Lower control arm bushes/Arms

[walahbro]

Took the D4 in for 90k service. Mechanic quoted $800 to replace bushes with OEM hydrobushes in lower control arms - as it is labour intensive.
I had a read on the forum, ended up order a set of Lower Control arms from Advance Factors (AF) in the UK.

After a few emails back and forth with Paul Redding - Parts manager at AF, they have a number of options with regards to LCA setups (different bushes OEM hyrdobush, Meyle solid rubber, Urethane).
He replied promptly. Below is a quick run down.

Kit600 is polyurethane bushed arms, they will last the longest, some say they are a little harsher ride.
Kit630 is our most popular kit and many owners in AUS are running these and love them, they are MEYLE HD, which removes the original rear hydro bush and replaces it with a solid bush thus overcoming the originals issues.


Both kits above come with a 4 year warranty!
I went with KIT630, slightly cheaper than the urethane + Mechanic told me urethanes will get noisy (squeaky) and drive you nuts.
Cost approx $408 (with 7.5% discount for orders over $350GBP) + Shipping ($280) DHL express arrives in 5 days.

Added on front and rear brake pads, brake pad sensors, Mahle service filter kit to make the shipping worth while.

Paul was happy for me to share his discount structure with the rest of the AULRO members.
See below...
New Online Discount Code: AF4LRP, our way of remembering this is: Advanced Factors 4 Land Rover Parts.
The new discount code is there to enhance your deal and remove small value discounts that don’t really inspire. We now have a 10% discount for orders over £600, 7.5% for £350-£600 and the previous 5% orders for £100-£350. We have dropped the discount for orders below £100 although the old discount code will continue to work until a point next year when we believe everyone has switched. I hope you agree this is a nice deal, especially if you have a few jobs to do.

I hope this helps others out...great customer service..

Let you know how the car feels once the arms arrive...

[NavyDiver]

I think you may like/need to add wheel alignment after replacement as well.

[walahbro]

Just an update, I've had a couple of pm's requesting a follow up post.

I've had the control arms on for a little while now, they are very comfortable, steering feels sharper (comparing to standard bushes). They arent producing any unwanted noise or excessive vibration.
Very happy with them so far.

[Pippin]

Just an update, I've had a couple of pm's requesting a follow up post.

I've had the control arms on for a little while now, they are very comfortable, steering feels sharper (comparing to standard bushes). They arent producing any unwanted noise or excessive vibration.
Very happy with them so far. Mine (Kit630) will arrive this week. I'm pleased to hear you are happy with them.
Nick

[Eric SDV6SE]

Interesting. I do like their meyle bushed kits.

Has anyone had issues with the rear LCA's? The fronts were replaced at 120,000 km and now appear to need doing again, however the noise is not the same as when the lower rear Bush is worn. This leads me to suspect either front uppers or rear lowers. Will also check sway bars again as these have poly in them now.

Now at 186 000 km its feeling like a general looseness in the suspension. No clunk under braking or acceleration. Rattles on corrugations.

Any thoughts?

[twr7cx]

Isn't the whole purpose and reason for the hydro bush due to the large range of motion of the lower control arms with the air suspensions varying ride heights where solid rubber or urethane (which SuperPro locally offers) would suit such an application.

[PerthDisco]

Isn't the whole purpose and reason for the hydro bush due to the large range of motion of the lower control arms with the air suspensions varying ride heights where solid rubber or urethane (which SuperPro locally offers) would suit such an application.

My question also but everyone likes them. Maybe a slight trade off of toughness over ultimate smoothness.

Quote
You will notice a difference as you are replacing new with old, but you won’t notice it over new to new no.


Best regards

Paul Redding
Land Rover Parts Sales Manager
AF
Unquote

[PerthDisco]

Mine (Kit630) will arrive this week. I'm pleased to hear you are happy with them.
Nick

Mine on the way too now - next project!

Out of interest do any instructions come with the kit?

I’m working on basis that even though hub nuts are provided it can be done without undoing these? (MY08)

[Pippin]

Mine on the way too now - next project!You won't be disappointed the ride is great on mine so far. Nick

[loanrangie]

Isn't the whole purpose and reason for the hydro bush due to the large range of motion of the lower control arms with the air suspensions varying ride heights where solid rubber or urethane (which SuperPro locally offers) would suit such an application.If you look at the construction of them the only difference is they are hollow and fliud filled , the first sign of a split and they leak which accelerates the failure.
They are rubber bonded to steel shells like 99% of the bushes.
Vast improvement over the old worn ones.

[loanrangie]

Mine on the way too now - next project!

Out of interest do any instructions come with the kit?

I’m working on basis that even though hub nuts are provided it can be done without undoing these? (MY08)I have read that you need to remove the but so the stub can slide out a bit so the ball joint can come out.

[PerthDisco]

I have read that you need to remove the but so the stub can slide out a bit so the ball joint can come out.

I think it’s about getting the right angle to get it out rather than a model year issue. I believe you’ll be ok if going on hoist but limited in wiggling the ball joint end out of doing jacked off the ground

[PerthDisco]

Confirming this is correct summary?


https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190318/d233e7efe770c86e85005485f37cdea3.jpg

Does anyone in WA want my old Lemforder LCAs to rebush?

Edit: the Britpart video confirms these torque values.

[Eric SDV6SE]

I can't confirm the torque settings, but I'm led to believe that final torque should be done AFTER the wheel alignment is done and with the car in normal ride height. Not sure of the practicality of doing that, so perhaps the way you propose works as well.

Is the measurement to the inside of the guard lip, or another fixed point? There seems to be a bit of variability in the guard fit up.

[PerthDisco]

I can't confirm the torque settings, but I'm led to believe that final torque should be done AFTER the wheel alignment is done and with the car in normal ride height. Not sure of the practicality of doing that, so perhaps the way you propose works as well.

Is the measurement to the inside of the guard lip, or another fixed point? There seems to be a bit of variability in the guard fit up.

I would measure before anyway before lifting on hoist for the loaded clearance to confirm approx 462mm. The chosen gap can be any two points in reality but advantage of this is that don’t require wheel to be on using a jack to raise the hub while on hoist.

The wheel alignment only concerns the rear 275Nm bolts through the bushes which must be done up at the normal ride height. You gotta do them up close to the right cam setting in order to get to the alignment shop.

The other nuts are not touched in the alignment so you have to torque them anyway so may as well do all at right setting.

[PerthDisco]

Ok so changed the front Lower Arms as a job today as well as changed the diff and TB box oils (mentioned elsewhere).

As a first timer finished everything in the day with a few cups of tea and some pondering. Triple checking diff oil quantities and making sure it all gets in is probably equally as time consuming.

Did the job on the two post hoist at local Men’s Shed which made things easy.

Only problem now is even though I tried to put the alignment setting back close the car is now throwing a bunch of dash light faults / HDC / Special Programmes / lowered etc. within 500m of driving so I guess that is just way out alignment and please tell me I’ve broken nothing else? Its steering about 45 degrees off centre to go straight! It’s goes in tomorrow morning for a proper alignment so I hope ok to limp it 20km there?

Some amateur learnings to share;

I used spray can paint markings on the cams but a proper marker pen like in the Britpart video would be so much better. I thought it would be easy to find one but I was wrong.

Sprayed CRC on all bolts a few days ago and every nut released easily. Back bushing bolts were slightly rusted and slightly stubborn to remove but nothing bad (compared to UK).

The Meyle HD kit from Advanced Factors fitted perfectly.

My MY08 definitely cannot release the ball joint taper to free the LCA without releasing the hub nut and pulling the hub out from the drive shaft creating enough clearance to lift the arm. This I found out the painful way with everything released so had to partially reassemble the LCA and break the hub nut in the air using long bar to hold hub from turning!!!!!! [emoji22]. With this done it releases and the new one fits easily. Repeat on other side.

(I think the difference might be the 19” wheel cars have a different hub design for the bigger brakes.)

Next, the Meyle kit comes with nuts that have had the end crushed slightly to create a nylock effect. These have quite a bit of resistance when tightening and spun the ball joint taper on refitting. The trick of lightly loading the taper by jacking up the hub up worked a treat to wind on this nut.

Torquing to proper spec the inner bolts through the bushes is an impossibility. No access for a socket.

Why the lower strut bolt is 300Nm is a mystery to me.

The car was hoisted in locked Access Height but in lifting the hub to the correct ride height to set bolt torque it worked on one side but the other side wanted to lift the car off the hoist within 80mm of the correct height. Ended up lowering to ground on ramps to get the height right on this side with much less pleasant access to the bolts.

Now I have the used but genuine LR LCAs if anyone in WA wants them for rebushing??

[BradC]

c
Did the job on the two post hoist at local Men’s Shed which made things easy.

Now I have the used but genuine LR LCAs if anyone in WA wants them for rebushing??

Mine are only about 30,000km old otherwise I'd be in that like a rat up a drainpipe. I want to know which men's shed I can join that has a hoist!

[PerthDisco]

Clue - it also has an bee hive section so I’ve now got 3 bee stings for my troubles to face and arms since today was the day they check the honey and get them excited.

Can anyone tell me how I will go limping to wheel alignment shop tomorrow with the dashboard of faults I’ve now got? Don’t have much choice.

[Eric SDV6SE]

Ok so changed the front Lower Arms as a job today as well as changed the diff and TB box oils (mentioned elsewhere).

As a first timer finished everything in the day with a few cups of tea and some pondering. Triple checking diff oil quantities and making sure it all gets in is probably equally as time consuming.

Did the job on the two post hoist at local Men’s Shed which made things easy.

Only problem now is even though I tried to put the alignment setting back close the car is now throwing a bunch of dash light faults / HDC / Special Programmes / lowered etc. within 500m of driving so I guess that is just way out alignment and please tell me I’ve broken nothing else? Its steering about 45 degrees off centre to go straight! It’s goes in tomorrow morning for a proper alignment so I hope ok to limp it 20km there?

Some amateur learnings to share;

I used spray can paint markings on the cams but a proper marker pen like in the Britpart video would be so much better. I thought it would be easy to find one but I was wrong.

Sprayed CRC on all bolts a few days ago and every nut released easily. Back bushing bolts were slightly rusted and slightly stubborn to remove but nothing bad (compared to UK).

The Meyle HD kit from Advanced Factors fitted perfectly.

My MY08 definitely cannot release the ball joint taper to free the LCA without releasing the hub nut and pulling the hub out from the drive shaft creating enough clearance to lift the arm. This I found out the painful way with everything released so had to partially reassemble the LCA and break the hub nut in the air using long bar to hold hub from turning!!!!!! [emoji22]. With this done it releases and the new one fits easily. Repeat on other side.

(I think the difference might be the 19” wheel cars have a different hub design for the bigger brakes.)

Next, the Meyle kit comes with nuts that have had the end crushed slightly to create a nylock effect. These have quite a bit of resistance when tightening and spun the ball joint taper on refitting. The trick of lightly loading the taper by jacking up the hub up worked a treat to wind on this nut.

Torquing to proper spec the inner bolts through the bushes is an impossibility. No access for a socket.

Why the lower strut bolt is 300Nm is a mystery to me.

The car was hoisted in locked Access Height but in lifting the hub to the correct ride height to set bolt torque it worked on one side but the other side wanted to lift the car off the hoist within 80mm of the correct height. Ended up lowering to ground on ramps to get the height right on this side with much less pleasant access to the bolts.

Now I have the used but genuine LR LCAs if anyone in WA wants them for rebushing??

Thanks for the effort of putting all your experiences here. Did you notice any wear in the upper arms, ball joints or strut bushes? My front LCAs were replaced with factory units at 120,000km, not too bad, but now, 67000km later LRA tells me thst they're gone again. Don't know why the first lot lasted twice as long as the second set. Plus j reckon it's akso the uppers plus wear in the strut bushes.im thinking about replacing all CA's at once.

[letherm]

Clue - it also has an bee hive section so I’ve now got 3 bee stings for my troubles to face and arms since today was the day they check the honey and get them excited.

Can anyone tell me how I will go limping to wheel alignment shop tomorrow with the dashboard of faults I’ve now got? Don’t have much choice.

Can you try your insurance company for a tow to the workshop. The car is disabled so to speak so they may cover the cost. NRMA in NSW have a distance which they pay for towing.

Don't know if you don't ask. [bigsmile1]

Martin

[PerthDisco]

Final Update -
Drove carefully to alignment shop no problems in lowered mode with dash lit up with all sorts of errors. Other than it performed normally.

At least it gave things a chance to settle in a bit before alignment.

Wheel alignment done and steering wheel set back to centre position and now everything is back to perfect. Alarms all gone. So much for getting it close - alignment was miles out they said.

They also set the correct torque on the bolts for me as my wrench was max 210Nm.

Now the car sounds and feels tight and new again with a pleasing dull thud from front end rather than annoying clunks. Everything else sounds and feels right.

Couldn’t be happier with the Meyle HD feel.

Previous genuine LR LCAs had done 110,000km but I reckon had been stuffed for a while till they got real bad noise wise this year. I had been carefully watching front tyre wear but nothing bad was going on fortunately so maybe they can get a lot worse.


Good outcome.

[Pippin]

Ok so changed the front Lower Arms as a job today as well as changed the diff and TB box oils (mentioned elsewhere).

As a first timer finished everything in the day with a few cups of tea and some pondering. Triple checking diff oil quantities and making sure it all gets in is probably equally as time consuming.

Did the job on the two post hoist at local Men’s Shed which made things easy.

Only problem now is even though I tried to put the alignment setting back close the car is now throwing a bunch of dash light faults / HDC / Special Programmes / lowered etc. within 500m of driving so I guess that is just way out alignment and please tell me I’ve broken nothing else? Its steering about 45 degrees off centre to go straight! It’s goes in tomorrow morning for a proper alignment so I hope ok to limp it 20km there?

Some amateur learnings to share;

I used spray can paint markings on the cams but a proper marker pen like in the Britpart video would be so much better. I thought it would be easy to find one but I was wrong.

Sprayed CRC on all bolts a few days ago and every nut released easily. Back bushing bolts were slightly rusted and slightly stubborn to remove but nothing bad (compared to UK).

The Meyle HD kit from Advanced Factors fitted perfectly.

My MY08 definitely cannot release the ball joint taper to free the LCA without releasing the hub nut and pulling the hub out from the drive shaft creating enough clearance to lift the arm. This I found out the painful way with everything released so had to partially reassemble the LCA and break the hub nut in the air using long bar to hold hub from turning!!!!!! [emoji22]. With this done it releases and the new one fits easily. Repeat on other side.

(I think the difference might be the 19” wheel cars have a different hub design for the bigger brakes.)

Next, the Meyle kit comes with nuts that have had the end crushed slightly to create a nylock effect. These have quite a bit of resistance when tightening and spun the ball joint taper on refitting. The trick of lightly loading the taper by jacking up the hub up worked a treat to wind on this nut.

Torquing to proper spec the inner bolts through the bushes is an impossibility. No access for a socket.

Why the lower strut bolt is 300Nm is a mystery to me.

The car was hoisted in locked Access Height but in lifting the hub to the correct ride height to set bolt torque it worked on one side but the other side wanted to lift the car off the hoist within 80mm of the correct height. Ended up lowering to ground on ramps to get the height right on this side with much less pleasant access to the bolts.

Now I have the used but genuine LR LCAs if anyone in WA wants them for rebushing??Something doesn't sound right. Having put on Meyle LCA's recently I got it fairly close despite a lot of difficulty with the rear bolts and had no problems driving to the alignment shop. I would put it back on the hoist and loosen the front and rear bolts at normal ride height and check that they are seated correctly and retighten and see if that is better. Nick

[PerthDisco]

Something doesn't sound right. Having put on Meyle LCA's recently I got it fairly close despite a lot of difficulty with the rear bolts and had no problems driving to the alignment shop. I would put it back on the hoist and loosen the front and rear bolts at normal ride height and check that they are seated correctly and retighten and see if that is better. Nick

Thanks. All fixed now. My strong advice is to have the right colour marker pen in hand to make neat index markings to both old cam bolts and (black) chassis you can transfer to new bolts. That will be a lot more reliable than spray paint markings I used that blur in the assembly process. The one thing I didn’t allow for.

[loanrangie]

I use a texta to mark 3 lines on each washer and corresponding mount, did them up at normal height once lowered back onto the wheels.
I reckon the alignment is within 0.5% which will do for now as i think my tierods need replacing.

[ddeveny]

Hi I have 2008 TDV6 d3.

277K, needs new LCAs. went to my normal tyres guy and asked if he could fit [I am not a great mechanic] and he said he couldn't because there was reprogramming needed as part of the process.

This sounded strange given the ride height sensor is a separate unit.

Is he wrong? After reading a few posts here I am thinking I might have a go at it myself.

any tiops would be appreciated.

DD

[loanrangie]

You need an alignment afterwards and ideally should put the vehicle into tight tolerance mode but can still be done without it.

[Eric SDV6SE]

Hi I have 2008 TDV6 d3.

277K, needs new LCAs. went to my normal tyres guy and asked if he could fit [I am not a great mechanic] and he said he couldn't because there was reprogramming needed as part of the process.

This sounded strange given the ride height sensor is a separate unit.

Is he wrong? After reading a few posts here I am thinking I might have a go at it myself.

any tiops would be appreciated.

DD

If you haven't done any of the arms since new, my guess would be that both front and rear upper and lower bushes are all torn. I'm at 217000km in my D4 MY11 and I have this scenario now. I have replaced both upper and lower fronts, including sway bar links and the rear uppers. Rear lowers still to do once I order the arms.

Easy enough DIY, you just need a torque wrench that can go to 300Nm for the lower suspension bolts.

I also think that the D3s needed to remove the steering knuckle to get the lower ball joint out,others on here with more experience on the D3 will confirm

No reprogramming needed, just a wheel alignment afterwards as the lower arms are on eccentric bolts and the upper rear knuckle controls the rear camber. No need to touch suspension height sensors at all.

[PerthDisco]

I also think that the D3s needed to remove the steering knuckle to get the lower ball joint out,others on here with more experience on the D3 will confirm.

No but you do need to release the driveshaft nut and swing the hub out while pushing the shaft in in order to gain clearance to manipulate the ball joint out of its home.

I think it’s related to the smaller front disc and brakes which affects the hub design.

[Eric SDV6SE]

No but you do need to release the driveshaft nut and swing the hub out while pushing the shaft in in order to gain clearance to manipulate the ball joint out of its home.

I think it’s related to the smaller front disc and brakes which affects the hub design.

Yep, makes sense now. Cheers.

[Grant Iddon]

Can anyone advise the rough time it takes to remove and fit new LCA?
Assuming a competent qualified mechanic in a good workshop.
thanks again

[PerthDisco]

[emoji638][emoji640][emoji639][emoji[emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]][emoji640][emoji6[emoji640][emoji637]]][emoji[emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]][emoji640][emoji6[emoji640][emoji637]]][emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]]]Can anyone advise the rough time it takes to remove and fit new LCA?
Assuming a competent qualified mechanic in a good workshop.
thanks again

[emoji639]-[emoji640] hours plus wheel alignment after.

Faster on later models as you don’t need to remove the drive shaft nut to clear the ball joint out of the hub.