After the last catastrophic failure on my BT-50, I have come to the conclusion that the vehicle is not suitable for consistently carrying loads on rough roads or travelling to remote locations. The loads carried on the BT50 have been below the GVM, yet the failures have still occurred.
The latest failure was the wheel and axle from the LHS rear of the vehicle becoming dislodged. Photo below:
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After the vehicle was trailered back to my local mechanic, the complete axle assembly was sent to a specialist workshop in
Melbourne for assessment and repair. The report back was that the actual housing was bent and was not capable of carrying the load. In fact the repairer stated that little effort in the press was required to straighten the housing.
This is the second major failure on the BT50 in the past 12 months. In a remote location last year, the chassis cracked on both sides.
A summary of the various faults and problems that have occurred on the BT50 over the past 4 ½ years is as follows:
1. Crack in weld on rear axle housing (new housing replaced under warranty)
2. Broken rear spring (replaced by aftermarket supplier of springs under warranty)
3. Stuck injectors in engine (replaced under warranty)
4. Faulty throttle sensor (replaced at my cost)
5. Installation problem with rear differential lock (fixed at my cost)
6. Chassis break (fixed at my great cost)
7. Axle dislodgement (fixed at my cost)
The purchase and build-up of the BT50 was supposed to be a long term proposition, to allow us to travel to remote locations and enjoy camping at these
places. Unfortunately the BT50 is not the vehicle that can reliably be used for this purpose, so I will need to find a different vehicle that can meet my needs.
It is disappointing to investigate, purchase and enhance a vehicle for touring then find that it is not up to the task. It has cost a lot of money, caused inconvenience and holiday plans to be changed, and been a stressful experience at times.
Mazda have been connected on several occasions (dealer and head office) and have listened to my story, but have offered no suggestions or even seemed interested in helping.
By relaying my experiences I am hopeful that perhaps other owners will not have to go through the same experiences and expense that I have had to. The roads and tracks travelled have been typical outback fare with corrugations - I have not taken the BT50 in
places that my previous vehicle had been! Also the load was kept to a minimum - we selected one of the lightest slideon campers on the market and tried to minimise what we carried.