MN Vibration between 110 to 130 KPH!

[Ramo]

Thanks for all of your input everybody. I'm actually astounded by the response, I just thought it would be lonely old me with the problem. I knew it.....I'm not going mad........even though the misses thinks I am.
I've had mine from brand new and I have to admit, if there was a vibration before the Ironman lift I hadn't noticed it. The Ironman suspension does come with Poly bushes in the leaf springs instead of the factory rubber ones, and therefore any vibration through the drive train will be accentuated.
I have read articles about the prop angles at the box end and the diff end, and this is what my local garage are trying to do.
The difficulty it measuring the angles accurately, Its a bit of a guess-ta-mate. The washers under the gearbox are about 4mm in thickness and are starting to get to the limit of the rear mounting bush at the end of the box, which cannot be pushed down any further with out the need for some fabrication. I'll try to get photos.
Mind you the whole thing is ridiculous, when you think these are 4x4 off road vehicles, you would have thought there would be at least 50/70 mm of articulation in the prop without any issues.

[61rth]

i gotta say I am dissapointed with the number of rattles I already have. One of the guys at work had a Triton 6 months before me and I specifically asked do you have many rattles? he said no what so ever, they are well built. I laughed as there was no way it would have no rattles, just didn't realise that his interpretation af a rattle is slightly different to mine. Got in his car the other day and it was 10 times worse than mine, he still couldn't hear them though.

all my rattles are just little trim rattles though, and only over decent bumps. which is to be expected.

Like Ultimate said though, I'm sure I will have the full on rattle tomorrow, can show that to the dealer as well when I show him the squeeky suspension.

[Homer]

Does anyone know where Brett05's thread on relocating the driveshaft centre bearing is?

EDIT: Found it Clicky here for a potential fix for this problem in the lifted cars eith 2 piece tailshafts..

[NTBB]

i gotta say I am dissapointed with the number of rattles I already have. One of the guys at work had a Triton 6 months before me and I specifically asked do you have many rattles? he said no what so ever, they are well built. I laughed as there was no way it would have no rattles, just didn't realise that his interpretation af a rattle is slightly different to mine. Got in his car the other day and it was 10 times worse than mine, he still couldn't hear them though.

all my rattles are just little trim rattles though, and only over decent bumps. which is to be expected.

Like Ultimate said though, I'm sure I will have the full on rattle tomorrow, can show that to the dealer as well when I show him the squeeky suspension.

I have plenty of rattles in mine @ 55000k's snorkle, door trims, trip computer... and the d/s rear tail light broke the top mounting bracket.....all due to corrogations...

[Steane]

i gotta say I am dissapointed with the number of rattles I already have. One of the guys at work had a Triton 6 months before me and I specifically asked do you have many rattles? he said no what so ever, they are well built. I laughed as there was no way it would have no rattles, just didn't realise that his interpretation af a rattle is slightly different to mine. Got in his car the other day and it was 10 times worse than mine, he still couldn't hear them though.

all my rattles are just little trim rattles though, and only over decent bumps. which is to be expected.

Like Ultimate said though, I'm sure I will have the full on rattle tomorrow, can show that to the dealer as well when I show him the squeeky suspension.

My Tri has a squeak coming from the drivers door trim, which I'll fix fairly easily and its had a slight rattle in the B pillar from new, that I don't hear anymore...although it is still there. Aside from that its doing ok after three years and plenty of time off-road.

I've driven new Commodores and Camrys that develop dash squeaks and rattles in warm weather, a VW R50 Touareg that after 2000kms had a symphony of rattles coming from the plastic trims in the back. A Renault Megane RS with 4000kms on the clock, you could watch the dashboard actually vibrate on anything but perfectly smooth bitumen, and put your hand down the back of the dashboard between the windscreen and the dash. It had so many dashboard related rattles that it was ridiculous. These are all new or near new cars.

I've NEVER owned a completely squeak or rattle free car, or a car that didn't have little noises come and go depending on the weather, or the day, or just how the car was feeling when you started it up.

Probably the only car that felt so solid that it might never rattle was a Lexus IS F. But I bet with a few kms on the clock it would develop its own collection of little noises.

These are machines, made from thousands of parts and pieces of trim, clipped, bolted, glued or screwed together. Squeaks and rattles are inevitable and if not overly annoying, they become part of the character of the car over time.

[NTBB]

I reckon for the k's ive done the ute is holding up well.... The old man drives old english cars..now they rattle

[Bennys]

I've had this vibration start into the last 3000kms (14000kms on clock) coincided with the changing of my rims to steelies. Assumed balance problem after driving bris to newy, had it checked and was told all 4 wheels were out. took car for a drive and it was all but gone. However did notice that there was a lot of caked on mud on inside of rim, that wasn't removed while balancing. Cleaned off the mud and it got slightly more noticeable. Haven't bothered about it since, its not bad but noticeable.

If your getting bad vibrations, maybe check for mud on the inside of rim.

Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk

[Pure Mongrel]

I thought I was going mad till I read this thread.

My new MN has this odd vibration to it when I do 110 +. It is very subtle, but noticeable (and annoying!)

Have not even gone for my 1500km service yet.

This is not a lift issue as it is stock standard.

What are the chances Mitsubishi will fix this?

[Cowboy Dave]

I hope they manage it mate because then you can tell me what to do with mine.

I mentioned it at my 1500 service but the dealer ignored it, partly because the dealer was useless, but also partly I expect because there were no roads anywhere nearby where they could test it.

I recommend you look into taking your vehicle to Eagers (I think that's one of their names - search the forum on eagers and you should turn up the other names) for that 1500 service. Members report experiencing a high level of satisfaction with the service there which may improve your chances of a successful outcome.

[Pure Mongrel]

Thanks for the heads up mate.

I will definitely share any info I get.

I have to admit I don't have a lot of faith in my closest service department. Do you know which Eagers?

[Pure Mongrel]

From what I can find the only service centre they have in near the city. I would have to take a day off work to use that workshop.

Anyone have any feedback on the workshop at Motorama @ Spingwood?

[Longranger1]

Thanks for the heads up mate.

I will definitely share any info I get.

I have to admit I don't have a lot of faith in my closest service department. Do you know which Eagers?

Mate, I think it was Eagers at Newstead. I dealt with them years ago and they were excellent then.

[Pure Mongrel]

Thanks mate.

Might be worth the day off to get a quality service.

[Cowboy Dave]

They should give you a loan car if you pre-book, that might save you that day off work?

[Pure Mongrel]

Sweet!

[Pure Mongrel]

Been doing some research online and the problem seems to be a common issue with the drive-shaft across a number of Triton models. There have been various reports of the shudder happening from new, after lift, at 100+ Km or on take off. (manual and auto)

It has also been posted that Mitsubishi are aware and sent out a "secret memo" to dealers regarding this issue. (could not find confirmation). Some people report Mitsubishi fixed it, fixed it after the buyer got proof from a third party or have ignored the customers complaints. (depends on the dealer it seems).

I am convinced this is the issue with my Triton as the shudder happens on different roads, usually at 100 - 120km and usually while I maintain that speed or am decelerating.

The shudder is not coming from the motor, suspension or steering. I know Queensland roads are crap, but that is not causing the shudder either.

I have my ute going for it's first service this Saturday ... At a dealer next to the pacific highway ( so no excuse not to test at the right speed). Will let you know how I go.

I have noticed the lighter my ute is the worse the vibration is (quarter of a tank or lower and unladen) and the hotter the vehicle gets (after a decent drive).

Can weight or heat effect the drive shaft or is the lack of weight just making a constant shudder more noticeable?

Edit: Note to self don't write such a long post with iPhone!

[snowman]

the weight may relate to ride height.

[Pure Mongrel]

Which would mean I really need to get this fixed before I attempt to lift it.

[Pure Mongrel]

Found this over on the 4WD action forum regarding an ML (Again a number of reports of the same thing!) - Would appear the fault is caused by the centre bearing and general geometry of the drive line.

http://www.4wdaction.com.au/forum/viewt ... 99&t=41980 (Thread)

I took the car to Driveline Services QLD and the conclusion was the fault is caused by the centre bearing and general geometry of the driveline. Apparently the drive shaft should not be straight and the ML is very straight. They discovered also that the centre bearing gets very hot ! - this is totally abnormal and is representative of geometry issues.
Solution - lift the centre bearing about 5 mm.

Why doesn't Mitsubishi do this ? - The dealer could do it for about $1 worth of parts and 5 minutes of time......

KD

Well this explains why mine does it at the end of the days work and not at 4am when I go to work!

Reading more in the thread it also explains why no shudder when loaded ... the angle of the drive shaft.

Interesting video this bloke took of the center bearing:
http://www.resourceit.com.au/tritonShudder.wmv

Now I just have to convince Mitsubishi to fix it!

[Pure Mongrel]

From same thread:

hi all
raise the gear box by 5-8mm my rear shaft was also lengthened by 15mm and you will solve the problem

mitsubishi now know of this as the answer
i have been pushing them since september 07
veem engieering in perth did mine(they are the tailshaft experts over here)
we tried 3 different centre bearings at first with no change
contact mitsubishi customer relations sa and organise it through your local dealer
total cost of my job was $520 paid in full by mitsubishi
i am now very happy with my rig
it was hard work but we eventually broke through
good luck to you all
graham

[Cowboy Dave]

I dunno about this mate, I have a bad feeling that you're mixing two complaints that are different. I haven't read all the stuff you've read but from my experience the shudder on takeoff that people get with the ML is entirely different to what we're getting at high speed on the MN.

The shudder is a fairly common complaint for the MLs when lifted, especially those that had the two piece tailshaft as I recall it. Not so much an issue for the MNs though.

Plenty of guys have used tailshaft spacers and a few rotated that centre bearing or in fact remounted it for the ML shudder issue - which is usually low speed on take off as I understand it.

I've always suspected my vibration was the tailshaft, but if it is, then why do we only get the vibration at that particular speed range? The shaft must hit similar RPMs at other speeds in other gears but I've never had the shudder except at the speed you mentioned earlier.

If there are more places you've read stuff by all means post up some more links/quotes and I'll read them with interest.

[Pure Mongrel]

I will keep my theories to myself when I go to the stealer, but if I don't get a result I will go get independent testing.

From what I have read, the way the shudder feels, the fact that I got a steering balance last week, the weight and heat factor, etc. I am convinced the drive shaft is the issue.

That is not to say that I am close minded on this. I will wait for the responses, and if need be test results, before I pick my next move.

I have no plans to go in guns blazing on a theory and internet based speculation.

[snowman]

I've always suspected my vibration was the tailshaft, but if it is, then why do we only get the vibration at that particular speed range? The shaft must hit similar RPMs at other speeds in other gears but I've never had the shudder except at the speed you mentioned earlier.

CD, I agree with your two issue logic. However the rear (main) tailshaft is directly linked to your tyres and therefore RPM is only speed related. Not RPM of motor or gear selection.

This issue is quite possibly an improperly balanced tailshaft but it may also be any other reciprocation part on the driveline.

[Fruity]

My car was doing this on the way home after a day of 4wd'ing, anytime I got up to around 105 - 110 started shaking its head off. All that dried mud one side of a Rim through the balance right out! Cleaned the mud off and back to good as gold

[Cowboy Dave]

Not mud for me, mine was doing it within a week of driving it off the lot when it hadn't yet ventured of the sealed tarmac.