Thread: HELP! Anyone raised a PUMA? Big TROUBLE!!!

Ok guys, lets set the record straight!
I went to ARB to get the accessories fitted and one of the recommendations was to upgrade the suspension to take the weight of the bull bar, winch etc!
Now, at no time did I ever ask or direct ARB in any way to RAISE the vehicle..
I was going under their infinite so called WISDOM, ha, and didn't want my car bottoming out or sagging etc.... When I picked my car up, it has a ridiculous lift of 70 odd mm.... Now I'm now expert by any stretch of the imagination but over the last 25 days of not having my car I've done a little bit of research and realized that this is a stupid mistake that they have made for a couple of reasons. 1. Not following OME guide lines about deefers after 98 and double cardan joints etc and also the most obvious one being, Not test driving the vehicle sufficiently when they finished the install...!
It is all now stock standard with OE suspension, including caster bushes etc, STOCK as the day it came out of the factory, but the uni still binds at full droop and a vibration at 50 to 60 km p/h.
Now I'm just putting this out there, but, should I and would you be happy with the uni issue after 4000km on the clock. Some of you are saying that your uni's bind as well and is this acceptable?
It is a 4wd and it is going to be used as a 4wd and the uni's will bind at full droop and each time this happens, it causes just that little bit more stress on the driveline etc. Me personally, I don't think this is an acceptable compromise straight from factory!
By the way, not a word from both parties today.
Povman.

And another one -
Puma warranty issues

It would be interesting to see how many people have had drive line issues with stock suspension. It is quite concerning but I would be interested to see the number of Pumas with these apparent faults.
I know my TD5 had many issues in drive line but I think this was due to aftermarket suspension at the time.
Povman certainly a costly time for you. Hopefully this can be sorted properley and with good will from LRA. I think our people at Land Rover need to get this sorted and as wel as industries in aftermarket. It is intersting that most dealers pretty much recommend getting aftermarket equipment. Maybe LRA and ARB should get their heads together and support their customers. It would be a win win situation for both if they get the products right.

With all the measurements we now have does anyone know whether the front & rear shafts are the same/interchangeable with earlier Defenders?

Then we'll know whether a D2 D/C front shaft is a bolt on solution ala TD5, or whether custom DC shafts need to be made for the Puma.

Regards
Max P

I lifted the chassis front end of my 2007 Puma 110 (130 front swprings) with the forklift today, so that the front axle was on full droop. It appears that in my case, the unis are fine. There is over 1/4" clearance within the U-joint at full droop, before any fouling. In fact, it appears that if any further droop occurred, the front end of the propshaft would strike the stabilizer bar before the uni clearance took up.

I had earlier emailed Hardy Spicer, and Ian from the Darra branch kindly offered to drop out and check it...very impressed! He also confirmed that there was no problem with mine.

Maybe it might be worse if with a load weighing down the back springs, but I don't think it would be enough to cause an issue.

So the puzzling thing is where is the variation between Pumas?
Oh! One interesting thing Ian told me...he used to do a lot of work on the Army Land Rovers, and where some had a thick uni flange fouling occurred with the bolt heads (to the transfer output). They ended up machining a recessed platform for the bolts...and this rectified the problem. He indicated if >8mm there could be problems. Maybe another potential fix instead of expensive double cardons, etc!

At any rate I'd give a big plug for Hardy Spicer at Darra if any Brisbane members need help.

Regards
Brid

Originally Posted by jake

It would be interesting to see how many people have had drive line issues with stock suspension. It is quite concerning but I would be interested to see the number of Pumas with these apparent faults.
I know my TD5 had many issues in drive line but I think this was due to aftermarket suspension at the time.
Povman certainly a costly time for you. Hopefully this can be sorted properley and with good will from LRA. I think our people at Land Rover need to get this sorted and as wel as industries in aftermarket. It is intersting that most dealers pretty much recommend getting aftermarket equipment. Maybe LRA and ARB should get their heads together and support their customers. It would be a win win situation for both if they get the products right.

Interestingly enough when I was looking at the puma 110 extra cab they(LR) were suggesting that all aftermarket work be undertaken by ARB as if they were an agent of LRA or something. I think this relationship may well be getting strained and Land Rover won't let ARB play with it's toys anymore soon.

Anyone know if there's been dramas with other brands of aftermarket suspension? I do know that Dobinsons have a full range for the latest Pumas.

i have a uprated d2 shaft on mine, with bigger unis all round,, i had to get a d2 front out put flange to make it fit, all up $212