To Meyle or not to Meyle, that is the question

[Eric SDV6SE]

So as per my other post, the drivers side LCA rear hydrobush has split.

Both front LCAs were replaced some 100,000km ago by LR.

Do I now replace the entire LCA's again and opt for the Meyle HD versions, or do I just replace the rear bushes - also with the Meyle HD version, but leaving the arm and all other bushes untouched.

Price difference excluding freight and install is around 300-400, however the Meyle kits include all bolts nuts and washers....

Would appreciate some advice from the brains trust....

[LRD414]

Not sure I qualify as brains trust but I went for whole arms in your situation so as to [1] also refresh the ball joint and [2] reduce labour compared to bush pressing. Second reason may not be relevant if bush pressing is easy for you.

I’ve found the Meyle bushed arms to be indistinguishable from factory.

Scott

[Tombie]

Opinions on bushing choices aside…

I’d go new arms complete at that mileage.

I’d also order 2 new ball joints and new bushes.
Then I’d refurbish the other arms [emoji3]

You could then keep as a change over / or sell / offer an exchange service [emoji41]

[loanrangie]

No contest, meyle hd bushes.

[DiscoJeffster]

Whole. Arms. Unquestionably

[Eric SDV6SE]

No contest, meyle hd bushes.

The use of Meyle HD bushes is a given as the oem hydrobush are sh#$. The question is do I replace the whole arm assy both sides.

Both options require a wheel align, work I reckon is about the same, both need all arm bolts undone.

Waiting to see the actual freight quote from the usual UK suspects for the final supply cost.

Tbh I am leaning to the full arm option, as this does all bushes and ball joints.....

[loanrangie]

I replaced mine without removing the arms and didn't need an alignment afterwards, just mark the washers before removing the bolts.

[DiscoJeffster]

I replaced mine without removing the arms and didn't need an alignment afterwards, just mark the washers before removing the bolts.

Marked all mine then took for alignment and the mark versus final were different, though not incredibly

[DieselLSE]

... the oem hydrobush are sh#$.
No they are not, Eric. They are engineered for a purpose and are designed as sacrificial items to allow the vehicle to perform magnificently on and off road. My advice is to replace the whole arms with genuine Landrover ones. And do it as soon you start to hear clunking from the front end. Easy to check with a pry bar with one wheel jacked up. If one side needs doing, then the other side will too.
Rear end is a bit more nuanced but should be checked if you do a lot of towing, particularly off-road.

[DiscoJeffster]

No they are not, Eric. They are engineered for a purpose and are designed as sacrificial items to allow the vehicle to perform magnificently on and off road. My advice is to replace the whole arms with genuine Landrover ones. And do it as soon you start to hear clunking from the front end. Easy to check with a pry bar with one wheel jacked up. If one side needs doing, then the other side will too.
Rear end is a bit more nuanced but should be checked if you do a lot of towing, particularly off-road.

I tend to agree. I think they serve a purpose and work well.

[Tombie]

I’d agree with that 100%.

A 100,000km on a bush is good for any off-road vehicle.

The amount of articulation in these arms at the hydra bush is significant. On corrugations and fast dirt the hydra bush cannot be beaten for isolation of NVH. Nothing solid can match it.

[Eric SDV6SE]

EOK, so perhaps I was too harsh, the hydrobush set up IS great for these cars, especially considering NVH and the degree of articulation from the independent suspension.

Thinking about it some more, the current arms, including top and front bushes, plus the ball joint have also done 100,000km since last replacement, and I agree that’s good going for a 3t 4WD. So will most likely change out both arms complete with the Meyle HD bushes. Might also try the Meyle HD front sway bar tie rods, the originals have done 213,000kms.

I’ve been pretty happy with the Superpro rear adjustable sway bar links, wish they’d make similar for the front sway bar, have not seen any to date. Meyle are the only HD units I’ve seen, thicker rods over oem.

will check the rear upper and lower arms with a pry bar as suggested, have not had any issues with those as yet.

thanks for the comments so far.

Eric

[101RRS]

My control arms front, and I think the back, have been rattling for a while but have not been too bad. Checked my tyre pressures on the weekend and all were down to 19psi [bigsad] so I pumped them up to 40psi.

While the LCAs were not too bad at 19psi, at 40 psi what a difference - they are really, really, really bad now - the tyres must have been absorbing a bit of the shock in the suspension system.

I always had Meyle on my list as they seem to be the best compromise between the good ride of the originals to the harsh ride of poly bushes.

I am not going to do these myself, so I enquired locally and no one can just replace the bushes but I know it can be done if they had the right gear - so just how hard it is to just replace the bushes or should I just go and get the arms etc.

This time around with 200,000km I will just get the front LCAs done, the front ball joints and the steering tie rods and get a report on the rest.

Open to any other thoughts.

Garry

[josh.huber]

Im at 270k and 1 of my rear arms has done a Bush, I ordered the whole lot to do, all bushes in the rear and front. I just went with OEM for the bush. No upgrades but not bear Mach etc.

I use lemforder in my front LCA and normally get a good 80k out of them

[Bulletman]

I have rebushed a set of arms and unless you have a very good set up press or the Bush removal tool to do it in situ then they are a pain to do. Very easy to bend or more distort the arm as they are not that simple to align up due to the size / length of them.
Its doable but it's not as straight forward as some will think using a standard type press.

Just my observation on having done it with the ar.s off the vehicle
Bulletman

[loanrangie]

My control arms front, and I think the back, have been rattling for a while but have not been too bad. Checked my tyre pressures on the weekend and all were down to 19psi [bigsad] so I pumped them up to 40psi.

While the LCAs were not too bad at 19psi, at 40 psi what a difference - they are really, really, really bad now - the tyres must have been absorbing a bit of the shock in the suspension system.

I always had Meyle on my list as they seem to be the best compromise between the good ride of the originals to the harsh ride of poly bushes.

I am not going to do these myself, so I enquired locally and no one can just replace the bushes but I know it can be done if they had the right gear - so just how hard it is to just replace the bushes or should I just go and get the arms etc.

This time around with 200,000km I will just get the front LCAs done, the front ball joints and the steering tie rods and get a report on the rest.

Open to any other thoughts.

Garry


Not an easy job by any stretch but with the right tools its doable at home. You'll need some bush dies and something like a large bearing puller plate as there isn't much metal on the arms to get a grip of.

[101RRS]

Not an easy job by any stretch but with the right tools its doable at home. You'll need some bush dies and something like a large bearing puller plate as there isn't much metal on the arms to get a grip of.

Yes that is my understanding but I am not going to do them myself - but i was surprised that when I asked the local "professionals" they said they could not do them either - maybe it is they just want the easier route of replacing the entire arms rather than just the bushes.

Cheers