Bushes

[rmd]

Hi all

I’m about to replace the bushes in my defenders shock absorbers.
Are these vehicle specific or will any suspension bush do?
I’m trying to get them done before I get new wheels and tyres so the wheel alignment will sort all my floating issues!

Cheers.

[loanrangie]

The pin end is pretty generic but the eye ends may need specific bushes.

[roverrescue]

The only alignment in a solid axle Landy is toe
Which has minimal role in floaty feeling
Before blaming wheels/tyres and alignment
Have you looked into what will be the most likely cause of poor steering feel in a deefer?

[JDNSW]

Shock absorber bushes rarely cause any noticeable difference to handling in solid axle Landrovers. As mentioned, the only adjustable steering alignment is toe out, and while this is commonly a cause of uneven tyre wear it has to be pretty bad before affecting handling.

Steering issues in coil spring solid axle Landrovers are almost always due to worn bushes in any of the links affecting axle location, wear in tie rod ends, or worn swivel bushes, but can also result from wear in the steering column U-joints, loose steering box, worn steering box (there is adjustment for some wear).

The most likely issue is tire rod ends or the panhard rod bushes.

Having said that, the shock absorber bushes are, as far as I know, specific to the vehicle, but other vehicles use the same - you need to use the right ones.

[martnH]

There are two types of pin end bushes on rear axle
Before 93 and after 93 (correct me if wrong
After 93, land rover welded a little metal cup there thus change the bush.

I felt the steering is vague so I changed the panhard rod bush. I used super pro poly bushes. The only real difficulty for the job is to torque the bolt to 230 NM

And now steering is still pretty mushy....