Plan for Suspension Fix for My 2006

[Spot50B]

Hi all,
I am new to this forum and recently purchased a 2006 Mazda5. Frankly, I was more interested in a 08-09 but came across the 06 with low miles (58k) and went for it. I did not realize all of the issues with the 06-07 models, and probably would have steered clear had I known. The vehicle has had typical suspension issues for an 06 (eating tires, shocks are shot, alignment issues, uneven brake wear)

Anyway, I really appreciate this forum and I have devised a plan to try to fix the suspension problem. Keep in mind this is a family car and my goal here would be to drive the vehicle for the next 100,000 miles without having to do any more significant alignment work on the car (hopefully this is possible). I'm willing to put a little more in up front in order to get my ride the way it needs to be.

This is my plan, and I would appreciate any feedback you may have. I'm no gearhead, so I will do the work myself when I think I can handle it, but am not willing to get in over my head:

1. Replace the rear struts myself (any advice on what to get that will last the longest? I do not want to lower the vehicle). I've seen the other threads but those seem more geared towards performance
2. Buy a Rear Control Arm Camber Kit online and have it installed. I will also have the front struts installed because it appears they would take a lot of work to do myself. I will pay a mechanic to do these at the same time rather than the alignment shop in order to save money (2 hours total?).
3. Have car realigned: camber at -.5 or maybe even 0 to save the tires. Toe in at 1/32 or again maybe 0. Willing to lose performance to save the tires.
4. Replace the front rotors myself (rear brakes are good).
5. Buy new tires (probably from tire rack). I do realize that I will have to replace these, but would like to think if I do all this, I will at least get the life out of these that I am supposed to. Suggestions on type? Stock size is fine unless there is a good reason to change it.

Thanks for reading...

 

[kw_da]

I have a 2006. I've been lucky - no uneven wear on the tires since I got rid of the Toyos - but they do wear out fast. See my 2 cents below:

Hi all,
I am new to this forum and recently purchased a 2006 Mazda5. Frankly, I was more interested in a 08-09 but came across the 06 with low miles (58k) and went for it. I did not realize all of the issues with the 06-07 models, and probably would have steered clear had I known. The vehicle has had typical suspension issues for an 06 (eating tires, shocks are shot, alignment issues, uneven brake wear)

Anyway, I really appreciate this forum and I have devised a plan to try to fix the suspension problem. Keep in mind this is a family car and my goal here would be to drive the vehicle for the next 100,000 miles without having to do any more significant alignment work on the car (hopefully this is possible). I'm willing to put a little more in up front in order to get my ride the way it needs to be.

This is my plan, and I would appreciate any feedback you may have. I'm no gearhead, so I will do the work myself when I think I can handle it, but am not willing to get in over my head:

1. Replace the rear struts myself (any advice on what to get that will last the longest? I do not want to lower the vehicle). I've seen the other threads but those seem more geared towards performance - KYBs off Amazon - reasonable price, oem feel, probably better quality than mazda - I replaced the fronts with KYBs since they started leaking - the backs are still ok
2. Buy a Rear Control Arm Camber Kit online and have it installed. I will also have the front struts installed because it appears they would take a lot of work to do myself. I will pay a mechanic to do these at the same time rather than the alignment shop in order to save money (2 hours total?).
3. Have car realigned: camber at -.5 or maybe even 0 to save the tires. Toe in at 1/32 or again maybe 0. Willing to lose performance to save the tires.
4. Replace the front rotors myself (rear brakes are good). If they are not at their service limit, you may try sanding/turning the rotors before replacement - I'm on my original set at 70k miles - just had to turn them once
5. Buy new tires (probably from tire rack). I do realize that I will have to replace these, but would like to think if I do all this, I will at least get the life out of these that I am supposed to. Suggestions on type? Stock size is fine unless there is a good reason to change it. I just got Continental DSWs - the 215 width appears to be cheaper than the stock 205 width - just get some tires with a milage warranty so you can get some $ back when they wear out in 20k miles. (smoke)

Thanks for reading...

 

[thaxman]

We are right around 59K with the 06 as well. The KYBs are just fine. Have them up front and out back. Went Centec ceramic brakes b/c I was SOOO sick of the shake-shake from the FoMoCo pads. One set of Centric ceramic rears on RockAuto is the wrong part. The rears were some 50% good anyway, so I still have OEMs on the rears. They still had a pretty good amount of wear left, but they destroyed the surface of the rotors. Got them turned and its been great since. The front sway bar bushings were shot and that wore out an end link, so I ordered a pair of those as well, but it sounds like one of my 2 bushings is already bad again - less than 2 mos later. Go with better bushings I say. The $5 pair from RockAuto are worthless.
Don't bother with an alignment until your new tires are on or the car will be aligned to the poorly-worn ones already on the car.

 

[njaremka]

skip all the cheap OEM replacement shocks, and get Koni yellows for the rear. oh hell, get the Koni's for all four corners and you'll never have to replace the dampers again. set them to full soft, and they will work just fine with the stock springs.

for the alignment, set toe to 0 front and rear. if they have to err slightly, better to err on the toe-in side. make sure toe is balanced left-to-right. set camber as close to 0 for stock springs.