Mitsubishi recalls 42,500 Tritons

MITSUBISHI has recalled every Triton sold in Australia between October 2006 and January 20, 2009 – 42,525 vehicles – to repair a potential suspension defect.

It is the second major recall of a mass-selling ute in Australia in a week, with Nissan issuing a safety alert to owners of more than 50,000 European-made D40 Navaras over a bonnet latch defect caused by excessive front-end vibration on vehicles fitted with heavy steel bullbars and winches.

The Mitsubishi Triton problem concerns front suspension ball-joint bolts that might not have been sufficiently tightened on the production line.

According to Mitsubishi, the bolts attaching the ball-joints to the front suspension upper arms on either side of the vehicle may not have been installed with sufficient tightening torque during manufacture.

“Bolts may become loose in service resulting in excessive suspension noise (knocking) and in the worst case the ball-joint may become detached from the suspension arm resulting in the vehicle being unable to be driven,” said Mitsubishi.

Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited says it will contact all affected Triton owners by mail on June 11 at their last known address, requesting them to contact an authorised Mitsubishi dealer for inspection and re-tensioning of the ball-joint retaining bolts in the front suspension.