Thank you to all for the advice and encouragement. I agree that most of the time, out-of-balance tires are the culprit. I know this from experience as I own several vehicles and drive around 500 miles per week. Tires are not the case this time. I suspect that it could easily be a CV joint, differential, axle, or wheel bearing--hopefully not the transmission (which otherwise shifts superbly).

I'm "celebrating" New Years Day by writing to Mazda Customer Assistance about this. I'll try to keep everyone here updated.

Happy New Year!

 

This has been quite the topic.

I recently came upon this item by BD Diesel which could be applicable, very similar.

ClickMe for BD Diesel Page

Summary: Alterations like installation of a suspension lift or levelling kit can cause the steering pivot axis and tire position to swing rearward resulting in negative castor. This results in wandering, wobble, pulling and stiff steering. Even larger tires can exaggerate the problem and require more positive castor adjustment than the stock truck is capable of.

I'm just wondering if the raised look of the CX-5 has proper castor to begin with! Mazda Engineers be warned! I don't trust engineers as they screwed up my exhaust design! The first 2 exhaust pics are stock, the 3rd one is my idea and customized proper exhaust. I would like to know who designs exhaust to flow from the back to the front and at the last second it goes in to a "T": very poor flow stock exhaust actually caused misfires!

 

I'm confused. Are you saying that this is a problem with the CX-5 or just that you generally don't trust engineers because this happened to you on some other vehicle?

I'm not seeing the relevance here?

 

Thought the relevance was obvious.
According to BD Diesel (who are experts in their field and have many aftermarket solutions to OE issues), many lifted suspension don't have enough positive castor to be correct. Resulting in wobbling, etc which is basically vibration and shake.
I'm not sure Mazda got the castor right on the CX-5. I'm throwing a new spin at it. I'm thinking outside the box. I'm saying do the Mazda engineers have enough qualifications for a lifted suspension. Mazda engineers are not perfect as per my exhaust example. The CX-5 is a reasonably high suspension. So if they say that the castor "is in specs", i'm not sure i would believe them. Maybe they should try increasing the castor to more positive and see if that helps.

 

We are not talking about "lifted CX-5's" here, only stock CX-5's.


I am not one to find acceptable out of balance tires or related vibration. My CX-5 runs perfectly smooth and tracks well at speed (19" Toyos). My alignments and tire balancing is done by a favorite high-end independent shop for all of my cars.

 

You are missing the point. The CX-5 is a relatively hi suspension that may not have enough positive castor!

 

Not missing the point. (The CX-5 is not a lifted Mazda hatchback or sedan even if it's a relatively tall vehicle with good clearance)


A vast majority of the CX-5's with alignment in-spec are smooth as glass.


But to your point if the castor is out of spec, vibration can result.

 

In specs is a dangerous thing. In spec according to Mazda! That's how they hide behind things, just because it's in their spec doesn't necessarily make it right as proven by many things over time. Maybe it's time they change their specs. I don't know how you come up with the fact that many CX-5 within spec are smooth as glass------did you drive them all!

 

I did not drive them all. Did you drive them all to conclude "Maybe it's time they change their specs"? Fortunately Mazda did not take your advice forumulated from some random unrelated article from questionable source.


How did I come up with "the fact that many CX-5 within spec are smooth as glass"? It's because I'm active on another Mazda CX-5 forum (a very active forum with many CX-5 long term owners) where many owners have reported exactly what I stated. The in spec Mazda CX-5 is not a dangerous thing btw.

 

The article is not unrelated, It's too bad your such a narrow minded dumb *** and can't see that it is related. It is very close, and a possible solution. I never said it was "the solution", but is a possible solution, and for saying that it is unrelated after the fact you say that wrong castor could cause issues, you are extremely biased and narrow minded and not open to possible solutions.
The so called questionable source, BD Diesel, is a reputable aftermarket performance parts supplier and maker of parts that should not be taken lightly from people like you!
BD Diesel Performance is unique among its peers. Design, creation, manufacturing, remanufacturing and distribution of a wide range of products specifically engineered for performance applications all done in house. Located in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada, BD's state-of-the-art facilities cover 65,000 square feet, and employ 100 plus highly-trained individuals. Many awards have been awarded to BD from SEMA and the industry over the years.