You have been very helpful with both the struts and control arm/ball joint. My 2014 Mazda 3 is the best car that I have ever owned. My only two issues with the car over the last nine years is that the ball joints went bad quite early at around like 40,000 miles and there is a little water leak in the trunk.
I just finished up both right and left lower control arms on my 2013 Mazda CX-5 with 200,000 miles on it. I did the driver side 1st (because I thought it would be harder) I have a 6 speed manual transmission and nothing was in the way of the front bolt, so that was awesome. The old ones came off super easy, on both sides, but I really struggled to get the new LCA installed on the driver side (this was the 1st one I did) Rewatched the install portion of this video a few times, and what finally got it was I was feeding the front side to far in the beginning. On the passenger side I fed the slotted end in the back 1st, and it went WAY easier. Just got to do my alignment tommorow (shops were all closed when I finished) and when I was doing the passenger side I noticed a small click in the CV axle/joint. This will probably be my next project, and then I'll likely do the wheel hubs, and the shocks/struts after that. I've already done brakes/rotors all the way around, and the inner/outer tie rods, as well as the swaybar links. So if I get those last couple things knocked out ill have a all new front end, that'll hopefully last another 200,000 miles. Already said it earlier but again thanks for the video, saved me a pile of money.
Oh Man Dan, that ball joint practically fell out of the knuckle. On my 2018 hatchback with 71k miles, I had to spray, heat and beat the crap out of it for a few hours to get free. That groove in the ball joint post that the pinch bolt engages when ball joint 8n knuckle is a great place for water to enter and start corrosion of the knuckle. That's what l9cked up both of mine. Getting the pinch bolt out was also a chore for same reason. I'm going to clean out the knuckle an make sure I pack lots of grease into the knuckle slot when I assemble.
Dan thanks for sharing I’m going to do this job and I was wondering about the bolt by the Transmission so now I know what I have to do appreciate it! Thanks
Just re did my whole entire rear end, control arms were seized shock was as well so I checked this out for the front because I have to do that as well, a lot of sawzall was needed..
Thank you for the tutorial, i like your tutorial much more than anybody else as it was all done outside the mechanic shop.👍 By any chance can you do a tutorial on how to change the rubber bushing on the stabilizer arm of 2014 mazda 3? I replaced almost all the parts of the suspension of my car, but I still hear some noise underneath in the right middle part of the car every it hits a deep pot holes. The only part that i can see that causes the noise is the stabilizer arm bushing.
I don't remember the exact video, I thought it was 1A auto but there are several good rotor/brake and caliper replacement videos that worked super well for me. I'm a car noob and I replaced both in my 18 mazda 3 touring and had it checked at a service center and it went perfectly.
Thank you. Clear and east to understand. Can you put a jackstand under that rear control arm mounting point? The one with the 2 big bolts you torqued at the end. Looks plenty strong just want to be sure as I have to do my belts this weekend and that looks like a good out of the way place for support for that job. Thank you.
im having an issue, i just got both my control arms replaced the other day and all of a sudden im getting some serious squealing in the tire rotational system. its been raining like crazy since i got the car back and havent been able to get under my car
Doing the ball joint alone still involves like 90% of this work process. Doing the whole thing is just an extra 2 bolts, AND doing ball joint alone means you have to buy a ball joint press kit to get that sucker out and new one in
The ball joints are replaceable you can buy regular ones or severe duty ones but i purchase the whole assembly for each side because when I talked with the parts guy he said the bushings will be mostly bad also
Just did this on the drivers side and had a hard time with seized bolts, i have a couple of things to add. I was able to reach the front bolt with a 19mm deep socket and a regular socket wrench, impact with a universal was no help. Lots of pb blaster needed. I am unable to swing the torque wrench (front bolt) without having the car on a lift, using a universal joint will give you improper torque, so i ended up guessing by using a regular wrench and tapping it with a hammer until it was difficult to budge. Hopefully that's good enough. For the outer bolt i used an impact and breaker bar and was unable to get it loose. I ended up cutting a hole (don't cut too deep!) in the side with an angle grinder so i could fit the pb blaster tube inside to reach the threads of the bolt. After a couple of hours it came loose but i ended up buying a new bolt because i damaged the head pretty bad. Also with the control arm off it makes it a lot easier to replace the inner tie rod end.
I was following along and tell you said inner tie rod end 🤔 Was that a slip of the tongue or missing something? I'm pretty new to all this I just did my inner and outer tie rods and I didn't really have to mess with my Lower control arms at all
The torque spec for the lower control arm is incorrect in the video. The actual torque spec is: Front Bolt 96-110 ft/lbs, Rear Bushing (x2) 89-120 ft/lbs
I've typed multiple replies to this guy's comment, I have no idea why it keeps getting censored. This guy is giving false info, the torque specs in the video match exactly the torque specs in the mazda service manual. No idea why YT won't let me post that. The values given by this other guy are way low and could be potentially dangerous. Please do your research people.
Do you have the parts, time, space, tools, knowledge, and skill? It may seem a little expensive but was that for two of them and including wheel alignment that is needed after the part(s) are replaced.
@@MyKonaRC Dealerships are always significantly more expensive though. My dealership wants around the same while a number of local highly rated mechanics and Mazda certified mechanics will all do it for under $1,000 parts/labor/warranty. It's cause dealerships charge between $110-$160+ per labor hour (despite only actually paying said mechanics around $26-$30/hour). The cost for the axle on my car is $450, it takes 1.7 hours but let's just say 3 hours, so the dealership should be maximum $930 at worst but than they add in a chunk of other fees, insurance, etc. They also tell me upfront they charge nearly 35% additional just for the part - $660 - but won't let me buy the OEM part directly myself to save the money lol. Dealerships are scams when it comes to non-warranty fixes compared to equal jobs from equally qualified non-dealer mechanics.
You have been very helpful with both the struts and control arm/ball joint. My 2014 Mazda 3 is the best car that I have ever owned. My only two issues with the car over the last nine years is that the ball joints went bad quite early at around like 40,000 miles and there is a little water leak in the trunk.
Super detailed video, with all torque specs.! Good job man ! Thank you!
This helped. Thanks especially for posting what specs were for bolts.
I just finished up both right and left lower control arms on my 2013 Mazda CX-5 with 200,000 miles on it.
I did the driver side 1st (because I thought it would be harder)
I have a 6 speed manual transmission and nothing was in the way of the front bolt, so that was awesome.
The old ones came off super easy, on both sides, but I really struggled to get the new LCA installed on the driver side (this was the 1st one I did)
Rewatched the install portion of this video a few times, and what finally got it was I was feeding the front side to far in the beginning. On the passenger side I fed the slotted end in the back 1st, and it went WAY easier.
Just got to do my alignment tommorow (shops were all closed when I finished) and when I was doing the passenger side I noticed a small click in the CV axle/joint.
This will probably be my next project, and then I'll likely do the wheel hubs, and the shocks/struts after that.
I've already done brakes/rotors all the way around, and the inner/outer tie rods, as well as the swaybar links. So if I get those last couple things knocked out ill have a all new front end, that'll hopefully last another 200,000 miles.
Already said it earlier but again thanks for the video, saved me a pile of money.
@@vegeta420z I’m glad to hear my video was helpful! Congrats on getting all that done and saving some money!
Take care,
-Dan
Oh Man Dan, that ball joint practically fell out of the knuckle. On my 2018 hatchback with 71k miles, I had to spray, heat and beat the crap out of it for a few hours to get free. That groove in the ball joint post that the pinch bolt engages when ball joint 8n knuckle is a great place for water to enter and start corrosion of the knuckle. That's what l9cked up both of mine. Getting the pinch bolt out was also a chore for same reason. I'm going to clean out the knuckle an make sure I pack lots of grease into the knuckle slot when I assemble.
Dan thanks for sharing I’m going to do this job and I was wondering about the bolt by the Transmission so now I know what I have to do appreciate it!
Thanks
you're a saint, i need to do this on mine! keep up the good work
Just re did my whole entire rear end, control arms were seized shock was as well so I checked this out for the front because I have to do that as well, a lot of sawzall was needed..
Thank you for the tutorial, i like your tutorial much more than anybody else as it was all done outside the mechanic shop.👍 By any chance can you do a tutorial on how to change the rubber bushing on the stabilizer arm of 2014 mazda 3? I replaced almost all the parts of the suspension of my car, but I still hear some noise underneath in the right middle part of the car every it hits a deep pot holes. The only part that i can see that causes the noise is the stabilizer arm bushing.
Will use this video for my guide! Thumbs up!! Hope you could do caliper, rotor replacement as well. Thanks
I don't remember the exact video, I thought it was 1A auto but there are several good rotor/brake and caliper replacement videos that worked super well for me. I'm a car noob and I replaced both in my 18 mazda 3 touring and had it checked at a service center and it went perfectly.
Nice video man! Gonna do this along with my cv axle.
Thank you. Clear and east to understand. Can you put a jackstand under that rear control arm mounting point? The one with the 2 big bolts you torqued at the end. Looks plenty strong just want to be sure as I have to do my belts this weekend and that looks like a good out of the way place for support for that job. Thank you.
Awesome video clear concise complete info and great visuals.
subbed 👍🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲
I NEEEEEED a link to that push pin puller! We used to have one just like that at my shop but we lost it and I can’t find any as good!
@@nicholass5652 amzn.to/3WbqVNd
im having an issue, i just got both my control arms replaced the other day and all of a sudden im getting some serious squealing in the tire rotational system. its been raining like crazy since i got the car back and havent been able to get under my car
so is there any alignment adjustment on this part? I was expecting so, but it doesn't look like it!
No, not on this part, I think this vehicle only has the adjustment on the tie rod ends.
Thanks for watching!
-Dan
Thank you it really helpful ❤
What is the point of replacing the control arm and the ball joints? Doesn't the ball joint just need replacing? I'm just curious. Thanks
Doing the ball joint alone still involves like 90% of this work process. Doing the whole thing is just an extra 2 bolts, AND doing ball joint alone means you have to buy a ball joint press kit to get that sucker out and new one in
You are already there. Better to just do it one time.
The ball joint is not replaceable in this design it is all sold together
Also the bushings go bad where the arm in mounted to the car
The ball joints are replaceable you can buy regular ones or severe duty ones but i purchase the whole assembly for each side because when I talked with the parts guy he said the bushings will be mostly bad also
I had my 2014 Mazda 3 front ball joints replaced without replacing arm from the mechanic. Is that ok?
Did you have a height sensor on the old ones?
@@mkoletsos13 no
Are the parts the same for the rear ball joints?
I don’t think so
How many miles did that car have?
What type and size is that chisel
amzn.to/4cArRQy I used the middle one in this set from Estwing. It worked great!
Thanks for watching!
-Dan
Just did this on the drivers side and had a hard time with seized bolts, i have a couple of things to add.
I was able to reach the front bolt with a 19mm deep socket and a regular socket wrench, impact with a universal was no help. Lots of pb blaster needed. I am unable to swing the torque wrench (front bolt) without having the car on a lift, using a universal joint will give you improper torque, so i ended
up guessing by using a regular wrench and tapping it with a hammer until it was difficult to budge. Hopefully that's good enough.
For the outer bolt i used an impact and breaker bar and was unable to get it loose. I ended up cutting a hole (don't cut too deep!) in the side with an angle grinder so i could fit the pb blaster tube inside to reach the threads of the bolt. After a couple of hours it came loose but i ended up buying a new bolt because i damaged the head pretty bad.
Also with the control arm off it makes it a lot easier to replace the inner tie rod end.
I was following along and tell you said inner tie rod end 🤔
Was that a slip of the tongue or missing something?
I'm pretty new to all this I just did my inner and outer tie rods and I didn't really have to mess with my Lower control arms at all
How did you get the part where did you find it i need one today and i can’t find the specs for the bolt to replace
The torque spec for the lower control arm is incorrect in the video. The actual torque spec is: Front Bolt 96-110 ft/lbs, Rear Bushing (x2) 89-120 ft/lbs
I've typed multiple replies to this guy's comment, I have no idea why it keeps getting censored.
This guy is giving false info, the torque specs in the video match exactly the torque specs in the mazda service manual.
No idea why YT won't let me post that.
The values given by this other guy are way low and could be potentially dangerous.
Please do your research people.
The Mazda dealership wants $1600 for this job.
Wow! That seems like a lot for the amount of time it took.
Do you have the parts, time, space, tools, knowledge, and skill? It may seem a little expensive but was that for two of them and including wheel alignment that is needed after the part(s) are replaced.
@@MyKonaRC Dealerships are always significantly more expensive though. My dealership wants around the same while a number of local highly rated mechanics and Mazda certified mechanics will all do it for under $1,000 parts/labor/warranty. It's cause dealerships charge between $110-$160+ per labor hour (despite only actually paying said mechanics around $26-$30/hour).
The cost for the axle on my car is $450, it takes 1.7 hours but let's just say 3 hours, so the dealership should be maximum $930 at worst but than they add in a chunk of other fees, insurance, etc. They also tell me upfront they charge nearly 35% additional just for the part - $660 - but won't let me buy the OEM part directly myself to save the money lol.
Dealerships are scams when it comes to non-warranty fixes compared to equal jobs from equally qualified non-dealer mechanics.
Weird, I had it done by a basic garage chain for like £250
I just got quoted $2,200 for my 2016 Mazda cx-5. Looks like I'm going to watch a lot of videos and do it myself.
this would turn into a shit show in Canada, or the salt belt.
That's a really good point... I didn't see much rust on his car, definitely good to think about before starting!
Brooo remove the cover lol