Front shocks need to be changed?

[hondaciviceg]

Hi guys,

I have an 05 mazda3 and I had to change the top mount on my front passenger side do to nocking sound.

So mechanic takes it apart and he tells me the shock is gone too, that's why this top mount thing broke. So i look at the shock and with it apart from the spring it the strut goes in the body of the shock and doesn't want to come out, so i try to grab it and pull it out, it takes some force,

Now according to my knowledge the shock should actually be hard to push in. So today i see my neighbor, who is a mechanic of Subaru, and he says its different for gas filled and oil filled shocks, and my shock is fine according to him.

So what do you guys think from experience?


Thanks

[hondaciviceg]

So i guess no one here knows about this?!!:(

[RedRaptor]

Try the bounce test. If it bounces like a basketball, shocks are done.

I'm in the same situation now. Driver side upper strut mount seems to be gone so its making a squeaking/knocking sound whenever the car has any vibrations (from engine starting or speed bumps). The front shocks might be good too but when I tried the bounce the test, it seems fine and the car isn't anymore floaty.

[hondaciviceg]

Try the bounce test. If it bounces like a basketball, shocks are done.

I'm in the same situation now. Driver side upper strut mount seems to be gone so it’s making a squeaking/knocking sound whenever the car has any vibrations (from engine starting or speed bumps). The front shocks might be good too but when I tried the bounce the test, it seems fine and the car isn't any more float.

Yes i think that you have the same problem that as i did, I got the part from Joe at Toronto Mazda and i changed that mount or whatever it’s called and the knocking and squeaking is gone, although as i said earlier the car doesn’t bounce at all when we did the bouncing technique where u would push down on the hood and fender area where the shock is placed, and the car did not bounce, usually that is the way you find out if the shock is gone or not. But apparently as my mechanic said, the first one the springs on this car is quite stiff therefore it won’t let it bounce!? now I’m not sure of that but when we took out the shock, it seemed like it was dead, but my neighbour who is a mechanic of Subaru states that my cars shock is fine, some of the shocks are like that, they get bottom out and don’t want to come out, well from my experience you would turn the shock upside down and push the strut in the shock by pressing it against the floor and it should be hard to push in and it should come out slowly right after, well my shock didn’t do that.
So I don’t know what is going on now. IS MY SHOCK BAD OR NOT? Wow we really need some good mechanics join this forum. Any other forum i had asked this question i would have been rammed with answers :S

[DualSoul]

So I don’t know what is going on now. IS MY SHOCK BAD OR NOT? Wow we really need some good mechanics join this forum. Any other forum i had asked this question i would have been rammed with answers :S

You're doing it wrong.

[hondaciviceg]

You're doing it wrong.

I know im doing it right, my uncles a mechanic, i have taken it to my mechanic and my nabours a mechanic. We have tried the pushing on the fender above the shock area and it does not bounce.

[cwp_sedan]

I know im doing it right, my uncles a mechanic, i have taken it to my mechanic and my nabours a mechanic. We have tried the pushing on the fender above the shock area and it does not bounce.

He's not referring to your mechanic skills...

[RedRaptor]

Check out this video where the owner bounces his rear shocks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80C2N9ecSj4

He looks like a point guard dribbling his car. When I do the same test to my shocks, its very stiff and doesn't bounce more than 1x.

I think your shocks are fine.

[hondaciviceg]

Yah my car doenst do that at all, its pretty stiff, but taking out the shock, when you push the shock in it should come out according to my experience, and mine didnt. so i say it gone, but my neighbor mechanic says its not. ! WTF!?

[wmzda5]

I recently changed my rear shocks on my mazda5 due to rubbing on the right side when I'm loaded and bottoms out on a depression on the road. Its fairly easy to take out so I DIY definitely the bad one was on the right side, both of them are leaking but the left one still comes out when you push it in, the right does not.

[ColomboM3]

Check out this video where the owner bounces his rear shocks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80C2N9ecSj4

He looks like a point guard dribbling his car. When I do the same test to my shocks, its very stiff and doesn't bounce more than 1x.

I think your shocks are fine.

Thanks for posting this video. I will do this test to determine if I'm getting BS from the mechanic!!

[TheMAN]

the mazda3 struts are gas filled
bounce test doesn't really work effectively for strut suspension cars unless they're completely blown, because the struts support the weight of the car too