It's that time!

[twintrbo]

Driving to work this morning I heard some strange noises and felt the car taking bumps weird. Once I got to my destination I confirmed the right rear shock is leaking and done. I got 33,000 miles out of it so disappointing but expected. Time to look for replacements.

 

[MarkVII88]

Do you know what replacement shocks you're going with yet? Going for OEM replacement or performance? How are your front struts?

 

[thaxman]

FWIW, I have had good results with the KYB Gas-A-Just monotube rears on my Volvo. But I still have GR-2s on the Mazda, as they made the most sense back at 45K mi when the OE blew.

 

[twintrbo]

Definitely not OEM since they suck. My neighbor has the Monroe and he feels they are too soft and floaty so I'm avoiding those. I had a thread a while back on this when I thought they were bad so I will revisit that and see what I came up with. I'm looking primarily for ride quality, performance second. This was that thread : http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/show...placement-struts-needed&p=6354897#post6354897

 

[Davicho]

I second with Thaxman. I also recommend the KYB Gas-A-Just shocks. I've had them on my MZ5 for almost 30k and I love them. No issues either.

 

[twintrbo]

I was looking around and there is an actual fitment for Bilsteins, B4 model but its not specified for a US spec 5, not sure what to make of that. The other ones on my list were the Sachs Super Touring and the Gas A Just. I would consider Sachs better than KYB but rock auto lists the Sachs as OEM while the KYB is considered an upgrade. Either way I think I need to decide by tomorrow as its really bad to drive.

 

[twintrbo]

Man I'm so torn! I want to try the Sachs because I can get matching fronts, it really bothers me that there is no KYB Gas A Just front strut to match the rear.

 

[thaxman]

Man I'm so torn! I want to try the Sachs because I can get matching fronts, it really bothers me that there is no KYB Gas A Just front strut to match the rear.

FYI, Sachs are the OE strut for Volvo, so the Mazda5's sister the V50 would have had them installed from the factory. Pretty sure I pulled FoMoCo units out of my 06, but that was awhile ago, so I could very well be wrong. I KNOW it was FoMoCo brake pads tho - and they SUCK!
Back to struts. You can get Koni Yellow adjustable fronts for the Mazda5. On my V70, I have those paired with the Gas-A-Just rears and am happy. Out the box, they ride like a Lincoln, so as soon as they are in you have to start adjusting, but for the V70, 3/4 turn was more than enough. I expect that on a Mazda5, it may take 1-1 1/4 turns to match the more responsive steering.

 

[twintrbo]

I went with the gas a just. After looking into it, I realized they are an upgraded design over the Sachs. I don't like that you can't get a matched front gas a just but I would rather have superior rears.

 

[MarkVII88]

I went with the gas a just. After looking into it, I realized they are an upgraded design over the Sachs. I don't like that you can't get a matched front gas a just but I would rather have superior rears.

When we replaced shock/struts on our 2008, I went with Gas A Just rears and the KYB GR2 front struts. Much improved ride. I did the rear myself and had a trusted shop do the fronts since it would have likely taken me all weekend.

 

[twintrbo]

My god that was an easy job. I think it went faster than changing the rear wiper blades! Ride around the block says it rides better and quieter with no bouncing on that side. It literally exploded though, oil leaking everywhere and I can't compress it much for some strange reason. It's like it's super pressurized or something. Something tells me the front isn't far behind though, I hear a woosh on bumps when the struts move.

 

[Secondtyme]

Go with the Koni Yellows, you will not be sorry. They are well worth the extra moolah, IMHO...

 

[twintrbo]

How much extra? I'm not really into performance for this car, I don mind better quality or ride though.

 

[njaremka]

i will not recommend the Koni's. i installed them to our mazda5, and still only got ~30k miles out of them before they blew all their oil out on my driveway. need to send them back for warranty replacement... when the konis came out, i installed gas-a-just because they were less expensive and still rated well. if the gas-a-just go out, i'll probably get another set.

 

[Secondtyme]

The trouble you had was with the rears though right? ^^ The fronts have proven more than up to the task on mine. I got them from Autoanything, when they were on sale for 189 apiece IIRC... Ride quality is better than stock, smoother, especially over broken pavement. This is with them set at one full turn from full soft BTW.

 

[njaremka]

The trouble you had was with the rears though right? ^^ The fronts have proven more than up to the task on mine. I got them from Autoanything, when they were on sale for 189 apiece IIRC... Ride quality is better than stock, smoother, especially over broken pavement. This is with them set at one full turn from full soft BTW.

yup, rears are the problem spot. we are actually still riding the OEM front shocks, even though i have a set of KYB GR2s in the garage waiting to be installed...