How to Fix Suspension Issues in a Mitsubishi Triton? (Troubleshooting Guide)

In this brief article we are going to discuss the different Mitsubishi Triton Suspension problems, what the causes are, and Troubleshooting Tips.

Top 3 most common suspension issues in the Mitsubishi Triton? 

The most common suspension issues seen in the Mitsubishi Triton are:

• Rear suspension ‘Creaking’ Noise
• Excessive Body Roll in normal driving
• Bouncy suspension

What suspension does the Mitsubishi Triton have?

Front Suspension

The Front suspension in the Mitsubishi Triton is a Double Wishbone type with Upper and Lower control Arms along with an  Anti-roll bar. Since this is a Body-on-chassis type of vehicle, the suspension arrangement is mounted directly onto the frame through Chassis mounting brackets.

Rear Suspension

The Rear suspension is of the Leaf Spring type with a Solid axle. The leaf spring is 2 stage and progressive with a main leaf pack stacked on top of an auxiliary leaf pack. Damping is provided by way of 2 hydraulic Shock Absorbers. There is no option of Anti-Roll bar available for the Triton.

Rear Creaking Noise

• Rear side creaks every time there is suspension movement in the rear
• Noise gets louder when going over very bumpy roads or Towing a trailer

Root Cause:

• There is a plastic liner provided between the leafs
• This liner wears out very quickly, like within 40K kms, and causes the suspension to creak very badly.
• One more cause is the mis-alignment of the Lower (2nd stage) leafs of the pack. 
• These leafs are restrained by the lateral stops or clamps. When mis-alignment happens, the leafs rub against these clamps and contribute to the creaking noise.

Troubleshooting Rear Creaking Noise

• Temporary Relief Spray WD40 in the spaces between the leafs or Apply Graphite-based greases in between the leafs at the contact surfaces. 
• You need to be aware that these are measures meant only to temporarily reduce the noise. Once the WD40 or greases evaporate, the noise will come back, depending on the suspension usage.
• One relatively more permanent solution would be to Re-align the Springs with an expert mechanic
• There really is no permanent solution since the noise happens due to the inherent design feature of the leafspring

Excessive Body Roll

• While taking fast corners, the rear of the Triton tends to roll
• It gives a feeling of instability in the corners
• The problem gets worse with a load in the deck

Root Cause:

• The reason is the inherent design of the truck. It is basically a truck designed for the Off-Road
• On Off-road, wheel articulation is an important attribute since you will be going over highly uneven surfaces of even boulders, where the situation demands.
• In order to facilitate this articulation, the design engineers of the Triton would have given the minimum required roll stiffness
• In highway situations, where handling is a safety aspect, a reasonably good Roll-stiffness becomes crucial. And this is the situation where the Triton faces issues with excessive roll.
• Dampers also play a crucial roll in Roll behaviour.

Troubleshooting Excessive Roll

• The option of Rear Anti-roll bar is not offered for the Triton with a rear leaf spring suspension
• Hence, the only solution to improve roll stiffness would be to go for an Aftermarket solution, either an anti roll bar or auxiliary springs
• Since there are no existing provisions on the chassis for mounting an Anti-Roll bar, the only way would be to make an additional ‘anchoring’ provision on the axle and the chassis.

• Inspect the Dampers for leaks and check for weakness. You can do so by removing the dampers and compressing them by hand. If they can be compressed then it means that the dampers have failed.

• As of 2018, the Triton’s suspension has undergone an upgrade in that the Dampers have been tuned with higher damping to give better handling road behaviour. If you won an older model then it might be worth considering an upgrade to the 2018 version of the springs and dampers.

Bouncy suspension

• The rear end feels a bit Floaty when going faster over a rough road patch
• The rear also feels like it is not settling easily after going over a bump

Troubleshooting Bouncy suspension

• A Bouncy suspension is always due to insufficient Damping
• This happens when the Damper / Shock Absorber is either
  • Leaking
  • Completely worn out due to end-of-life

Conclusion

In this brief article we have discussed the different Mitsubishi Triton Suspension problems, what the causes are, and Troubleshooting Tips.