Front Suspension Control Arm problems of the 1996 Mitsubishi Eclipse

10/26/01 l front lwr control arm broke, the car bounced down the road when susp came apart. Gville mitz replaced the parts at the cost of the manf. The vehicle had 104000 mi at that time. Items listed on repair invoice: arm assy (fr susp), shaft assy (fr axl), shield kit splash, air dam side fr lh, end assy, tie rod, fender fr lh 12/8/07 susp broke again. While driving I thought the drv side front tire had popped. I let off the gas/ tried to pull the vehicle over. I was in the l lane near an interstate entrance. When I was near the barrier the vehicle jumped left. It made contact with the concrete wall, I pulled the wheel back towards the right. When I did this the broken left front susp/tire went beneath the car. The auto was catapulted onto the concrete barrier on it's nose. The car was completely airborne at this time (for appx 150-200 ft) part of the car hit the concrete pillar of the underpass and flung my car back to the ground. Both airbags deployed when the vehicle came down. Even with my restraint on my body slid under the steering wheel when the car catapulted on the concrete ledge. When the driverside airbag deployed the got the left side of my head where my abdomen should have been. The damages: bumper assembly, front, cover, front bumper, headlamp assy, halog headlamps aim/lamp, side marker, fender front, skirt, inner fendert wheel, front l, knuckle, steering l/f, arm, lower control l/f windshield, airbag, steering wheel, airbag, instrument pnl panel, rocker lt, pnl, front door out, repair I received a concussion from the airbag/back problems etc this car is up for auction on the 18th, it is my hopes that it is not placed back on the roadways. Who knows what other types of damage the vehicle sustained, the crash was never correctly evaluated. The local police listed I hit a metal guard rail. The vehicle damages does not indicate contact with a metal guard rail(it does not have marks on it). Appx 50 pics avail.

Consumer states that while driving at any speed and no warning the front ball joint are worn and the consumer can hear a loud popping noise. Dealer notified. Mr.

Recall in November on ball joint, had auto CO. Check, said it was no problem. Sunday when pulling away from curb, heard loud popping sound, got out and looked, didn't see anything wrong, went to back up, and ball joint broke, car crashed on to pavement. Left tire went into fender. This vehicle was used on normal paved roads only. Veh. Is 4 years old, 71,000 miles. Company is denying fault. Why recall in Nov. On ball joints if there isn't a problem. This situation, with collapsing ball joint, could injury or kill someone. I am very lucky. Mitsubishi, who designed these ball joints for the Eclipse, are responsible for their design. This is very dangerous. I am extremely lucky that I wasn't killed or injured. The damage to my vehicle is severe. I called Mitsubishi, and explained that there was a recall, and they said since it was checked then it was alright. Ball joints just don't break from normal driving. There was 17,000 miles put on since they check it. To say that it broke because of normal wear and tear is ridiculous. Ball joints just to break with only 17,000 miles on them. There is a flaw, or bad design with their ball joint. This needs to be investigated, and they should be responsible for their design of the ball joints. Numerous other makes and models of cars' ball joints don't break in 4 years after it was made. Please advise me as to what I should do. Thank you.

Vehicle was taken in for repair, prior to recall notice (mfr sr-99-002). The vehicle was not affected by the recall so no repairs were done. However, after leaving the dealership, the tire was seperated from the vehicle & the ball joints collapsed causing failure.

I took my 96 Eclipse to a Mitsubishi dealer (carlsbad Mitsubishi) nearly a year ago to follow up on a ball joint recall I had heard about. The dealership briefly looked inot my car and told me the ball joint was fine. About 4 months later I began to hear a "click" while in low speeds, and the handling felt unstable during normal freeway and street driving. I took my car to another mechanic, who said he could not do a normal alignment on my car because the front ball joints were too damaged. The mechanic was aware of the recall and advised to return to the Mitsubishi dealer to have the ball joints replaced. I went to heller mitusbishi in escondido and explained the situation. A mechanic spent a brief amount of time with my car and told me that the boots were not leaking and therefore would not be covered. Please inform me of how I can hold Mitsubishi accountable for a defective product which could impact my safety. Thank you. Christine hansen.