Cold weather suspension problems.

Moultese

Member
:
2008 Crystal White Pearl Mica Mazdaspeed3
Anyone experience suspension problems with the cold weather? I find that, when I leave in the morning (anywhere from 0 to 30F), when I pull out of the drive way, the suspension makes this popping noise. Then on the first five minutes of my drive, the car rides EXTREMELY hard and vibrates. The driving sensation is similar to like if my wheels were unbalanced. Also when I hit a bump, it makes a loud sound, almost sounds like I'm scrapping my bumper (which isn't the case, but imagine that sound).

Anyone experience this problem? Or know exactly what's going on? It's really ******* annoying.

I must say I love this car, but in the cold weather it's annoying to drive.
 
there's quite a few threads on this....

There's actually a video thread on the first page of the suspension page too....
 
Haha, yeah man don't you read any posts in the suspension forum? :) LukeP and Element have been posting non-stop about this for weeks! The bumper scraping sound is most likely sta bar bushings. It's normal and goes away once they get some heat in them. If it bothers you, the dealer can probably add some lube to them and make it go away.

As for the vibration, if you get snow packed in between your spokes from driving through deep snow, it literally does unbalance the wheel and cause a vibration. Check for that and try kicking any ice or snow off your wheels.
 
We have had some zero or below weather here the last week, and when I leave work with the car setting outside all day, the supension gets really pissed off, but it goes away after a while. It is exactly what you're describing though. Lowrider stiff, and noisy !!
 
I figured out the "wheel balance" sensation was the fact that the tires deflate a bit due to the cold air and cold concrete they sit on. After about 5 minutes they warm up and I no longer get that sensation.

And yeah, I made this post really early in the morning and didn't think to search.
 
I figured out the "wheel balance" sensation was the fact that the tires deflate a bit due to the cold air and cold concrete they sit on. After about 5 minutes they warm up and I no longer get that sensation.

And yeah, I made this post really early in the morning and didn't think to search.

Check the pressure in them while it's cold... I've had issues before with the pressure being a lil low and the tires would flat spot from sitting.. would work itself out after driving for a lil while, but putting more pressure made the problem go away altogether
 

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