Mazda 3 front end loose feeling over bumps

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Hi guys,

My Dad has an 06 Mazda 3 sport.

Its got 50k miles or so, and has a strange issue. Our mechanic says the motor mounts are fine and front end is tight.

Dad drives quickly at times, and says its most noticeable on on ramps hitting small bumps. It skittered across the pavement and feels unsettled.

He isn't pushing it to its limits, just enjoying the car.. I'm wondering if its the shocks, but it seems premature.

Any thoughts from 3 owners?
 
That does sound like shocks if the front end is tight, maybe very high tire pressure?
Try driving it on broken and patched pavement, if one front tire imitates a basket ball then you know that strut is blown.
 
Seems early for struts, but "way back when" it seemed to be general consensus that on my vintage Jetta the OEM's were done for around 40k. Most people drove past that point until it failed inspection with completely dead struts--but the cognescenti were convinced that the struts were not up to par at 40k.

Maybe the same here? Struts just not as good as they used to be? Especially after a number of years of "occasional" spirited driving?
 
The strut tops (bearings) on my 1991 626 were toast at 30K miles. Three to 4 Bearings all knocked out of the race.
also make sure tire are no more than 2psi over-inflated and the wheel bearings do not have excessive play ( wiggle the tire with each end jacked off the road on a lift). Also grab the rack under the car by the tie rods and see if you can feel if the inner joints (in the rack) have slop. While your under there check the AS bar links and ends any problem which would have been obvious to your mechanic on a quick visual.
 
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methinks struts and sway bar end links.

Typical with the ever-so-compact FWD these days....esp. with struts where over 90% of the mechs out there mis-diagnosed (or simply cannot diagnose defective/weak struts properly).

Q.
 
My daughter's '06 Mazda 3i was doing a similar thing on the highway. When we'd go over broken pavement, the steering wheel was viberating from side-to-side and very sloppy. We ended up installing one lower control arm and both front struts(loaded) and rear shocks too.

Now, it's perfect!
 
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