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

[alex16]

Sad news indeed If you get in contact with a lawyer let us know if we need to work together as a community to fight mitsubishi warranty people.

[R01k]

They must fix your car or give every penny back. So far I'm still trying with honey first, but I'm in if this has to end up in court.

[cinder]

May want to report this to a local t.v. news station . Another possibility is to give Consumer Reports a try or other consumer advocate(s) online or in your vicinity . Never know . We will not purchase or advise a Mitsubishi vehicle ( all models ) until they do RIGHT by their consumers .

[BillThompsonMirage-ES-CVT]

Reference is made to Post # 206, 268, and 313. Rear axle replaced today along with some components. All appears to be well. Two attachments are for repair invoice and wheel alignment after replacement. Steering wheel not as "loose/wobbly" as it was prior to repair. Will update if new issues arise. I am very happy with Mitsubishi Motors and www.missionmitsubishi.com for their actions.[ATTACH]3885[/ATTACH

[deleted user]

^^^^^^^^^
That's what I want to happen with my Mirage, thanks for the post.

regards
mech

[Cobrajet]

A new rear beam can be had from Mitsubishi for about $600. A lot of money, though not an insurmountable sum. But the problem, of course, is that you don't really know if the new one you are buying is any better than the bad one you are removing.

Though it is very interesting to note that the number of the part installed on Bill's car, per the dealer's invoice, is DIFFERENT than the one listed on some of the Mitsubishi parts sites. The one that appears on some sites is 4120A139, the one listed on Bill's invoice is 4120A150. Perhaps they have already changed the axle?? Some sites actually list the 4120A139 as "no longer available".

At the very least, Mitsubishi should step up and offer this part to owners at what it costs to manufacture it. But they should be replacing them gratis for at least the full 5/60k warranty. This isn't an 'adjustment issue'...quite the opposite. It's a defective part that can't be adjusted! It shouldn't be too hard to get the NTSB to force them to correct what is obviously a safety issue, but I sincerely hope it doesn't go that far.

Do the right thing, Mitsubishi...

[deleted user]

The only thing they need to do is to make sure the stub axles are aligned to each other and the mounting bolts (2). This ain't rocket science people. I would prefer to simply make it right, which can be done with what I have, and a tweaker bar made from pipe and an old wheel.

regards
mech

[alex16]

The only thing they need to do is to make sure the stub axles are aligned to each other and the mounting bolts (2). This ain't rocket science people. I would prefer to simply make it right, which can be done with what I have, and a tweaker bar made from pipe and an old wheel.

regards
mech

Might take a road trip out for you to fix my Mirage cheaper than $600 replacement part I can't afford! Not sure if my dealership will ever offer to repair my Mirage after all the hassles I've gone through so far just for the air bag light.

[deleted user]

Figured out how to put some tension on my axle, using the holes in the bottom of the spring perches, with a little bias to the right side where my toe is the worst with two pieces of stainless rod, hand bent in my vise and a turnbuckle for adjustment. First test drive I could feel the improvement in stability.

edit:
after some modification to get more tension with the turnbuckle, my toe is close to 0 now. There is several hundred pounds of tension between the spring perches and my aluminum tube runs paralled to the rocker panel, where it used to hit it a foot ahead of the rear of the front door opening on the left and further back on the right side. My total toe was 40-50 depending on which alignment machine you believed.

Road tested fine with no noise, significant improvement in stability. Similar to taking a come-along and pulling the two spring perches together slightly.

Now I can wait for Mitsubishi"s solution without wearing out my tires prematurely.

regards
mech

[deleted user]

This is my simple pipe check using an extendable grappling hook pole without the hook. The right side meets the rocker molding a foot further back than the left side, which is in specs. I indexed the tubes so I could position them the same (just reversed) on both sides. When it touched the rocker, I marked the pipe where it met the rear axle cap center.

regards
mech

^^^^^ from my post 179 on this thread, the pics did not come, only the text.

This was the before, now the tube runs parallel to the rocker molding on both sides.
Probably similar to what 3dplane did to his Mirage.

regards
mech