L300 Leans to the Right

Does your Mitsubishi L300 make a strange noise? Need wheel alignment specs?
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Crankshaft Culture
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L300 Leans to the Right

Post by Crankshaft Culture »

When sitting, my '89 Delica Star Wagon (4D56, 4WD) leans to the right. Everything appears to be bolted up fine. Rides pretty good. No loud clunks or anything. Is it possible the torsion bar needs to be cranked up a bit?
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ChuckBlack
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L300 Leans to the Right

Post by ChuckBlack »

your tortion bars are getting tired i think!
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L300 Leans to the Right

Post by Crankshaft Culture »

ChuckBlack wrote:your tortion bars are getting tired i think!
This is my first vehicle with torsion bars. I guess I didn't realize they wore out. The van has about 77,000 miles/124000 km on it, FWIW.
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L300 Leans to the Right

Post by Growlerbearnz »

I believe it's fairly normal for an L300- I certainly see a lot of them listing to starboard. There's a lot of weight on the front suspension, and I guess the extra weight of the driver takes its toll on the right side torsion bar.

Just wind the bar up a little. You'll be fine.
Nothing says "poor workmanship" more than wrinkles in the duct tape.
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L300 Leans to the Right

Post by Crankshaft Culture »

I brought the van in for an alignment, and sure enough, the driver's side is 2.5cm (1") lower than the passenger's side.

Unfortunately, the alignment shop didn't have a socket long enough in 17mm to adjust the torsion bar!

I ended up buying a 5" (12.7 cm) deep 11/16" socket (which is about 17.5mm), so hopefully that'll work so we can get this aligned properly.
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L300 Leans to the Right

Post by Crankshaft Culture »

The 11/16" extra-deep socket worked just fine. Ended up having to crank that driver's side (right side) up quite a bit to get it even. However, now both driver's and passenger's sides are the same height.
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L300 Leans to the Right

Post by FalcoColumbarius »

I used a 17mm ratchet wrench. Just slipped it over and set the switch to righty-tighty... Robert's your uncle.
You'll want to take the weight off the front wheels when you do it. If you don't have an hoist then jack stands...

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L300 Leans to the Right

Post by Morganizer »

Yeah, torsion bars was the first job I did after I bought my Delica. The lean to the right? Well, it's sometimes got a passenger, but it's always got a driver, so the suspension on the steering wheel side wears out faster.

You really notice this driving behind a taxi -- they lean to the left. : )
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