I went to replace the rear shock absorbers today on my 2007 CX-9.But I can not find the access to the top mount. Do I really have to pull off the entire interior carpet trim piece to get to it? And to pull that off do I really have to remove all the tie down mounts and the rear side cup holders and the plastic trim piece that overlays the carpet piece? I mean that would be a really horrible design... Anyone have a picture or a description of how/where the access to this is?

 

Yea, their is not simple access to the mount. I found this post with some details; https://www.mazdas247.com/forum/inde...070.123859257/

I was able to remove the left rear with a combination of a 14mm open end wrench on the lower nut and a 14mm deep socket on a 20" extension, then switching to a 7mm socket to spin the male and take off the lower nut. Tried the same on the right side and the 7mm stripped/rounded itself. To finish the right ide removal removed the rear seat and the seat belt anchor. Then with vice grips and a 14mm open ended wrench able to remove the lower nut.

Glad I shouldn't have to do this again for another 100k miles or so.