good one!

Yes, I have an idea! You MAY be correct, as a really good company called Stance, had this "popping" issue with some of their coilovers, and it was the top mounts binding. They repalced them for people free of charge, and all the issues went away!

So, it MAY just be the top mounts...

To replace the ball joint I just take out 2 bolts, correct?

Hopefully. I'm still not sure how it would cause a rubbing noise, but oh well. It's the only theory I've got.

:icon_tup:

Andddddddddddddddd, down for the count.

At least the front left (only one I've looked at) caliper is boned. I think the rotor is boned also. When I spin the rotor while on the hub and I look at it from the top down, it seems to wiggle. So either the hub is fucked up or the rotor is warped. And, when I spin the hub I get a nasty grinding type noise.

The lower pivot ball and some other pivoty type thing near it both have busted boots.

Looks like I'm bringing the 6...

And, time to make a shopping list. Fuck it, I'm redoing my whole suspension/steering system.

On the plus side my new strut mount went on without a hitch. :D

Dude, so any updates? You got pics of all the progress you've made to your car?

Not a whole lot of pics since most of it wasn't very cosmetic (except the powder blue struts). However, it's all back together and rides very smooth. I can't remember what I posted in this thread but I ended up:

Energy suspension (just on the front, back will probably be next summer)
New rotors (front)
New calipers and pads (front)
New struts (all)
New strut mounts (front)

It had been down a while for repairs when I was finally able to drive it. When I first got in my car everything just felt right. The seat, shifter, pedals, etc. all felt like it was in the right place. Now, that's not saying anything bad about my Mazda 6 since it's a great car... but it sure isn't my 7. Upon driving, the first real corner I went around was a sweeping 45 deg left-hander that literally gave me goose bumps.

Unfortunately it's been sitting for about 2 months now because I have no heat and my Mazda 6 is my daily. I recently got all the A/C and heat components under the dash from a parts car (thanks Kevin) so hopefully I'll get it fixed soon. Also unfortunately, the car is about an hour away at my parents since I live at an apartment complex so there's no point in having it here since I can't work on it.

Here's a pic from another thread of my cleaned up A-arm with new bushings.

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_foru...5&d=1214543837

Below are two more. One is why the rotors (and calipers) had to go. The second is just showing the old rotor/caliper still attached. I might take some pics next time I'm around the car but there's not much to see.

P.S. My current super secret (now not so secret) project is LED tail lights. Not sure how well it will come out... but I'm bored and it's winter. :) If I go through with them there will definitely be pics of them and if they don't suck a write up. I have a few concerns such as the heavily diffused plastic and shape of the lights, but we'll see...