[jjanderson52]

I have a 2009 Mazda 3 with 230,000+ miles on it. It is running great, but it does not take bumps in the road well. I ordered shock absorbers for the rear end months ago and finally got around to replacing the old ones.

A brief background about me. I'm an engineer and have tinkered on cars a bit over the years, but I am miles from being a good auto-mechanic. I figured changing the shock absorbers would not be a bit deal. I got that wrong!

I figured this would be an easy job. Just jack up the car, remove a few bolts, remove the old shock absorber, insert the new one, fasten the bolts and done! I watched two U-tube videos to get instructions.

Well, it took about 2 hours to remove the old shocks, not the 20 minutes I anticipated. I re-watched a section of one of the videos 2 or 3 times because I was having trouble removing the old shock absorber. One problem I had was my own fault because it took a while to realize the bottom bolt is to be removed from the inner side of the wheel, not the outer side. But the bigger problem was getting the bottom of the shock absorber out. It was VERY tight within the surrounding metal frame. After watching the video a 3rd time, I realize the bottom of the shock absorber was so tight that I had to apply some muscle to remove it. But I applied the muscle and out it came.

Now the BIG problem. How to get the bottom of the new shock absorber into the frame that the old one came out of. I tried twice with no luck. After 2 tries, I tried measuring the width of the bottom of the new shock absorber and compare it with the old one. As near as I can tell, they are identical (as expected). I don't have precision instruments to measure, but they certainly appear to be the same.

So question 1 - Is this typical of a Mazda 3? By this I mean, do all the rear shock absorbers on 2004 to 2009 Mazda 3's all have very tight fitting at the bottom of their containing frame?

Question 2: Has anyone else encountered this problem? (Note: maybe the frame where the bottom of the shock absorber is fastened is bent inward creating an abnormally tight fit and this is a unique case.)

I have been trying to pound the bottom into place with slight success. If I keep pounding, I maybe get the bottom into place. I will give it some effort, but my expectation if that I am going to bring the car to my mechanic and have him fix it. I did not see anything in the U-tube demos to indicate my problem is normal or to be expected.

Question 3: Does anyone have a suggestion on how to get the bottom of the shock absorber in place and secured? I know using a hammer and pounding it into place is not normal!

By the way, I am a glutton for punishment and I'm going to try to replace the other rear shock absorber. My guess is that the other side will go better, but time will tell.

Jim Anderson

 

[lout]

do you mean getting the bolt through or fitting the shock mount into the frame
you have not tried to mount the top first have you
you mount the bottom first and then the top

 

[Davids3]

On mine the metal sleeve in the bottom bushing was too wide for the opening. I sanded the metal sleeve down a bit on both ends (I used a belt sander) then it slipped easily into the mounting bracket. I brushed some anti seize on the sanded ends to protect them against rust.

 

[theblooms]

This is one of the reasons I prefer OEM shocks. For one, they come with the upper mounts already installed (which makes them pretty much the same price as aftermarket), and two, they simply fit.

But try like Davids3 said: sand them down a bit.

 

[jjanderson52]

@lout
After I posted, I changed the passenger side rear shock absorber, connecting bottom first and then the top, and had no problem. I was trying to do the same on the driver's side, but ran into the problem of the bottom not fitting into the frame.

@david3

I think your solution will be a good bet for me. I will give it a try. Thank you much!!

@theblooms

I don't work on cars much, but I will make a mental note of your suggestion. But in general I stay away from OEM products because they general are quite a bit more expensive than after market suppliers.

Jim A

 

[theblooms]

If you shop around, OEM Mazda parts really aren't that bad, all things considered.

I usually try Cox Mazda, Med Center Mazda, Werner Mazda, Mazdaswag, and Quirkparts. Swag and Quirk usually have super good prices.

Also, always watch out for shipping prices. Sometimes one stealership will have a better price on something, but their shipping will be nuts.

You can also get some OEM parts on eBay and Amazon, too.

 

[lout]

i always buy oem as first choice
they always work/fit better
especially electrical

 

[Davids3]

The second generation 3 eliminated this problem. The rear shock no longer bolts into a captive bracket but basically just bolts onto a bracket that is open on the side the bolt goes in.

 

[Davids3]

Regarding prices, aftermarket are significantly less. Just checked online at realmazdaparts and rear shocks for a gen 1 are $278 for a pair. Rockauto sells Monroe for $62 per pair. A set of Mevotech mounts will add $54 but I have reused rear mounts without issue in the past so I consider this optional. Even so worst case is rock auto would be $116, which is significantly cheaper than OEM on this particular type of part.

 

[jjanderson52]

@David3

Thank you for your advise. I ground down the edges at the bottom of the shock absorber and I was able to slide the shock into place. It didn't take much grinding to get it fit. Job complete!

 

[jjanderson52]

BTW, I spent roughly $50 for the pair of shock absorbers. Yes, it cost me an extra hour labor, but taking Davids3 OEM price of $278, an extra hour of work saved me $228. I'm okay with that.

 

[theblooms]

Regarding prices, aftermarket are significantly less. Just checked online at realmazdaparts and rear shocks for a gen 1 are $278 for a pair. Rockauto sells Monroe for $62 per pair.

Oh good lord, NO to Monroe! They straight up STINK on our cars. Absolutely horrible. Been down that route, never will again. Garbage.

If not going OEM, use KYB Excel G's. They're pretty good and ride almost exactly like stock. Hell, they may even be the true OEM, they're so close.

 

[theblooms]

For what it's worth:
Quirkparts has OEM shocks, with the mounts already installed, for $184 per pair. That's only $68 difference from the garbage pile Monroes, for something you're going to live with for the next 10 or so years. That is exactly why I go for OEM parts.

 

[Davids3]

Oh good lord, NO to Monroe! They straight up STINK on our cars. Absolutely horrible. Been down that route, never will again. Garbage.

If not going OEM, use KYB Excel G's. They're pretty good and ride almost exactly like stock. Hell, they may even be the true OEM, they're so close.

Calm down, jeez. Not everybody has as much money as you and might be looking at less expensive options. I mentioned Monroe because it is a name brand and it is in the middle of the rock auto line of available price points. There are cheaper options, and more expensive options. Bilstein aftermarket are less than the OEM ones you rave about. For the record I have used Monroe on my gen 2 3 and have had ZERO issues with them, and they ride great. Everybody's experience and circumstances are different. Most people looking for shocks are doing so because theirs are worn out and any replacement brand is probably a big improvement. Furthermore, most people replacing shocks on a fifteen to eighteen year old car are not exactly amortizing them over the ensuing ten years.

 

[jjanderson52]

Thumbs up for Davids3 Comment. My Mazda 3 has 230,000 miles on it and I will be surprised if these new shocks ever get 20,000 miles on them. I don't want to spend a lot of money on a car that will be in the junk yard 2 or 3 years from now.

 

[Davids3]

@David3

Thank you for your advise. I ground down the edges at the bottom of the shock absorber and I was able to slide the shock into place. It didn't take much grinding to get it fit. Job complete!

Excellent! Sometimes the obvious answer isn't so obvious. Glad it helped.

 

[lout]

i find it amusing when people on a forum
ask for advice, bu then
dont listen to the experts who volunteer their time
i know that new people to the site dont know who is to be believed
but blooms is one of the experts here who i would trust over my own knowledge
when it comes to mazda 3

 

[Davids3]

i find it amusing when people on a forum
ask for advice, bu then
dont listen to the experts who volunteer their time
i know that new people to the site dont know who is to be believed
but blooms is one of the experts here who i would trust over my own knowledge
when it comes to mazda 3

Everyone can contribute their knowledge and the recipient can judge what advise to take. My suggestion helped the OP solve the problem and got the shocks the OP had already purchased to work for them. That's quite a bit different than simply telling them they should have bought OEM in the first place, which does not solve the problem they were dealing with at that moment in their driveway. This comes from my own personal experience owning over a half dozen gen 1 and 2 Mazda 3's, and engine swapping several others that were sold to new owners. I don't know everything, as I am a still learning DIY'er, but there's very few tasks on these cars that I haven't taken on over many years of ownership. I buy OEM parts and aftermarket parts depending upon the circumstance and budget that I have in mind for the task. I would not belittle someone trying to save a few dollars by choosing less expensive parts and doing their own work.

 

[Gobucs1981]

I just did mine he one side went in and out but the other side took a little bit more work I just used the old one and moved it side to side and it moved the spot enough to get the new one in. So that’s what I did and yes I agree one stuff does work better for some things cause if u make a copy like aftermarket parts do sometimes the new part is just a little bit off and u have to use grinder and bend stuff to make it fit so I try to stay one if possible but let’s face it sometimes one is just a bad part and sometimes the remake is a better part . But any case you have to clean the rust up and it will help also hope u have better luck doing more work to ur car cause nowadays it’s to expensive to take car to shop . I saved thousands bye fixing my own cars over the years

 

[jamesbrysonr070313]

Excellent! Sometimes the obvious answer isn't so obvious. Glad it helped.

Ran into same problem on my 08, I use a long flat punch and slightly tapped it down until I could get the bolt to partially start. Then slightly tapped the bolt through, one side had to tap the sleeve a couple more times until the bolt started to screw in.