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I’ve seen it before where a vehicle will pass a bounce test with bad struts. I remember putting front struts on a Sienna a while back where the strut was so weak it couldn’t support it’s own weight, let alone control the movement of a two-ton minivan. Since your car’s 20 years old, if it’s never had the struts replaced, I’d say it’s time for struts, regardless of leakage.
As for the cupping issue, it could also be caused by out-of-balance tires or possibly a lack of tire rotation.
A+ on tire rotation. second have you checked tire air pressure? you defiantly have a rear alignment issue.
I would try another shop and make sure a 4 wheel alignment gets done. you also want the print out of the
alignment. to inspect your struts. look for oil leakage around the top seal. the bounce test is not always accurate.
If the struts have more than 50-60k on them time for a new set Worn struts can cause tire wear. but with what you
described with the insides worn. I’m suggesting alignment issue.C8-)I appreciate the comments …as far as I know this was a one-owner car before I got it last summer, and with 210,000 kms on the clock, I’m pretty sure its still running the same rear (and front) struts. So that would be a good place to start. I guess I’ll go ahead and replace the rear struts, get some new tires, and a new 4 wheel alignment.
Just as a heads-up, you may want to replace the front struts as well, since like you said they’ve got 210,000 miles on them, and if you only replace the rear, it may show you just how bad the front struts have gotten. I’ve seen it happen that way before. I replaced only the front struts (per customer request) and they brought it back complaining that it didn’t ride right, so we replaced the rear struts and the car rode great again.
Struts don’t cause alignment issues but if they are badly worn they can allow the tire to ‘bounce’ as you drive down the road, this can cause some pretty bad tire wear but the other component would be a lack of rotation in that situation since it will take some time for the tires to show that wear. It might be the tires themselves, not all tires are created equally and don’t always work on a given vehicle, Honda’s are famous for this, if you don’t run Michelins, Toyo’s, or Yokohamas on them they just don’t wear well. I’m not saying it’s the same for Mazda but don’t rule out the possibility that the tires themselves are not compatible with the vehicle. You might check your brand of tire against your vehicle using a site like Tire rack to see what the reviews are to see if similar issues have come up with other owners.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/reviews/M … eyComments
hi,
i`ve been messing around a lot with this series of car…the 626/telstar…
for the 1986 model, we have re drilled the rear shock tower to accept the complete rear strut from the later model 626 that had a 3 stud shock head…and currently we have a 1987 ford telstar TX-5 (hatch back), which is identical mechanically to the 86` 626, with similar struts installed, but from the 626 wagon model…possibly from 1989 onward….also both cars have accepted the complete front struts from the later 626 as well…and what i do know is that the shock absorbers from the later model to the GC (around 1986) usually test good on a bounce test, but are really worn out if you get an uncomfortable ride….if left in the car for a long time, when they are replaced, you can actually see the chrome shaft being discoloured by heat around the half way of the shock shaft….also on these shocks, i rarely have seen oil leaking out of them (providing you always had good dust boots and the factory buffer rubber installed). what i believe happens with them is the internal valve that regulates the flow of the shock oil within the shock becomes defective, but still offers resistance to flow, so that under a bounce test, the shock seems fine….
As for tires, personally we have used practically any and all brands of tires available without ride issues….even light van/truck tires at some point…LOL.the only regret i have is the avalibility of a better engine and auto tranny….these cars were imported to my country with a 1.8L engine and a 3 speed tranny…..very under powered, but very reliable…..verrry reliable….
Not all cars have adjustable rear wheel alignment. I don’t know the case for your particular vehicle. It’s something I often caution friends and family on before they get sold a ‘4 wheel alignment’. Rear wheels are becoming less and less adjustable in modern vehicles, or so I’m told by my instructors. But it is most likely worn strut inserts as suggested above.
on another note, these cars are prone to heavy corrosion around the rear fender wheel wells, i have seen some models heavily corroded to the point that the part of the shock tower that the struts bolt to, start tilting inward, causing the rear wheels to ride just on the inside edge…in my country, these cars are taken to a welding shop, where the corroded parts are cut out and sheeted off and in most cases, body jacks used to get the shock towers straight again before welding is done….gas tank removed of course…LOL.
Most guys also fabricate a rear shock tower strut brace, to help the shock towers from tilting inward….i`m not saying that this is the case of your car, and this sort of repair (if needed) is appropriate for / street legal where you live…but it is a common problem where i am, my dad`s 1986 626 is no longer on the road because of this problem and we chose not to perform the typical repair i mentioned above, which is very very common in my country…
The car is running Goodyear rubber right now (the worn rubber) and I’m planning to switch to a set of new Firestones that I got a GREAT deal on. However, I’ll get the alignment checked before I switch the tires out …and hopefully the alignment shop can give me an accurate assessment of the condition of the rear struts. And if the struts ARE BAD, I’ll change them too. As I said before, this was a one-owner car before I got it last year, and the guy must not have liked driving in the winter (they use a lot of salt/sand mixture on the roads in winter here) because there is little if any body or undercarriage rust. So, I’m quite certain that I’m not dealing with a rusty shock tower situation as R-vin mentioned. Other vehicles I’ve had (GM products) are quite noisy when the struts go bad ..however, I’m not getting any such noise from the rear (or front) on this car. I can get rear struts (KYB) for about $63 each, and fronts for about $73 each ..so about $272 for new struts all around (do the labour myself) ….so cost will not be huge factor. I’d just like some reassurance that I’m not doing the work unneccessarily. I can’t get an alignment appointment until next week some time, so I think I’ll check the rear strut mounts to see if they’re worn. Is it normally recommended to replace the struts mounts (even if they are not obviously worn out) when changing struts? Strut mounts all around would be another $285. ….then I’d be into it for about a third of the value of the car!!!
You can’t exactly do it that way, if you’re going to do an alignment check do it AFTER you replace the tires as the readings will be different between the new and old tires.
R-vin’s posts were full of a LOT of useful information I would take his advice and check the things he mentioned checking.
hi again,
there was something that i forgot to mention,..the rear control arms on the 626, particularly the ones running from front to the back (not the ones on the rear sub frame going side to side) are prone to bending, especially if the car is raised with the weight of the car resting on this arm…from our experience, it happens regularly at tire shops where they raise the vehicle quickly using a trolley jack at the rear jacking points….if the saucer of the trolley jack catches this arm, it will be bent while lifting the car..
when a straight bar is bent, it becomes shorter, pulling the wheel forward a little bit, with the side to side control arms being rigid, the rear toe adjustment could be thrown off slightly and over time the tires cut out on the inside…this shift in the wheel is barely noticeable at the wheel well…but when you have had a car just as long as we have and do the kind of mileage we do on a daily basis…the life of the bushings are cut short… and under disassembly everything seems to be under a strain…and you need more force during re-assembly….
at the time our wheel alignment went out and the tires cut out on the inside slightly (we did not leave the situation un addressed for too long to become a problem)…using a pipe wrench and a hydraulic press, i straightened the control arms….
the cupping would surely be from worn out shock absorbers…if you can inspect the shock heads for cracks / rips in the rubber, if they are really bad, while the car is being lowered onto the ground, the centre portion will be stretched upward a lot more than normal…but here in trinidad, guys would have broken the springs before this happened…but these were guys that drove the 626 untill it could not go any more…sometimes years before this happened despite all the noise,vibrations,oil smoke, oil leaks…very reliable car, very very reliable…
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