How often should this be changed?
It says every 60k in the book, is that necessary?
I do mostly highway driving,I’ve never heard of changing it that often.
If “the book” is the Owner’s Manual or the Mitsubishi Maintenance Schedule, then the answer is YES, it does need to be done that often. Note that there is also an elapsed time factor involved (perhaps something like “every 60k or 4 years”).
If your engine is of the “interference” type, a snapped timing belt will cause major internal engine damage likely costing a couple of thousand $$. Even if the engine is not of the interference type, a snapped timing belt will strand you on the side of the road.
If it snaps while you are in the passing lane, good luck with saving yourself and your car from approaching semi-trucks since your engine will die and you will have no power! And, in case you think that you will have an early warning of the belt’s demise, a timing belt gives ZERO indication that it is about to snap.
So, I will let you be the judge of whether or not the belt should be changed as was suggested by “the book”.
I’ll second VDCdriver as usual.
I will third that, I’ve seen Mitsubushi belts snap at a little over 60k miles. I had one go at 63k. They do like to go in the winter time though, the cold seems to make them more brittle so you’ve got about 6-8 months to think about it.