09 Mazda 5 with 97k. I’m about to put my third set of shocks on the back. Is this normal? My kids sit in the back and I make the ocassional trip to the hardware store but I don’t run a freight business on the side.
Woah, just a second now.
What leads you to believe it is shocks you need ?..again.
What lead you to believe it was shocks needed the first two times ?
Let’s finish the diagnosis here.
I’ve sold many a shock to people who needed springs, or helper springs, not shocks.
If you bounce the rear end of your Mazda by pushing down on each corner of the bumper three times to get it going, does it continue to bounce up and down, or quit after one additional oscillation? If it stops bouncing immediately, you don’t need ANOTHER set of shocks. Needing rear shocks, even for the first time, at 97K would seem odd to me. The front ones die far more often.
If they are not leaking, 99% of the time they are perfectly fine. If you’ve had it in for service and the shop you are in sells shocks, the mechanic will try and convince you they are worn out after 25,000 or 50,000 miles. Bull Cookies! Some will even squirt engine oil on the shocks to “prove it”. Shock oil is very thin and usually has some color in it. Engine oil is thicker and is honey colored. Sounds like you need a second opinion.
Replacement number 1–The right one was leaking (I seem to remember jumping a curb shortly after getting this bigger car).
Currently–Serious vibration in the back, rear tires feathered, and there is a creaking noise in the back, sometimes when I go around corners and sometimes for no reason. I do remember my shop had a hard time finding shocks for the 5. My shop told me the 5 was a bigger car thrown on a smaller frame.
I tried the bounce test and it stopped after the first bounce.
Sounds like more than shocks. Have the rear suspension gone over top to bottom.
It has been my personal and professional experience that the rear shocks/struts often wear out BEFORE the fronts on FWD applications
Jumping a curb can certainly explain a shock failure.
Feathered tires are usually caused by an alignment issue. Cupping is caused by bad shocks or struts.
Creaking is usually caused by something like a dry trailing arm bushing, etc.
Maybe the curb jumping knocked the alignment out or damaged something in the rear suspension. If it did not damage something I would be amazed.