I have got a KJ series 2 and it has a strange and violent problem.
When you spin the wheels from say take off on either a dry or wet road and also with Trac on or off, i'm getting a very savage banging from the front left wheel. It feels like some type of major axle tramping if front drivers can do them. It just feels like the wheel is bouncing up and down when spinning and it doesnt sound good at all. Try my hardest to not spinn the wheels it feels that bad. Must be doing some major damage somewhere.

As i said, trac on or off and wet or dry it does it. Tyers are good. Just the stock Turanzas. Seems like something is wrong somewhere especially to do it even when there is no resistance on the wheel such as a wet road.

Any ideas? Its still under warranty but some ideas would be good to give the dills at Mitsub while i book it in.

Also, for the first time tonight, i was cornering fast with my foot on the brake hard at the same time, and the battery light came on and when i took my foot off the brake and onto the gas to go, there was nothing from the motor. Was still running but no acceleration.

Starting to make me wounder how good it is. Have a KH and it has never done any of these mentioned problems. Its bulit proof compared to the KJ2.

I had a TL VRX for a while and it did the same thing, axle tramp violently from the left front and the car was new. But i had a TH Altera and it smoked the tyres without a problem and no axle tramping.

I think it comes down to the type of tyre used. I know the Altera had poor grip and would squeal turning corners but the VRX gripped like no mans land.

Yeah people have mentioned tyres but i have 3 Veradas being a KE, KH and the KJ2. They all run the same tyres well did anyway being the turanzas. There is no way this banging can be normal. You cant expect to hear this type of noise when spinning the wheels especially in the wet with no effort. Sounds like the engine/tranny has fallen out of the car. I **** myself when i hear it.
No doubt Mitsub will say everything is ok. Will wait and see.

wet or dry i get axle tramp in my VRX.. Have never managed to squeal the wheels..

I have the same thing with my VRX i had some one look at it and they said it's the wheels getting grip and jumping and the shocks pushing back down makeing it tramp i got new shocks and springs

wet or dry i get axle tramp in my VRX.. Have never managed to squeal the wheels..
your not trying hard enough

wet or dry i get axle tramp in my VRX.. Have never managed to squeal the wheels..

your not trying hard enough


Damn straight! :D I've always found axle tramp to occur in that nasty grey zone between a clean launch and bulk wheel spin. Needless to say that either of the two extremes is preferred to axle tramp. That sort of hijinks can't be good for the suspension or the engine mounts.

Thats all good but i'm not trying to do either. Just want to be able to mash the pedal at the lights even in the wet and let the trac do its work to get up and moving without worrying about breaking something under the hood.

Doesnt make sence that all 3 of the cars are pritty much identical well are really and only this one does it. The other 2 have never had these problems.

your not trying hard enough

Would have to agree, unless you have some fancy rubber that we don't know about !! :)

Christ, I could get the 3.0 litre to sit and absolutely spin both sides holding revs at 4k5 in stock form.

And your 23kw minimum up on that!! :)

Fam.Wag., could it be the traction control, perhaps its faulty and jamming a brake on too hard ... although i would think you wouldn't get the noise if you launch without traction control.

If it is banging theres something wrong. The only time mine tramps is if I have a fairly decent left or right hand down, and I stamp it and even then the only real banging (it stil 'skips-n-vibrates') was from the exhaust, until I fixed that up :)

Hey there too slow.

Yeah it does it also with trac off. Trac works fine as i tested it on grass at the local park and it works fine. Has to be something wrong somewhere. It does it every time without fail and in any driving style in any conditions. Only ever from the left it seems also.

Stuck for ideas. No doubt if i take it back to Mitsub they will do nothing unless i have an idea what to tell them.

I was going to suggest maybe when TCL is disabled, its not actually fully disabled? Just a speculation. Did you also try to test it on the grass with TCL off as well?

I don't think anything is wrong. It's more a design fault in my opinion. As i said earlier i had a brand new TL which did the same thing reallll bad. It certainly sounds like something is going to break. I remember a TJ VRX i drove also did it. Havent tried it yet in the Ralliart but i wouldn't be surprised if this does it too.

It is strange that it does this mostly from the left hand front wheel...

Also i beleive the traction control works by starving the engine, it does not apply the brakes to the wheel spinning.. Think about what would happen if it did!

Also i beleive the traction control works by starving the engine, it does not apply the brakes to the wheel spinning.. Think about what would happen if it did!

heheheh well besides going through brake pads quicker the torque would be transfered to the other wheel as the power takes the easiest path (thats why open diffs tend to sit there happily spinning one wheel. Once a wheel starts spinning most of the torque is transfered through that wheel as it is offereing the least resistance, this doesn't give the other wheel a chance to spin) :D , I think the new Vectra utilises this sort of TC system.

I've had the same problem. Checked engine mounts and there fine could be the inner c.v or even something as simple as a wheel balance as they tend to throw weights sometimes. Getting mine checked in tom morn.......hopefully prob will be sorted. Do you have dramas whilst taking off or even when your doing roughly 80+ kmh. I get this when i put the power half on and small bump sets off the axle. Off the throttle and back on again and it's gone.
Adam:flame:

Hey adam.

Nah, its only when the wheel spins from take off. Going to take it to mitsub and get them to suss it out. Its not right. The only difference between the KJ2 and the KE and KH i have is that the KJ has the 5 speed auto in it and maybe its related to that somehow. Donno. Will hopefully find out.

Had the KJ in again to try and sort out this problem.

The dicks behind the service counter try and tell me its the ABS kicking in to stop the spin. I said, dont s**t me mate. The ABS has nothing to do with trac control. He tried to back out of it by saying 'oh yeah, those models didnt have that feature.' I didn't even bother going any further with it.

They checked all engine mounts which i thought was the problem and all is fine.

They updated the transmission software as they thought the tramping was the tranny going from 1st to 2nd and then to 1st back and forth not making up its mind. Tranny works much better now but still no fix to the problem.

Next time i am there, i'm going to get them to come out in another KJ from the yard and we will compare it. If it does it then i will live with it but if not, keep working at it boys.

The head mechanic at Chadstone Mitsubishi is a guy by the name of Alex. He is a Mitsubishi nut and knows absolutely everything about these cars. I told him about the club and that he should join up. He had never heard of it and was suprised when i told him how big it is. He knows the cars from back to front. He is going to personally work in the KJ when it next rains so he can test it and try and fix it.

Had the KJ in again to try and sort out this problem.

The dicks behind the service counter try and tell me its the ABS kicking in to stop the spin. I said, dont s**t me mate. The ABS has nothing to do with trac control. He tried to back out of it by saying 'oh yeah, those models didnt have that feature.' I didn't even bother going any further with it.

They checked all engine mounts which i thought was the problem and all is fine.

They updated the transmission software as they thought the tramping was the tranny going from 1st to 2nd and then to 1st back and forth not making up its mind. Tranny works much better now but still no fix to the problem.

Next time i am there, i'm going to get them to come out in another KJ from the yard and we will compare it. If it does it then i will live with it but if not, keep working at it boys.

The head mechanic at Chadstone Mitsubishi is a guy by the name of Alex. He is a Mitsubishi nut and knows absolutely everything about these cars. I told him about the club and that he should join up. He had never heard of it and was suprised when i told him how big it is. He knows the cars from back to front. He is going to personally work in the KJ when it next rains so he can test it and try and fix it.
Wow, it took you over a year to get it down there to get checked? And yeah, Magna's axle tramp like a *****. I own a TH Exec and a TJ Sports, and yeah, never a good feeling wen they start up, its a lot more promiment in the TJ but, I figured it was just a result of the extra power.

Did Alex shed any light on whether it was just a design flaw? Or someting wrong?

Just a question for all those experiencing 'axle tramp' - isn't it a condition normally assocaited with manual transmission FWD's???

I was under the impression that it was - as I can just plant my right foot in my TJ exec (no trac. cont. to be seen) auto and it just gives a little chirp and goes. Admittedly I'm currently running Kings low springs and 18x7.5 wheels, but it was just as smooth (with slightly less traction) with the stock springs and wheels.

So all this time I'd just assumed that this 'axle tramp' was negated in autos by the torque converter or something. Being a verada, I would have assumed that familywagons KJ would behave very similar to mine.

I would have suggested engine mounts as well but it looks like you've ruled that out. I'd try and transmission flush and renew (although it doesn't sound like a symptom of bad transmission fluid), and a thourough check of all suspension and brake components (if you haven't had this done already).

Yeah Alex checked the car from top to bottom. He has checked all suspension components, cv joints, drive shafts, engine mounts sway bars.

He is stumped by it but wants to keep trying. As i have said earlier, i also have a KE and KH and neither of these give any tramping at all. Wheel spin in the wet is so smooth you dont even know its happening. The main difference between the others and the KJ2 is the 5 speed auto. Maybe it is related to that and could be anything to do with it including the shorter 1st gear (shouldnt matter) or could just be a design fault somewhere that gives it the opportunity to bang around. Just seems very strange for a prestiege car to be making these noises. I'm sure Mr John Smith who paid $50k for his new Verada wouldnt be to happy if it started tramping when he accidently spins the wheels up a hill in the wet.

The tramping has been so bad that the glove box has poped open before. Thats how bad it has been and i'm just talking talking off from the lights when wet in a straight line not even flooring it.

You'll probably find that in tiptronic mode you can shift into 2nd while stationary and it will hold there until you accelerate and decelerate (works in my 4spd tippy). Try shifting it into 2nd and then launching in that gear. If you don't experience the 'axle tramp' in this scenario then it sounds like it's a symptom of the extrememly short 1st gear in the 5sp auto.

If this is the case, then as you said - it's not acceptable for a 'luxury' car, and there must be something mitsubishi can do about it. Surely you're not the only one who's complained about it.

I don't think anything is wrong. It's more a design fault in my opinion. As i said earlier i had a brand new TL which did the same thing reallll bad. It certainly sounds like something is going to break. I remember a TJ VRX i drove also did it. Havent tried it yet in the Ralliart but i wouldn't be surprised if this does it too.

It is strange that it does this mostly from the left hand front wheel...

Also i beleive the traction control works by starving the engine, it does not apply the brakes to the wheel spinning.. Think about what would happen if it did!

Reason it comes from the left front hand wheel is because Magna's are Left Front Wheel Dominant. If I spin my tyres (which I never do of course >_>) the squeals come from that wheel.

All I can say is, if it sounds bad dont do it. :(

The Turanzas don't squeal, can't get even a chirp out of mine.

Wheelspinning it off the line (TCS off), they go "PPPRRRRRRRRR" (no undue vibes).

Understeering when going too hot into corner, they go "VVVRRRRRRRR" (groaning noise).

Have tried many different combinations of type pressures from 30-40psi, can't
force any chirping noises from stock Turanzas - unlike SteelCats on earlier Maggies.

Oh yeah!!! tramping baby, thats what most 6cyl FWD are good at doing. My car even with new rims and tyre still bounce and make loud clunking noises and my mates Maxima does the same thing.

With the cornering hard issue;

I've gone fast around with the brakes heavily applied then suddenly accelerated into a straight line, the TCL light stays on for about 1sec after (even when I've gained traction back!)
I think it is a safety mechanism.

i dont get any axle tramp :D
good old anti lift kit and some nice kybs did the trick

i dont get any axle tramp :D
good old anti lift kit and some nice kybs did the trick

Just a silly question.. What are KYBS?

shock absorbers