Suspension Issues. w/pics

[GraySurf]

OK so i bought my P5 about 2 months ago and I noticed this issue. I'm just getting around to figuring out what's wrong. at first look it seems like my drivers side is really low. the distance between the tire and fender on the drivers side is about 1" and almost 3.5' on the passenger side. so the struts are bad right? thats what I thought but I get the strut clunk from the passenger side. also when you look at the struts and compare them the drivers side looks brand new and the passenger side looks old. So my question is can strut failure some how cause them to lift the car instead of sag? or what else could it be?
Sorry for the Crappy pics all i have is my Phone.

The Lean..

Passenger side
<a href="http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y54/xrispy/?action=view&current=IMAG0486.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y54/xrispy/IMAG0486.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Passenger side Measured
<a href="http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y54/xrispy/?action=view&current=IMAG0490.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y54/xrispy/IMAG0490.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Drivers Side
<a href="http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y54/xrispy/?action=view&current=IMAG0485.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y54/xrispy/IMAG0485.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Drivers Side Measurement
<a href="http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y54/xrispy/?action=view&current=IMAG0489.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y54/xrispy/IMAG0489.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Passenger side Lower strut mount
(notice the grime and dirt)
<a href="http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y54/xrispy/?action=view&current=IMAG0493.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y54/xrispy/IMAG0493.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Drivers side Lower strut mount
(looks brand new)
<a href="http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y54/xrispy/?action=view&current=IMAG0492.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y54/xrispy/IMAG0492.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Any ideas on why this is happening? I know i should just replace all the struts but I would rather not spend money if I don't have to.

 

[lvevo]

If the strut is bad, it will look like it's leaking oil from shaft of the strut(shiny metal shaft at the top). Push down on the fender and see how much movement you get from the struts, bad ones move up and down a lot and need very little effort to do so. Also check the springs, maybe they moved out of position.

 

[StealthWyvern]

looks like a blown strut to me...

 

[GraySurf]

Also check the springs, maybe they moved out of position.

could this be caused by a bad bottom out. If you look at the pic of the passenger side you can see where the previous owner bottomed out pretty bad. also how do you check spring placement to be sure they are in the right position.

 

[GraySurf]

ok so did the strut test where you push on the fender the passenger side is definitely easier to compress and seems kinda squishy. Still really confused on why bad struts would make the car higher.? Its too bad because i like the amount of ground clearance it offers. Is it bad to replace struts on one side only? I don't want to have to spend money replacing good struts if I don't have to.

 

[walkingchaos]

Id suggest doing both sides if you dont know whats what. any chance you have a broken spring on that one side ?

 

[Mike R]

Struts don't support the car, springs do. It's probably got a broken spring. From the one side angle it looks like the alignment is out of whack, looks like a bunch of positive camber. Something is definitely messed up in the frontend. It looks like it took a hit in the frontend too, and the side. I think it's got some pretty serious damage going on. Pop the hood and take some engine bay pics.

 

[StealthWyvern]

Struts don't support the car, springs do. It's probably got a broken spring. From the one side angle it looks like the alignment is out of whack, looks like a bunch of positive camber. Something is definitely messed up in the frontend. It looks like it took a hit in the frontend too, and the side. I think it's got some pretty serious damage going on. Pop the hood and take some engine bay pics.

You know what would be ****** up... Someone installed springs on the car and put the front springs on one side and the rear on the other no paying attention tell after they installed it and were to lazy to fix it. I've seen people put the front on the rear and the rear on the front making the car look goofy but never side to side.

 

[lvevo]

could this be caused by a bad bottom out. If you look at the pic of the passenger side you can see where the previous owner bottomed out pretty bad. also how do you check spring placement to be sure they are in the right position.

If your talking about the door, then I would have to guess someone picked up the car by the side skirt, not the frame. I'm really not to sure if a bad bottoming out would cause the spring to un-seat, but my guess is some thing is up with the spring.

GarySurf, take the wheel off and take a picture of the spring and strut. This would help us out a lot.

 

[GraySurf]

Ok I will get pics up asap.

 

[brokenpath]

That's a pretty gangster lean you got going on there lol.

I'm having problems with My suspension right now too... Except mine mysteriously started eating my tire.

I'm glad to hear you found a P5 though.

 

[hat1018]

You know what would be ****** up... Someone installed springs on the car and put the front springs on one side and the rear on the other no paying attention tell after they installed it and were to lazy to fix it. I've seen people put the front on the rear and the rear on the front making the car look goofy but never side to side.

Is it even possible to put a rear spring onto the front strut? Do the springs look newish? If so, I would have to say that is what happened. The wheel gap appears to be the same front to rear and that leads me to believe something is amiss.

 

[GraySurf]

Im hoping to get the wheels off today and snap some pics. What is the stock ride height? Can somebody with stock suspension do some measurements for me?

 

[StealthWyvern]

Is it even possible to put a rear spring onto the front strut? Do the springs look newish? If so, I would have to say that is what happened. The wheel gap appears to be the same front to rear and that leads me to believe something is amiss.

yes that is possible.. i've seen it done before but not on mazdas

 

[GraySurf]

I thought it was strange that the two sides are even too. Usually suspension doesn't wear this evenly.

 

[KMac]

Need to make sure the spring is in the perch correctly. This is definitely not a strut issue. Struts dampen, springs hold the height.

 

[GraySurf]

ok i finally got the wheels off to snap some pics. So here we go...

Here is the Passenger side front.

Looks like the strut is leaking a little bit.

Passenger side rear

 

[GraySurf]

Here are the pics of the drivers side rear..
I couldn't get the lugs off of the front so I'll have to wait on those. Any ideas?
not quite sure what to look for when it comes to if the spring is on correctly. so let me know what you see.

 

[GraySurf]

I figured while I had the wheels off I'd start my wheel project. What do you guys think?
My lugs are complete garbage they are so corroded and rusty, so new lugs are on my agenda this week. I painted the front lugs black and left the rear ones chrome/rusty. which do you think looks better?

 

[HKPRO5]

I suggest getting new shocks and springs... lol (all 4)