2006 Mazda 5: Front brakes and struts
The last job on our automotive docket was replacing the front brakes and struts on our 2006 Mazda 5. What's interesting to note about this project that has been different than all other previous automotive work I've done is… I enjoyed it. Yeah, doing the rear bearings and shocks was fun. This felt different.
I realized two things have happened that pushed me over the threshold from doing work on our cars because I'm too cheap to pay someone else to truly enjoying it:
- I've amassed a healthy quiver of the right tools for the various jobs
- I've gained enough confidence to make the mundane actually enjoyable
Case in point: Doing the front brakes on Maverick was the first job I didn't first Google a YouTube. Having done enough brakes at this point, I trusted I'd figure out how to do these. Turns out, I was right. Two 17mm bolts held the calipers to the axle, and two 7mm hex bolts on the caliper pins. A spring held the outside pad in place and that was that. It was so quick and easy I didn't even take a photo. The old pads were just about worn completely down so it was a good thing I replaced them.
Then it was time to do the struts.
Where the rented MacPherson strut compressor didn't work on our 2001 Toyota RAV4 (because there were only two coils to compress, which didn't get enough tension off the springs to remove the shocks), it worked like a charm on the Mazda 5.
Before either job could be done, I had to wiggle my floor jack way too far under the frame to get to the front jack point. Thanks Mazda for making that an unnecessary PITA…
To remove the strut assembly, I sprayed the bolts and axle shaft holding the strut with PB Blaster. Then whipped off the 17mm bolt. There was a clip to push out holding the brake cable and a 14mm bolt holding the stabilizer bar and ABS cable. Pretty simple.
From above, on the left (driver's) side I had to use a 10mm socket to detach the brake fluid resevoir and its metal mounting plate in order to access the three 14mm bolts holding the strut from above.
Ratcheting combination wrenches (particularly with a flex head) make this sort of thing much easier. Once again, like I did for the front struts on our RAV4, I drew around the washers with a Sharpie so that I could seat the new strut in the same place as the old. Hopefully that'll mitigate having to pay for an alignment. Unlike the RAV4 (where the holes didn't allow for any play in the strut mounting plate bolts… +1 for Toyota), the holes in the Mazda frame were bigger than the bolts (boo Mazda). I'd have to finesse the new struts back into place and was glad I had marked their position before removing.
With those three bolts marked and loosened, getting the strut out of the axle was a bit of work. Using scrap 2x lumber and a 4-lb sledge, I was able to pound the axle enough to loosen the strut and eventually wiggle it out.
With the strut assembly removed, it was time to put the compressor I again rented from AutoZone to work. Yes, this time it did the trick.
Here, the springs are compressed enough to get the tension off of them. I then used my impact wrench to pop off the 17mm bolt holding on the cap. Under tension, loosening that bolt could prove (seriously) fatal. Or at least very, very bad. With the springs compressed, however, it was easy peasy. I inserted the new shock.
Worth noting: There's a tab on the strut mount (in the photo below, it's on the far left and looks like a little dot) that needs to be lined up with the vertical flange on the bottom of the shock (again, in the photo below, that's on the far right).
Repeat for the other side. To wedge the new shock into the axle, I used some anti-sieze lube to grease it up and help it slide in place. It was a tight fit. Yep, some thread locker on all the bolts to keep them from coming loose with all the vibrations the suspension endures.
I then realigned the three mounting bolts on each side with my Sharpie outlines and torqued everything down.
Easy peasy. Ish. Enjoyable, though. Cool stuff. Then I went to put on the wheels.
I'm going to blame the stupid (stupid!) locking lug nuts for what happened next. With the longer locking nut plus the key plus the socket all attached to my impact driver, when I went to whip it back on, that assemblage of pieces wasn't exactly lined up with the wheel stud. So I stripped it. Oops. Why do people pay extra for locking wheel lugs? Why!? Who loosens wheels on a car that I can only assume has all four of them on the ground? Is it a thing to run around with a floor jack, hoist up a car, loosen all the lug nuts to steal two tires, then whip the jack around to the other end of the car and repeat the process?
Whatever. I'm buying new lugnuts so I never have to deal with them again. We went through the same ordeal (minus me stripping one of the wheel studs) on our RAV4, too, until I also just bought regular lugs and replaced them. Ugh.
Anyway, thankfully the job of removing and replacing a wheel stud is pretty simple. Also, thankfully I had just changed out the rear wheel bearings, so I was able to pop out all ten (five each) studs from those bearings.
Saved me $3.
The process, then, was to pound out the stripped stud with a hammer. Boom. Then pop in a new one from the back of the hub. To seat it, I had to get creative because I didn't have a nut big enough to fit over the 12mm bolt. I used two combination wrenches, ultimately sacrificing one (it's ok, it was a spare) in the process.
With a fair amount of elbow grease and an 18-inch breaker bar I was able to muscle on a spare lug enough to squarely seat the new stud in place.
Now I just need to run back to AutoZone to pick up $10 worth of lug nuts and this job will be done. All in a now enjoyable day's, or night's, work.
