I need help Mazda 3 struts??

[melissamazda3]

I have never posted on a forum before, and am not sure that I am even doing this right. My apologizes now if I am not. My question is if anyone can answer, what is the average life of a rear strut on the Mazda 3 5-door, I have owned mine 2008 since Dec 09, when purchased it had 360 miles on it, I now have 18500. I have kept up with all regular maintainence. Does this seem normal?

 

[mikelebz]

"Does this seem normal?"
-are you noticing anything odd with them?

-mike

 

[richierichness]

ROFL you forgot to tell us what your problem is.

 

[melissamazda3]

Struts

Sorry I was told last night that they were going to need to be replaced. Apparently they are causing irregulr (flat spots) wear on my rear tires. I have only put 18500 miles on like I said. Any thoughts?

 

[richierichness]

Is your suspension stock?

 

[melissamazda3]

Yes

 

[richierichness]

I think your tires may be out of balance or your alignment is off if thats the case. Do you feel a wobble or does your car drift to the left or right when you let off the steering wheel?

 

[melissamazda3]

My car drifts to the left when I am driving, I just had an alignment on the front end done in November of 09, some one backed into my front end. The dealership (Mazda) where I purchased the car did all the repair work and warrantied it as well. This just seems odd to me that this would occur so quickly.

 

[richierichness]

Struts should last at least 60k miles with a stock set up. If your car pulls to the left your alignment could be off. Get it checked again. If your alignment seems to be good you need to check your rims for bends. Have your wheels balanced as well.

 

[NTIMD8R]

Make sure they align all 4 wheels, not just the front. And also, make sure you rotate your tires.

The 3 has a little more rear negative camber (top of wheels leaning in toward the middle of the car) than most cars. That's one reason why it handles so well! The down side to this is that if the tires aren't rotated regularly, "cupping" occurs along the inside of the rear tires. By looking at your current mileage and the mileage you bought it with, if you haven't rotated your tires then I'm guessing that is what your "flat spot" problem is.

Check out the below picture. If the wear on your tires looks like that (notice the dark then light areas along the inside of the rear tire), then rotate your tires and get a 4-wheel alignment.

 

[Fiji Mazda3]

I have heard of shocks failing prematurely for whatever reason. Since the car is so new and you have low mileage, you should push to have them replaced under warranty.

 

[dyerdown]

also, might want to check and see if your frame is straight too. your shocks should not be going out so soon seeing as your car is so new and with low miles. unless driving under hard conditions (i.e. racing, autocross) the only reason they should fail is because of a manufacturing defect.

if under warranty, you should have no problems getting them replaced but make sure that the struts are the problem.

 

[southendskin210]

well s*** ive read this whole thing, noone has asked does the car bottom out does it make any noises while going over bumps strut life depends on how you drive what you run over. now when you got hit what damage did it do?? cosmetic or major?? your asking if its normal but your leaving a lot out......if the car pulls to the left after the alignmentwheel balance plays a aprt as well but not that big of a part the alignment would cause uneven tire wear.... its the strut if the mechanic is saying replace the rear might as well do all four and buy some racing beat springs kgb make good struts.

 

[dyerdown]

kw also makes some of the best coilovers on the market