Mazda5 rattle/clunk driving me crazy

A few weeks back, my Mazda5 started to get a somewhat random clunk from what I thought was the right front.  Some bumps I would go over, and nothing, other times it happened.  It seemed to get progressively worse quickly, though, so I took it off the road.  I inspected the tie rod ends, the ball joints, and the sway bar end links, and they all seemed good.  Didn't see anything else that looked scary, either.  Decided maybe it was struts or strut tops, and since it has almost 109K miles on it, with what I believe are the originals, it was due. 

Swapped in some quick strut assemblies over the weekend, and test drove it tonight.  It rode way quieter and smoother, but I could still hear the clunk, although it didn't seem as bad.  I am no longer certain it is from the right front, but I think it is still coming from the front.  I was finally able to reproduce a noise consistently if I jerked the wheel slightly to the left.  Did not happen when jerking the wheel to the right.   Just to eliminate easy stuff, I am going to remove my junk out of the back seat area.  Other than that, I am thinking maybe sway bar brackets or worn engine/transmission mounts.  Any other places I should look?

The LCA bushings go bad and clunk like that even though they look fine at a cursory glance.

In reply to Javelin :

Any experience with aftermarket control arms?  I'm noticing the Moog and Mevotech ones are a third the price of OEM, and the off brands are even cheaper.

In reply to eastsideTim :

I had a Mevotech on my 3 that failed again in less than 7K miles. Make sure the Moog isn't a rebox.

Mine had a similar clunk when I bought it last year. Right front clunk over bumps when going slower. Never heard it at speed. Turned out to be the sway bar bushings. The looked fine and didn't seem loose when I had the car up in the air, but that was the culprit. 
they are a b!tch to do, though. I ended up only doing one side as I couldn't get to the driver side one without tearing the whole suspension apart. 
TIP: it was easier to reach the bolts with a couple of extensions and coming from the top in the engine bay. 

-Rob

In reply to rob_lewis :

Ordered new sway bar bushings, since they are cheap, and I could have them tomorrow.  If they don't fix the problem, still debating on OEM vs aftermarket control arms.

I have it on good authority that if the Moog PN begins with RK, it's more than likely a re-box of someone elses product.

My 2012 that we had 8 years, had this exact issue at 87 k miles. I replaced 4 bilsteins. Finally after weeks/months of trouble shooting everything, problem was the rear bilsteins.  Swapped them out, all clunk was gone

https://mazdas247.com/forum/t/rear-passenger-clunk.123862768/page-2

In reply to mr2s2000elise :

That's funny - the rear passenger clunk was also the first problem I experienced after I bought it around 90K miles.  One of the rear shocks was bad enough it was leaking fluid.  Can't remember what brand I bought to replace them, but it did fix it.

HotNotch said:

I have it on good authority that if the Moog PN begins with RK, it's more than likely a re-box of someone elses product.

Thanks, I will keep that in mind.

Edit:  Looks like the Moogs are re-boxed.  Will do some digging to see if there are any preferred brands, or if I may have to go with OEM if the sway bar bushings don't do the trick.

eastsideTim said:

In reply to mr2s2000elise :

That's funny - the rear passenger clunk was also the first problem I experienced after I bought it around 90K miles.  One of the rear shocks was bad enough it was leaking fluid.  Can't remember what brand I bought to replace them, but it did fix it.

Awesome! I bought ours new, $19,500 (22.5K sticker). Kept it 8 years. 131K miles. Sold for $7,500 on ebay, to a guy who ran down from Vegas to get it. Was rearended at light once, DV claim got me $4100. 

  Should have bought a Sienna from day one. But I drank the koolaide and lived to tell about it. 

Hope you gets your solved soon , my friend. 

In reply to mr2s2000elise :

Thanks.  I still like mine a lot, due to the size and maneuverability, but if you just want raw reliability, the Sienna is a way better option.  I still find it funny to be complaining about issues like this in the 100K mile range, considering how much more maintenance cars required years ago.  I should be impressed the Mazda is still on its original tie rod ends and ball joints, and they seem fine.

In reply to eastsideTim :

No Doubt about that. However, I am used to most cars needing nothing for 200K + miles, so mazda's low quality bothers me (I know people will come with pitchforks on this forum, but after 14 Mazdas (11 Miata- rest others), I am done with the brand). 

Are you sure it's suspension noise? These are also known to blow out motor mounts early. Not a hard fix, though.

Also rear trailing arm bushings get very loose and clunky on these.

Just replaced all 5 mounts on ours. Much happier vehicle. Does need yet another oil cooler but mostly trouble free and about to pass 180K. Really been a great car.  

I had a Saab clunk like that, the rubber grommets ot the bottom of the shock went south.  Replaced them every 6 or so months then went to Delrin. 

Better.