main stretch is concrete with expansion joints every 20 feet — so it gets pretty rhythmic. Paying more attention to it, the cutoff of the LED oscillates 2-3 times before settling when I somewhat hard brake to a stop. I can see it off the car in front of me. It’s gentle and not anything extreme...maybe an inch up and down. I performed a bounce test on the front and rear and rebound settled immediately to my eye. Though I know these may not always be reliable. My ride doesn’t feel overly bumpy or bouncy, rebound over speed bumps and big dips in the road feels composed...
My question is: is some oscillation from a shock or strut expected and normal? Everything you read says “if it bounces more than once your shocks are blown”. However, there are varying statements on this, particularly from Moog where they state “more than three times” indicates a problem with the struts. I’m kind of irritated since it’s such low mileage in my opinion for there to be an issue. I’m going to have the dealer look at it but just wanted everyone’s expert opinions.
Thank you!