2002 L322 SQUEAKY REAR SUSPENSION

[BRUMMY]

Hi All
The rear suspension on my 2002 TD-6 has started squeaking loud,even on flat surfaces.
Anyone have any suggestions ?
Cheers Paul

[rangietragic]

Mine makes groaning noises when you get out and the suspension adjusts itself.Same thing?

[Homestar]

Sounds like some worn bushes? Mine makes some strange noises like that when I drop the suspension to let the short legged people out. I don't hear it while driving though.

How many KM on it?

[BRUMMY]

Yes I get the groaning sounds too when I get out. Its done 208,000 with full service history.
The front bushes all need replacing, so maybe the rear ones are knackered too........

[harlie]

What are the shocks like? just read a thread on RRnet about this.

[BRUMMY]

The shocks are good, and the ride is still great...just squeaky......
Paul

[p38arover]

My 2004 L322 has just recently started squeaking quite badly at the rear. It is quite embarrassing when I go over speed bumps as I go through shopping centre carparks.

I need to get the car onto a hoist to see if I can locate, with my stethoscope, the exact location of the noise.

Harlie, I don't suppose you know where on RRNET that you saw the thread? Off to search......

Found this (one of many) - see post no. 15 by Haylands. I'll check it. rear suspension squeak (please advice) tia (http://www.rangerovers.net/forum/6-range-rover-mark-iii-l322/34951-rear-suspension-squeak-please-advice-tia.html)

EDIT: See also http://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/post140711.html

[uteman]

I thought I had mine licked when I found the two bolts holding the mounting bracket for R/H rear caliper were a bit loose.
Cleaned everything and re-assembled using some brake pad grease on points which might squeak there and what do you know.
The noise went away. Now about 10 days later it is back again.
I will check it again and see what I can find this time.
Rear suspension bushings all look good at 178,000 km.

[uteman]

I wrongly reported that the outer rear bushings (or as Land Rover call them: "Ball Joints" were OK.
Well in fact they are not so I will change them.
I have the tool set for removing/replacing the lower ones but not for the Top so when I get that I will get onto the job.

At this stage I am not planning on replacing inner bushings.
Has anyone found that they have been damaged?
At this time they look OK at 178,000 km but then again I have been wrong before!

[p38arover]

The upper ones on mine look OK. I tried injecting grease but it made no difference.

I really need to get it onto a hoist to hunt down the source of the squeak.

[uteman]

Today I made a start on fitting new rear outer bushings (or ball joints according to Land Rover) on my L322.
Sometime back I purchased a spare top and bottom bushing plus a "Laser Rear Suspension Bush Tool 5977"
You will find these for sale online
Now I did think that this tool I purchased did both top and bottom but it only does the bottom so I have also ordered their 5978 tool which will do the top bushing.
The advantage of this tool (or tools) is that I do not need to remove the axle nut, brake disc and backing plate.
To do the bottom bush I did remove the tie-rod and of course the brake caliper complete with bracket but left everything else in place.
Removed the through bolt from bottom bushing, circlip from bushing and fitted the Laser tool (Laser in brand only. Nothing to do with a laser).
Minutes to remove the old bushing and fit the new one from that stage.
Next one will be quicker of course now that I have a plan of action.
Having fitted the new bottom bush the top will be even easier so these tools are really good (in my humble opinion of course)
Will I ever need them again? Probably not so PM me if I can assist a fellow owner.
The tools do for L322 RR Sport and Disco 3 & 4

BTW: there were two stands under the car. Not just the jack

[uteman]

My new tool from Laser Tools arrived today and 15 minutes later the old top bush was out and the new one in.
Hub, axle, brakes all left in place. Pic attached.

One thing that will be of interest: I removed the seals from both old bushings to get a clear inspection of them. The top one still has good grease in it and was in quite reasonable condition. The bottom one was a different story as the grease or what might have once been grease was unlike any old grease I have ever seen. It was almost "stone" like and when I washed all internals of the bush it was clearly toast with significant wear. Injecting grease as some others have done was never going to fix this. IMO: Replace them!

[p38arover]

Were they expensive? Yes, a stupid question - all special tools are. :(

I'd be very interested in hiring these.

[uteman]

Were they expensive? Yes, a stupid question - all special tools are. :(

I'd be very interested in hiring these.

The tool for top bush cost me around AUD150 with postage from UK. (Although you could add AUD20 as I paid for express delivery)
This tool seems to be peculiar to L322
The tool for the bottom bush was if i recall correctly around AUD180.
However that tool does for L322 from 2003 to 2012, Disco 3, Disco 4 & RR Sport

Having these tools allowed me to get on with the job without having to remove the hub, jury rig fittings, ask a mate to machine something for me and/or to ask someone to loan me their press.
I am a mechanic by trade and believe in the right tool for the job and if that right tool simplifies the job as these did then that is a great bonus.
PM me if you want anything further

[uteman]

The upper ones on mine look OK. I tried injecting grease but it made no difference.

I really need to get it onto a hoist to hunt down the source of the squeak.

Having replaced both bushings on right and left side then removed the rubber seals from old bushings I can say that the bottom bushes were very worn and any grease that may have been in them was completely dried out looking more like sand.
The top bushings still had fairly good grease in them and were not nearly as worn as the bottom but why not replace all?
Having replaced all front ball joints and bushings a few months back I was disappointed that the car still seemed noisy on bumps even on a reasonable road surface.
It is now as quiet as the day that we collected it from the dealer in 2003

OH and it almost goes without saying that there are no squeaks.
Injecting grease will not fix the issue. There is wear!

[p38arover]

Thanks for that good info. I will do both top and bottom, both sides, then get a camber adjustment. My L322 has just over 200K on the clock.

I have a lathe but I'm no expert machinist and I'm a lousy welder. I could probably fabricate something.

[p38arover]

I'm ordering the bushes tomorrow.

[p38arover]

We replaced the rear upper and lower bushes last Monday using the tools hired from uteman (thanks Ray).

Before we started.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2018/02/324.jpg

Marked to get the eccentric washer back in approximately the right place. (The car had a wheel alignment done today.)

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2018/02/325.jpg

Quite easy when one uses the right tools and have access to a hoist. I used the LaserTools Rear Suspension Bush Tool -Land Rover | Part No. 5977 (http://www.lasertools.co.uk/product/5977)
and
Rear Suspension Bush Tool - Range Rover | Part No. 5978 (http://www.lasertools.co.uk/product/5978)

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2018/02/326.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2018/02/327.jpg

The bushes had little to no radial play but quite a bit of axial play, especially the left lower where the play was about 1.5mm. The grease was old and hard and there was a bit of rust in the joint.

The left lower also has two pieces of thin plastic (nylon?) jutting out of it. I assume they were/are the bearing surfaces. As noted above, the "bushes" are Heim/Rose Joints.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2018/02/328.jpg

and clean upper joint:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2018/02/329.jpg

Cost $219 (I think, I can't find the invoice) for the parts (incl. post) from Mario.

[RR876]

Coincidentally, my rear suspension started making nasty squeaking noises just a week ago. It’s now starting to startle pedestrians.
Question - the workshop manual suggests removing the caliper and rotor to get to the lower knuckle joint. Can I confirm that this is not necessary?
Thanks for the guides.

[RR876]

So I refreshed the rear suspension on the weekend. I changed the lower wishbone inner bushes, tie rod, stabiliser bar link upper and lower rose joints. For the bushes and rose joints, I used a relatively cheap bush pressing set which I bought from eBay in the US for USD$126. I have now replaced every single suspension bush in the car using this set, front and back, except for the rear upper inner bushes. For the rear lower rose joint, I ground the relevant press ‘cup’ to provide clearance to the brake dust cover. I did not have to remove the brake caliper or rotor as suggested in the manual.

When removing the rear lower wishbones, make sure you fully depressurise the air springs including cracking open the rear airlines from the rear valve block under the right hand wheel arch.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2018/03/214.jpg
New parts

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2018/03/215.jpg
plus Universal Press Pull Sleeve Kit Bush Bearing Removal Insertion Tool Set

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2018/03/216.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2018/03/217.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2018/03/218.jpg
results in suspension as good as new

No more squeaky rear suspension.

[p38arover]

For the rear lower rose joint, I ground the relevant press ‘cup’ to provide clearance to the brake dust cover. I did not have to remove the brake caliper or rotor as suggested in the manual.

Sorry I missed your question in an earlier post. The tool we used was cut away to clear the backplate.

More info on the kit, e.g., supplier, etc., would be good.

[RR876]

The tool kit I used was similar to
27pc Universal Press & Pull Sleeve Kit Bush Bearing Removal Insertion Tool Set | eBay (https://m.ebay.com/itm/27pc-Universal-Press-Pull-Sleeve-Kit-Bush-Bearing-Removal-Insertion-Tool-Set-/201220989383)

The quality is OK but not great. I did have to grind the outer diameter of the thrust bearings to provide clearance to the recess in the ‘cups’. After this, the tool worked well. A couple of times I had the tool misaligned and effectively tried to crush a lump of steel leading to a failed thrust bearing. Luckily, there are numerous bearings to swap between the different threaded shafts.

This set is good enough for a hobbyist to reco a car or two, but not for someone planning to do this numerous times. It did save me several thousand dollars in LR service costs and so I am happy with the cost/benefit.

[Graeme]

A very early demise of both upper and at least the left lower rear knuckle bushes in my MY12 after only 80K kms. It appears that the left lower is the squeaking culprit but both uppers have fore-aft movement that shouldn't exist.

Update: Squirting oil through a small slit cut in the top of one of the seals of the lower joint resulted in curing the squeak but not before oil leaked out the bottom of the seal, indicating that the seal isn't intact and maybe the reason why it failed so early.