I'm planning to reboot the inner CV axle on my Mazda 3, which is torn and clearly leaking grease. In the process of examining that, I noticed that the boots are torn on a lot of the other front end suspension parts (it's a 2006, with 175K). The boots on the ball joints of the lower control arms on both sides are torn. The boot on the tire rod end is torn on one side. And the boots on the stabilizer links are torn. I do not see any grease leaking from those boots.
However, I have no vibrations in the steering wheel. There are no noises from the front suspension. The car drives great and tracks a straight line. I did the test wiggling the tires holding them at 3 and 9 o'clock and at 12 and 6 o'clock and the wheels don't budge at all. With the car on jacks, I tried lifting the front tires with a pry bar, to see if there was any movement/looseness in the ball joints and there was nothing. I can't get the links to move at all and they are super solid, if I grab them and try to move them. And, I recently had a mechanic do a "safety" inspection on the car, where he mentioned the torn CV boot, but none of these other things.
So, I'm wondering, should I replace the control arms, tie rod ends, and stabilizer links? Or should I wait until there are noises, they are loose, or there are move obvious and typical signs that they're worn out. I'm not really made of money and I have a bunch of other things I'm fixing on the car right now, so, all things being equal, I'd rather wait.
However, I have no vibrations in the steering wheel. There are no noises from the front suspension. The car drives great and tracks a straight line. I did the test wiggling the tires holding them at 3 and 9 o'clock and at 12 and 6 o'clock and the wheels don't budge at all. With the car on jacks, I tried lifting the front tires with a pry bar, to see if there was any movement/looseness in the ball joints and there was nothing. I can't get the links to move at all and they are super solid, if I grab them and try to move them. And, I recently had a mechanic do a "safety" inspection on the car, where he mentioned the torn CV boot, but none of these other things.
So, I'm wondering, should I replace the control arms, tie rod ends, and stabilizer links? Or should I wait until there are noises, they are loose, or there are move obvious and typical signs that they're worn out. I'm not really made of money and I have a bunch of other things I'm fixing on the car right now, so, all things being equal, I'd rather wait.