The L300 Suspension Thread

Hmmm okay so interesting findings. I was getting a bit confused trying to find the upper control arm bushings. Febest seems to have a few different part numbers that all point to the same area (MAB-116/MAB-018 on rear side and MAB-117/MAB-019 on front side). In addition, if you search for the OEM part number given, it seems to be the entire control arm assembly. The led me to dig through the comments from our friends up north, and it seems in 2011/2012 the general consensus was the upper control arm bushings weren't really meant to be replaced, and even though some could do it, it was a big pain in the neck. (http://delica.ca/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=12054&hilit=upper+bushing&start=15, http://delica.ca/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=15140&p=117291&hilit=upper+bushing#p117291, and http://delica.ca/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=13387&p=103912&hilit=upper+bushing#p103912)

Anyway, that led to more digging and it looks like the US Van (89-90) has the same upper control arm. RockAuto has full assemblies (bushings, ball ends, etc) from various well known suppliers from the $80-$110 range (one example from Moog https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=8840388&cc=1208393&jsn=335). Which seems like a steal! Not having to press bushings out and then in. Not removing ball joint and replacing. Seems like you'd be saving quite a bit of work for not that much more money. A couple look to have an extra welded tab, but that should be easy enough to remove.
 
oneadVANture said:
Hmmm okay so interesting findings. I was getting a bit confused trying to find the upper control arm bushings. Febest seems to have a few different part numbers that all point to the same area (MAB-116/MAB-018 on rear side and MAB-117/MAB-019 on front side). In addition, if you search for the OEM part number given, it seems to be the entire control arm assembly. The led me to dig through the comments from our friends up north, and it seems in 2011/2012 the general consensus was the upper control arm bushings weren't really meant to be replaced, and even though some could do it, it was a big pain in the neck. (http://delica.ca/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=12054&hilit=upper+bushing&start=15, http://delica.ca/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=15140&p=117291&hilit=upper+bushing#p117291, and http://delica.ca/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=13387&p=103912&hilit=upper+bushing#p103912)

Anyway, that led to more digging and it looks like the US Van (89-90) has the same upper control arm. RockAuto has full assemblies (bushings, ball ends, etc) from various well known suppliers from the $80-$110 range (one example from Moog https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=8840388&cc=1208393&jsn=335). Which seems like a steal! Not having to press bushings out and then in. Not removing ball joint and replacing. Seems like you'd be saving quite a bit of work for not that much more money. A couple look to have an extra welded tab, but that should be easy enough to remove.
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This is very edifying. That upper control arm certainly looks the part and would vastly simplify things. And the prices are awesome. I may be returning some stuff. Thanks man!

edit: Really wish I'd known about this resource before placing my Amayama orders a month ago.
 
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ccmickelson said:
This is very edifying. That upper control arm certainly looks the part and would vastly simplify things. And the prices are awesome. I may be returning some stuff. Thanks man!

edit: Really wish I'd known about this resource before placing my Amayama orders a month ago.
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I am not promising it's a direct swap! If I can't find a definitive answer, I guess I'll be the first guinea pig :)
 
Did a bit of poking around under my van (hadn't done that before posting) and it looks to have extremely similar geometry. I mentioned the welded tab in my previous post. My van has that! It's a brake line mount.
 
oneadVANture said:
Did a bit of poking around under my van (hadn't done that before posting) and it looks to have extremely similar geometry. I mentioned the welded tab in my previous post. My van has that! It's a brake line mount.
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Yep, I've got one of my wheels removed and compared the pic in the Rock Auto product page for the upper control arm and it looks identical to the one on my van.
 
If only there were a direct swap in for the bottom too! The Montero, and Mighty Max look a little different unfortunately. But at least the bushings for the lowers look a bit easier to service.
 
ccmickelson said:
Hey, wondering if you ordered those lower control arms and if so, how did they work out? Thanks.
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Unfortunately I don't think anyone found a direct swap for the lowers. I did purchase the uppers and they appear to be a bolt in solution. I haven't yet installed them. I am hoping to sometime this month when I'm traveling less and have more time to work on my van. Fingers crossed everything goes smoothly!
 
@ccmickelson did you need to take the auto-locking hub cap off yet for any of your work? I started tearing into this today and the lower control arm requires the C- clip on the front of the axle to be removed. I can't even get to it because I can't get the cap off. Oil strap wrench as suggested by the manual and @Growlerbearnz in one of his posts isn't doing the trick. Heat, pb-blaster, some tappy-tap-taps on the cap didn't seem to help at all
 
Growlerbearnz said:
Did the oil strap trick mention putting a thick rubber band around the cap for extra grip?
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If you did I didn't see it:rolleyes:... Unfortunately no luck there. Felt like I was pulling harder, but the rubber band rolled up on itself before eventually also slipping. Great idea though! Found a video of someone using large channel locks. We'll try that tomorrow (if I can find something big enough)
 
First attempt with larger channel locks was still slipping. My girlfriend suggested using my original locks to clamp down on the handle of the new ones to close them more tightly. With a large cheater bar, mission success! Definitely need some grease in there... Didn't even mess up the knurling too bad! My pictures are apparently too large to include. I'll figure out a way to downsize and post
 
Hi All! I'm having some trouble isolating a specific part needed on my rear suspension - see pic below (not sure if I named them correctly). Is this referring to part no. MB339499?
 

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Mobius said:
Hi All! I'm having some trouble isolating a specific part needed on my rear suspension - see pic below (not sure if I named them correctly). Is this referring to part no. MB339499?
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The rusty metal plate in your photo (retains the U-bolts, stops them sliding sideways) is spot welded to the axle and isn't available as a separate part.
MB339499 is the anti-tramp bracket, it has a rubber stopper on the end and presses on the leaf spring, preventing the axle from twisting under power. It bolts on over the top of the rusty part, but doesn't duplicate the rusty part's function.
Axles on many other vehicles don't have the rusty part. The U-bolts, if installed straight, don't tend to move around. I'd grind it off, just make sure the U-bolts are parallel while tightening them. A C-clamp would work:

3128
 
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Just an update on my progress. Things have been a little slower than desired, but I am chugging along. The upper control arms appear to be a direct bolt in, but I haven't actually installed yet. I didn't fully plan this out, and didn't realize I also needed to take the shock off (at least the mount, but access to the bolt head is rather tight with the shock in the way). I also originally didn't want to touch the brake lines, so I figured I'd just cut the mount tab off and figure some clever zip ties after the fact. Promptly after doing this I realized the line run in between the arm itself and the caliper is bigger than the opening in the control arm.... disconnecting the lines it is! All that to say, I'm waiting until I have daylight to continue (I'm in my driveway) and will do my best to take pictures and document the process. The workshop manual doesn't go into much detail on this...unless I'm looking at the wrong section. Which I wouldn't put past me given my previous blunders :D

-One
 
Growlerbearnz said:
The rusty metal plate in your photo (retains the U-bolts, stops them sliding sideways) is spot welded to the axle and isn't available as a separate part.
MB339499 is the anti-tramp bracket, it has a rubber stopper on the end and presses on the leaf spring, preventing the axle from twisting under power. It bolts on over the top of the rusty part, but doesn't duplicate the rusty part's function.
Axles on many other vehicles don't have the rusty part. The U-bolts, if installed straight, don't tend to move around. I'd grind it off, just make sure the U-bolts are parallel while tightening them. A C-clamp would work:

View attachment 3128
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Thank you! I ended up taking the van back to DelicaUSA and they fabricated a good replacement.
 
Well I ended up ordering those upper control arms from Rock Auto that oneadVANture cross-referenced with the 1989 Mitsubishi Van.

1989 MITSUBISHI VAN 2.4L L4 Control Arm | RockAuto

RockAuto ships auto parts and body parts from over 300 manufacturers to customers' doors worldwide, all at warehouse prices. Easy to use parts catalog.
www.rockauto.com

I ordered the ACDelco brand because they had both left and right side in stock. They look to be direct replacements...
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I found a good guy here in town to do my entire suspension job for a reasonable price, which will commence in a few weeks. These complete assemblies should save him the misery of replacing the bushings while he saves me the misery of doing this job on my old knees.
 
Hah! I just replaced the bushes in the top arms with the Febest replacements. What a forking nightmare. You have definitely chosen the wiser path.

Aftermarket top arms in NZ are about 3/4 the price of genuine ones (Ugh. Stupid little island country), and shipping aftermarket arms from the US makes them almost as expensive. I'm going to use my reconditioned arms for now, but if they do the slightest thing wrong I'm just gonna buy genuine and be done with it.

Edit: screw it, I just ordered the AC Delco parts from RockAuto. 45P0113 and 45P0114. There's something not quite right with my alignment, to get enough caster on the left front the adjusters need to be almost to the end of their range. I suspect my new bushes have ended up in not quite the right place, or the top arm is a bit bent.
 
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