Rear Wheel Misaligned? (UPDATE: some rear axles out of spec; warranty replacement)

[poorman1]

Thanks for posting that update.

It seems crazy that only 28 people have voted on this poll after 800+ posts and 140,000 views?!? There must be a lot of Mirage owners whose cars have never seen an alignment rack.

Of the 28, 12 responded that their axle was tested and in specs
My tires show absolutely no signs of abnormal wear and my car steers fine,
No reason to have the alignment checked
Nowhere on the poll is there a place for me and 1000s like me to respond

[Eggman]

Of the 28, 12 responded that their axle was tested and in specs
My tires show absolutely no signs of abnormal wear and my car steers fine,
No reason to have the alignment checked
Nowhere on the poll is there a place for me and 1000s like me to respond

That's a very good point. Can the survey be modified, MetroMPG? I must say that my rear axle was just outside of specs and it wasn't due to toe misalignment.

Maybe the misalignment is being blown out of proportion?

[MetroMPG]

Well, the thread title does imply the poll is for people who have alignment problems.

But I suppose I could add another couple of options:

- No apparent tire wear (have not had alignment checked)
- Alignment checked and original suspension within specs.

[3dplane]

Of the 28, 12 responded that their axle was tested and in specs
My tires show absolutely no signs of abnormal wear and my car steers fine,
No reason to have the alignment checked
Nowhere on the poll is there a place for me and 1000s like me to respond

True! Metro MPG could add "I have no reason to have my alignment checked based on my tire wear and handling/drivability"!

However if your case is so good, could you add the miles driven and tread depth measurement to go with it?
I continue to see a lot of owners not giving a damn about their mirage and just driving the snot out of them with their tires gone at low mileage (less than 20K miles) chucking it up to sh!t tires!

Based on my personal small sample of about 30 mirages checked on the alignment machine and finding zero within specifications I find "1000s" of others with good rear axles highly unlikely. Unless somehow all the bad ones end up in my neck of the woods. (2014s,2015s and the one 2017 I bothered to test)

I got 56K out of my original tires with a homemade contraption trying to hold my garbage rear end close to an acceptable geometry before I got my rear end "straightened" out with an acetylene torch and brute force!

Mitsubishi is getting away with this because 98% of owners that I see ( i work at a dealer) does not give a rats arse about their maintenance as long as the car drives when they turn the key or push the button!

I wish I did not have to switch phones! I would show some mirage rim pictures I took with multiple bends in a single rim and no complaint about vibration or the steel wires sticking out of the tires and "no thank you I am not interested in tires because it's not free" is what the typical response is when you point out the danger.

There is one (2015) mirge in our parking lot with a left rear tire so separated that the bulge barely fits through the fender well,it blew the L/R shock out because the moron keeps driving it like that and they are coming to pick the car up NOT fixing the tire!!! Because it still drives when you turn the key!! So why would you put tires on it?

I am sick of people like that! Police should take the licence plate off that car on the spot when driven on public roads! But this is Florida where you can put an engine on a wheel barrow,jack it up 12 inches,put HID lights in the factory lamp housing to blind everybody,replace the exhaust with megaphones but as long as you have a VIN number you can get a tag for it and drive it on the road....

Just venting here,sorry about that!

[Top_Fuel]

Maybe the misalignment is being blown out of proportion?

I have been working on a summary of this thread for a couple of days, so that people can read a single post in 5 minutes and get a complete understanding of the issue. There's a lot of good info here...but it's completely buried in 90 pages and 900 posts!

I have spent multiple hours reading through this thread start to finish...and man my head hurts. I have collected all of the alignment printouts people have posted and put the data in a tabular form. I hope to get everything posted by the weekend.

Is the rear axle problem blown out of proportion? After looking at the data, I'm thinking the issue could be a lot more common than we realize.

Consider the anecdotal evidence buried in this thread...

1. There have been ongoing complaints about Mirages with premature tire wear, unstable steering, off-center steering wheels, and lower than expected fuel mileage. All of these are potential symptoms of rear alignment problems.
2. Of the 30 alignment checks posted in this thread, 90% had rear alignment problems.
3. Forum member 3dplane (a Mitsubishi technician) is seeing a 100% failure rate on Mirage rear alignment checks at his dealership…and that includes more than 30 cars!!!
4. Of all the alignment checks posted in this thread, only ONE Mirage had an acceptable rear and front alignment from the factory.
5. One 2017 has been on an alignment rack...and it failed a rear alignment check.

In my opinion, anybody who has a Mirage that has never had an alignment check is crazy.


I'm on the same page with 3dplane!


Stay tuned...

[El Kapitan]

I am sick of people like that! Police should take the licence plate off that car on the spot when driven on public roads! But this is Florida where you can put an engine on a wheel barrow,jack it up 12 inches,put HID lights in the factory lamp housing to blind everybody,replace the exhaust with megaphones but as long as you have a VIN number you can get a tag for it and drive it on the road...!

don't get me started on the HID without proper projection thing. it's better up here than it was a few years ago but there are still many vehicles that create a serious hazard for other drivers, especially during these early winter nights.

[MetroMPG]

Top_Fuel - make sure to get my attention when you have the summary done. I'll add it to post #1 in this thread.

[emki]

Thanks for the comment (after all these months) and the welcome! Garage entry made! I'll have to go get a 3rd-party alignment done one of these days, but it seems to be driving very smoothly in the 6000 miles I've had it.

[emki]

In the months since I posted, sounds like the design wasn't replaced. The new updates from Mitsubishi (via MetroMGP) sound promising though!

[emki]

You are welcome. Thank you for the reply. I agree that it's too bad most buyers aren't aware of the problem, but at least this forum has helped many of us be aware of it. Thanks for following up with Mitsubishi. It's nice to hear some acknowledgment from them about this issue.