soft front suspension ml triton

[torinodog]

hi all i have a 08 ml triton which ive had from new and just had 45k service done and have had problem of the front suspension being soft and making the ute dangerous to drive on normal country roads at 100 kph. Have complained to no avail with dealer ever sence 15k service in regard to this but have allways been told its normal for this crappy handling. Does anyone know if there is a case for this to be fixed under warranty. Im certain i it handled like this on test drive nobody would have one.cheers

[steve1961]

At 45 k ... the front shocks would be totally stuffed and would ride like a pogo stick ... mine did and i wasent covered under warranty as i had the bullbar and winch
if your happy with the ride height ... just go for some good quality aftermarket front shocks
Pedders has 2 ... a softer ride one and a heavy duty one

[new44]

Mine is also 08/09 ML.
Yes it is normal for standard suspension to be bad on normal country roads .

Most of us here, when we can afford it go for a complete suspension renewal.

Replacing with standard gear under warranty would still result in poor road handling.

I hope you have some success in your way forward with resolving your suspension issue.
( Sh$t , I think that last sentence could have come straight from Mitsubishi).

[NowForThe5th]

45,000km? Mine only lasted 8000km.

There is a wealth of information here on suspensions. Try a search, like this:

http://www.newtriton.net/phpbb/search.php?keywords=front+suspension&terms=all&author=&sc=1&sf=all&sr=posts&sk=t&sd=d&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search

[tassie_ml]

hi all i have a 08 ml triton which ive had from new and just had 45k service done and have had problem of the front suspension being soft and making the ute dangerous to drive on normal country roads at 100 kph. Have complained to no avail with dealer ever sence 15k service in regard to this but have allways been told its normal for this crappy handling. Does anyone know if there is a case for this to be fixed under warranty. Im certain i it handled like this on test drive nobody would have one.cheers

I agree with the others torindog. Even if you convince them to replace the shocks, in another 10,000klm they will be shot again. If you can afford it, go a full replacement of the suspension, have a look in the vendors section for Ultimate suspension, or if thats out of reach, just replace the front with Pedders like I did as an interim measure until I get the whole suspension replaced.

[torinodog]

hi all thanks for your feedback, i do intend going with a full ultimate setup as budget allows but as im yet to have bullbar winch etc installed also considering a canopy or steel tray as family is about to expand and need more room "once again budget" im reluctant to spend dollars till mods finished and correct load springs can be fitted. ride hight not to bad "more would be better" so may have to settle for utimate struts at this time and the rest later, just hopefull someone may have got lucky with mitsubishi looking after there customers. has anyone had any luck replacing struts in a home workshop?? cheers

[snowman]

the best thing about the Triton suspension is that it is so bad it really isn't a hard decision to replace it.

45,000. Mate i knew after 45klm's (on dirt anyway).

[4x4fun]

hey torindog, i have a ml that had 3 of the four corners replaced after 20,000klm and the truck has 42k on it now and i got the ultimate set fitted 4000k ago and the difference is unbelievable with some awesome adverse effects (viewtopic.php?f=56&t=7271)
have a chat to Brendan at Ultimate, as for the other mods these can come after and the suspension adjusted to suit, for safety sakes I’d swap the suspension ASAP

[steve1961]

hi all thanks for your feedback, i do intend going with a full ultimate setup as budget allows but as im yet to have bullbar winch etc installed also considering a canopy or steel tray as family is about to expand and need more room "once again budget" im reluctant to spend dollars till mods finished and correct load springs can be fitted. ride hight not to bad "more would be better" so may have to settle for utimate struts at this time and the rest later, just hopefull someone may have got lucky with mitsubishi looking after there customers. has anyone had any luck replacing struts in a home workshop?? cheers

From my dealings ... they will replace the struts ONCE with the caveat that they will fail again and you wont be covered ... i just didnt bother as it was only putting off future grief

[snowman]

has anyone had any luck replacing struts in a home workshop?? cheers

mate it is perilous and dangerous. i can't remember thread locations but the general concensus was the manual units were not strong enough and if they failed you were in trouble. Those DIY guys decided that it was better to take the struts and coils to a local mechanic etc (who had the gear) and pay about $20 a corner to get them to do it.

[Greedy]

mate it is perilous and dangerous. i can't remember thread locations but the general concensus was the manual units were not strong enough and if they failed you were in trouble. Those DIY guys decided that it was better to take the struts and coils to a local mechanic etc (who had the gear) and pay about $20 a corner to get them to do it.

Sound advice there Snowy. I tried but the springs defeated my compressors without much compression. When I was quoted $20 to do it, I couldn't get there quick enough.

[torinodog]

cheers for the quick reply guys much appreciated, will call brendon for sure i was under the impression that i would need to have bar winch etc fitted prior to upgrading suspension as it would sit too high and ride like a pig without extra weight on it but if it can go in now and be ok that would be great. i will add my measurement when i get a chance before touching it. and will source a mechanic to sort struts out. anyone know any good ones in bendigo?
cheers

[snowman]

i am sure Brendan will be all over this.....

but anyway they will recommend you have your car at the finished weight. However they are pretty savvy now on what spring rates to use.

if you go with the slightly lighter coil and add weight later they can pick up some of the height with their adjustable thingy widget gadget you beaut seat.

also as you have to remove it all to replace the struts you may as well do the spring at the same time and have a better package (unless you want lift i guess then you need rears as well) ho hum save up and get the lot done at once......

trust me any decent suspension upgrade is chalk and cheese compared to the standard crap. You wont know how you got by with the OEM after driving on the new stuff. There is other stuff out there but The Ultimate do a good package and have excellent sales and service (that is coming from my experience and not word of mouth). they are also not the most expensive either about middle of the road.

[ultimate]

i am sure Brendan will be all over this.....

You know me too well

Hi Torinodog,

As the rest of the guys have said, unfortunately Mitsubishi or any other manufacture will not warranty suspension components. They are considered to be consumables and are always built to a compromise. This means they are usually the cheapest option and not designed to produce the best comfort or handling.

Any aftermarket suspension kit will produce a dramatic improvement over standard. To get the most out of the upgrade, you need to have the suspension finetuned to suit your vehicle and application. Ideally it works best if all of the vehicle accessories are fitted so we know exactly what the weight will be and the right coil is selected. As snowman said, we can supply a raised height coil (roughly a medium duty coil) and adjust the coil seat height further down the track to suit a bull bar or winch. The only problem with this is the strut does need to be disassembled to adjust the coil seat.

If you do get all of the accessories fitted first; we are in the process of setting up the option to have pre assembled struts. This will make it a lot easier for a home install as you will not have to pull apart and assemble the strut. It also means you can keep the original struts assembled as an emergency spare This option should be available from the start of February.

[torinodog]

awsome brendon , look forward to seeing what the pre assembled struts cost compared to inserts. been crap for this long whats a few weeks. im on night shift at the moment but will call on thursday to get a price and discuss with you.
cheers