Creaky Front Left Suspension

[MikeKey]

My front left suspension has creaked since I bought by V6 2 years ago so I figured it was about time I sorted it out as things have felt a bit "floaty" recently. It looks like the creaking is usually symptomatic of lower balljoint failure, so I've been looking around for parts.

Opinions on the Camskill and German sourced parts seem to be mixed round here, so before turning to my local stealer I had a quick look on eBay and found these: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330201834401

They seem to match all the Mitsi part numbers, (MR296295, MR296296, MR296292 & MR296293), and the price isn't bad for all 4 lower arms, so I was wondering if anyone had any experience with stuff like this sourced from the USA?

Cheers :happy:

[Nick Mann]

Kieran has long suspected that the Eclipse shares many suspension parts with the JDM Galant.

I have not heard of the quality of US items, but for the price, it's got to be worth a go?

Oh, and yes, I completely agree with your post above - both with the diagnosis and the summary of feeling on parts.

[Kieran]

Kieran has long suspected that the Eclipse shares many suspension parts with the JDM Galant..

Indeed. I don't *know* if they fit or not, but looking at the diagram for the 2G Eclipse GSX (4WD Turbo), the suspension assembly looks identical, save for a difference with the rear anti roll bar droplinks (on the eclipse they mount to the lower arms, rather than the hub).

My feelings echo Nick's..... It is a risk, let's not forget - You could open the box, tear your car apart and discover they don't fit.... But for the price, given that there's been some reports on here that the Camskill arms aren't up to the job, I'd certainly consider taking a gamble.

[I-S]

Waaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttttttttttttttttttttt !!!!!

Galant '94-99 in USA was 7G, not 8G. Now I know they kept the front brake disc (the 256mm one), but did they keep suspension parts over too?

[Kieran]

Waaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttttttttttttttttttttt !!!!!

Galant '94-99 in USA was 7G, not 8G. Now I know they kept the front brake disc (the 256mm one), but did they keep suspension parts over too?

As far as we can tell, the suspension components look the same if you view a diagram, yes.

As said - It's not proven.... But it might be worth a punt?

[MikeKey]

I'm just waiting for them to reconfirm part numbers before I order. They gave me some Moog (anyone heard of them before?) and AC Delco part numbers before which matched up with all the Mitsi part numbers when I checked on AC Delco's cross reference database.

Postage is likely to be quite a bit, but it'll probably still be half the price of buying everything from Mitsubishi.

I suppose the biggest question is quality, though I suppose if I replace all 4 arms at least everything will be wearing at the same rate. Besides, it seems to be the bushings that go first in these after market arms, and they can usually be replaced.

I'll keep you posted...

[Nick Mann]

I'll keep you posted...

:thumbsup:

Good luck!

[MikeKey]

While waiting for a reply I've done some digging.

It seems they used the same lateral arms on the Eagle Talon, Chrysler Sebring and Mitsubishi Galant/Eclipse between 1995 and 2000, so they should work just fine. AC Delco part numbers are 45D3080 and 45D3081, MOOG part numbers are K90265 and K90266.

The problem is the curved arms which appear to have changed in 1994/1995.

I may just whack some grease in the lateral arm ball joint to see if the noise changes/goes away, as it seems to be the cause of most problems. If it does just turn out to be the lateral arm, I'll just get a set of them from these guys instead and see how it goes: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120207276950

[MikeKey]

Hah! Even more digging has resulted in finding what seem to be OE Mitsi lateral arms for $59.30 (the pair) from www.mitsubishiparts.com.

I can't find the site listed anywhere here, has anyone used them before?

[MikeKey]

I finally got a reply from the seller of those lateral and curved arms in Canada:

"I do not have an OE number for them. If they look like the ones on your car (basic shape, curved and straight) then they will fit 100%."

Quite a statement! I don't think I'd give them my money even if the curved arms had been the right ones! :S

[MikeKey]

I never got time to properly diagnose my creaky suspension in the end so asked the Mitsi dealer to check it yesterday when it went in for it's 7 year service.

Turns out it was just an upper wishbone mounting bolt that wasn't fully tight, so they just tightened it up and, ta-dah, no more creaking!

They didn't charge me for sorting it either, or the o2 sensor they fitted for me - result!