Replacing the suspension bushes on a 1993 200 TDI 110

[2234jones]

Land Rover 200tdi Suspension Bushes replacement
The ride was rough and the steering was wonder, it could not wait any longer!
This Bush kit cost $95-00 which included the anti roll bar kit, I don’t have one and the shock rubber kit. In total with postage it was $117-00. Not badly prices I thought.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/389.jpg

Check the kit to ensure you have the right part numbers for your vehicle

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/390.jpg

Gather your tools together; I had a large drive socket set, a trolley jack, a 24mm spanner, a 19mm spanner, pliers, ball joint remover, 12 tonne bench press, a screw driver, 17mm spanner and the set of bushes.
Some wooden blocks or wheel chocks.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/391.jpg

Chock the font and rear wheels after parking it on a flat surface, started with the Panhard rod, this consisted of two bushes and two bolts however I had to remove the drag link to give me access to one of the retaining bolts on the axle.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/392.jpg

Remove the ball joint with the ball joint removing tools and mine was a 17mm for the nut and 19mm for the tool.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/393.jpg

Once you have removed the Panhard Rod find a socket that fits the outer metal ring of the bush, not too big as we need it to go through the surround.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/394.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/395.jpg

Slowly press the bush ensuring the press is pushing it square.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/396.jpg

Once the bushes are pressed out place the new bush in, and I tapped it in a bit with another socket to ensure the press would press it squarely.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/397.jpg

Press the bush fully home

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/395.jpg

An image of the old ones out and the new ones in, they had definitely gone.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/398.jpg

Rebolt on the Panhard rod and place the drag link back on, torque up to required torque settings. Panhard bolts should be as stated in the manual 88Nm (65 ibf/ft)

Now the front radius arms.

I did this with the wheels on, but off would have been easier.
Remove the tie rod.

Remove the large nut where it attaches to the chassis. This was a 30mm nut.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/399.jpg

Then using the large socket set remove the radius arm to axle bolts. These were 24mm

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/400.jpg

I had to use the screw driver just to pry the arm down.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/401.jpg

Once the axle end is dropped it should just pull out.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/401.jpg

Remove the bushes as previously stated using the press and replace with the new ones as previously done.

This one has also had it, no wonder the steering and cornering wasn’t fab!

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/402.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/403.jpg

Push the bushes home.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/404.jpg

The new ones are looking good!

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/405.jpg

Comparing the old radius arm to chassis bushes!

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/406.jpg

Now place the first radius arm to chassis bush on and then put through the hole then align with the eyes on the axle and use a jack to put them into place do not tighten anything at this stage.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/407.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/408.jpg

I had a slight issue, the new axle to radius arm bushes were slightly wider by 5 mm either side, so I had to grind them down, doing it in stages without causing the bush to over heat and damage the new bushes.

If it doesn’t fit don’t force it as you could damage the steel tubes of the bushes.

Once in place and the bolts are to be tightened to as the manual states. Don’t tighten until you have done both sides.

Radius arm to chassis nuts 176 Nm (130 lbf/ft)
Radius arm to axle bolts 197 NM (145 lbf/ft)

Once done replace the tie rod and tighten the ball joint nuts.
Now the rear axle

Ensure you securely block the rear axle to prevent the rear axle moving back too far when you remove the lower suspension link.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/409.jpg

Loosen the large chassis to lower link nut, this was also a 30mm

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/410.jpg

Then loosen the axle to lower suspension link bolt. (24mm)

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/411.jpg

Ensure the wheel is securely chocked as the rear axle will move backwards slightly when you undo the large chassis nut.

Loosen the three nuts around the chassis link rubber bush. (15mm)

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/412.jpg

Remove all of the nuts and bolts and the arm should drop out.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/413.jpg

Remove the chassis bush.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/414.jpg

Once out, as previously press the old bush out, I found these bushes in the lower link harder that the front as the outer metal appeared to be thinner than the front.

Once in do not bolt the chassis rubber bush in as this will prevent you getting the lower link back in. Once the link is in,

the axle bolt should be tightened to 176 Nm (165 lbf/ft) and with the weight of the vehicle, the chassis nut should be 176 Nm (165 lbf/ft)

Since this has been done the vehicle corners and doesn’t wonder like it did. The next task will be the A frame suspension link and ball joint and the shock absorber rubbers.

I hope this helps,

Cheers Mark

Land Rover 200 Tdi Defender owner (http://landroverfreak.blogspot.com)

[rick130]

FWIW, and it may not matter to you depending on how you use your 'fender but you've fitted Disco bushes in your hockey sticks/radius arms instead of Defender ones.

The Disco ones are triple sleeved, the Defender ones only have an inner and outer sleeve and allow more articulation off road in the front end.
The Disco ones will tighten things up a little on road, a little like adding a small anti-roll bar to the front.

[2234jones]

FWIW, and it may not matter to you depending on how you use your 'fender but you've fitted Disco bushes in your hockey sticks/radius arms instead of Defender ones.

The Disco ones are triple sleeved, the Defender ones only have an inner and outer sleeve and allow more articulation off road in the front end.
The Disco ones will tighten things up a little on road, a little like adding a small anti-roll bar to the front.

I didn't know they were different, but it rides a lot better and the handling around corners is better too. Maybe thats why they were cheaper!

cheers Mark

[2234jones]

Part two
First of all if you have the service manual, read it to see how it comes apart.

Then lets get to work, first of all we need to raise the vehicle so the axle is freely suspended in mid air, this will take the tension off of the A frame.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/185.jpg

Then undo the bolts which attach the A frame to the chassis (30mm)

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/186.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/187.jpg

Do Not remove these bolts yet as we need to remove the ball joint attachment on top of the axle, this is attached by four 13mm bolts.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/188.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/189.jpg

Once you have removed the four bolts on top of the axle, remove the bolts from the chassis attachment, at this point one of mine was seized in so I had to remove the chassis bracket consisting on three 17mm nuts and bolts.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/190.jpg

Finally it was off and with the help of diesel and a big hammer as one of the bolts had become stuck, but after a few taps it popped out.
Now we have to remove the ball joint, I jammed a screw driver in the holes as I did not have a vice, and it was able to be undone.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/191.jpg

Now with the sledge hammer tap the nut end of the ball joint and it should become free of the bracket.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/192.jpg

Now it free I could see how badly the ball joint was

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/193.jpg

Now remove the two bolts either side of the ball joint, these were a 13mm.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/194.jpg

One the bolts were removed I had to cut with a grinder the flanges of the ball joint so the press could be used to press it out.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/195.jpg
Once cut it should look like this

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/196.jpg

So it would not put too much stress on the press, I hit the ball joint with the hammer to loosen the rust around it. Then I put it in the press and pressed it out.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/197.jpg
Once ou
t we need to put the new one back in.
Finding a large socket, a small amount of grease, and the sledge hammer tap the ball joint home ensuring the bolt holes line up.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/198.jpg

Make sure the ball joint is snuggly fit, and refit the bolts with some thread lock.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/199.jpg

Place the axle bracket back on and tighten the nut and then put the split pin in.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/200.jpg

Press the A frame bushes as described in the previous section

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/201.jpg

Once the new bushes have been replaced put the frame in reverse order and you may need to just tilt the axle slightly to fit the top bolts into the ball joint bracket. Remembering to put stub lock on these too.

I hope this has helped as my Defender no longer clonks when the drive is taken up and the whole vehicle drives smoother.
Cheers Mark

http://landroverfreak.blogspot.com

[spudboy]

Nice work - thanks for posting. Great photos.

Cheers
David

[rainman]

It's good to see your Trade Tools 12 tonne press survived intact. My 6 tonne didn't :eek:. The 6 tonne has an RHS top member instead of a UB. After the top of the jack had half pushed into the section, and the beam had a slight bend in it, I had to resort to a drill and a hacksaw to get the radius arm bushes out. This was for a 300Tdi Defender though, with the wider arms and therefore more surface area.

The press still works fine, but one day when I'm bored (yeah right), I'll weld a new piece into the top.

Thanks for the comprehensive write-up Mark ;).

[2234jones]

It's good to see your Trade Tools 12 tonne press survived intact. My 6 tonne didn't :eek:. The 6 tonne has an RHS top member instead of a UB. After the top of the jack had half pushed into the section, and the beam had a slight bend in it, I had to resort to a drill and a hacksaw to get the radius arm bushes out. This was for a 300Tdi Defender though, with the wider arms and therefore more surface area.

The press still works fine, but one day when I'm bored (yeah right), I'll weld a new piece into the top.

Thanks for the comprehensive write-up Mark ;).

It was my friends and too be honest it wasn't strong enough as the steel appeared to be soft, I bent the bottom bar on it, I would suggest this press was only for light work. When I buy one, I will get a stronger one. It only just suvived as I did some prework first. Took the press back to my friends and he said he had bent it on the rear ball joint.

cheers Mark

[rainman]

The general consensus on the forum is that 20 tonne is the way to go. :cool:

[ade]

good write up, pretty much exactly the same as my 300tdi disco omnly with a 20t press and i used anti sieze grerase on the bushins when replacing, hopefully it will make things easier next time

[Bushie]

Just about to start the same process, bought a full set of bushes today.

I've done this three times in the past on Rangies using hacksaw and sledge hammer/hammers.

Today I also bought a press. :D:D


Martyn

[ScottW]

Thanks for the write-up. I'll have to tackle this in the near future.
What is the concensus on Bushes? I have heard that a mix of poly and rubber is best. I've also heard that some rubber bushes are rubbish. I'd assume poly for the steering and rubber for the bits that flex.
Since I don't want to be replacing them every 6 months, what's the best option?

[rick130]

Thanks for the write-up. I'll have to tackle this in the near future.
What is the concensus on Bushes? I have heard that a mix of poly and rubber is best. I've also heard that some rubber bushes are rubbish. I'd assume poly for the steering and rubber for the bits that flex.
Since I don't want to be replacing them every 6 months, what's the best option?

Super Pro poly virtually everywhere IMO.

As flexible as the OE rubber ones, just more durable.

I'll correct myself, in some spots the Super Pro bushes allow more flex as they are a better design IMO.

Not cheap but well worth it.

[RobD130]

I'm in the process of doing this with superpro kit. Damn it sure is hard pressing out the old ones with the metal sleeve on the outside. least ill know it will only be a hard job once as the only metal on the Superpro kit is the inner crush tube.

[DeanoH]

Good write up.

I've just done the same jobs on my 1995 130. I found plenty of slop in the upper panhard rod bush, but the bush was actually OK (not perfect but OK). The major wear was in the 8.8 bolt which was a bit odd, replaced the bush anyway. It was 2mm too long and needed to be gently ground also (would have been easier if I'd measured first but who's to know?).

Same with the rear A frame upper bushes. The bushes were OK but the bolts, UNF SAE 5, were quite worn. Replaced with UNF SAE 8.

Replaced the A frame ball joint. For me it was remove the 2 bolts holding the ball joint housing to the A frame arms after belting the casting with a 2 lb. hammer to 'pop' the ball joint. I've never had to use a 'ball joint extraction tool' and have found this method to always work. Saves having another 'special tool'. Removed/installed the ball joint as shown.

A tip to the uninitiated, don't even think about doing this without a press, hammers and bricks and sockets and vices just don't do it without an absolute maximum of fuss.:D

Deano:)

[Yorkshire_Jon]

I'm hopefully doing mine tomorrow... Found a press in Artarmon that's open sat am.

Need to get up early😳

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