This isn't the first time this has been posted, but I'll share my experience in the hopes that someone else can avoid a similar one. My daughter sent me pictures of her car (a 2013 CX-5 with 145k miles):
Thankfully, this happened as she was pulling into her friend's driveway and not at speed. The front right ball joint separated from the control arm and pulled apart the axle at the u-joint. A search revealed this is not a new occurrence: Mazda '14 cx5 wheel issue, CX-5 Suspension control arm failure Further search led me to decide to try to tackle the fix: 2013~2016: CX-5 DIY Control Arm Replacement Difficulty?
The control arm replacement thread is excellent, so I'll only highlight my experience here. As detailed in the replacement thread, the biggest issue was the ball joint pinch bolt. Thankfully, mine eventually came loose with a very generous application of Silikroil, a persuader bar and some gentle hammering. I used a trolley jack and a thin slather of anti-seize to help press the new ball joint into the knuckle. The left side control arm is a bit more difficult due to the transmission pan being in the way. I was able to get the front bolt out with a small extension and a u-joint. If I had been smarter, I would have taken the opportunity to change the ATF and ATF filter. I had to add back the ATF that was lost when removing the axle, and taking down the pan would have made replacing the left control arm that much easier. I'll have to remember that when I replace the control arms on my wife's 2014 CX-5 . . .
The axle replacement was surprisingly easy. With the control arm already detached, there was no need to remove the knuckle from the strut.
The car is now back together and will be going in for alignment. Check your ball joints!
Thankfully, this happened as she was pulling into her friend's driveway and not at speed. The front right ball joint separated from the control arm and pulled apart the axle at the u-joint. A search revealed this is not a new occurrence: Mazda '14 cx5 wheel issue, CX-5 Suspension control arm failure Further search led me to decide to try to tackle the fix: 2013~2016: CX-5 DIY Control Arm Replacement Difficulty?
The control arm replacement thread is excellent, so I'll only highlight my experience here. As detailed in the replacement thread, the biggest issue was the ball joint pinch bolt. Thankfully, mine eventually came loose with a very generous application of Silikroil, a persuader bar and some gentle hammering. I used a trolley jack and a thin slather of anti-seize to help press the new ball joint into the knuckle. The left side control arm is a bit more difficult due to the transmission pan being in the way. I was able to get the front bolt out with a small extension and a u-joint. If I had been smarter, I would have taken the opportunity to change the ATF and ATF filter. I had to add back the ATF that was lost when removing the axle, and taking down the pan would have made replacing the left control arm that much easier. I'll have to remember that when I replace the control arms on my wife's 2014 CX-5 . . .
The axle replacement was surprisingly easy. With the control arm already detached, there was no need to remove the knuckle from the strut.
The car is now back together and will be going in for alignment. Check your ball joints!
