Thread: D2 front shockers - replacing bushings after 340,000 km's

I'd use whatever I can get for the shock bushes.

Any irregularities in the steering? wobbles at certain speeds, or pulling one way or the other?

Cause of uneven tyre wear could be under-inflation, ball joints or wheel alignment.
Worn leading arm bushes can also affect tyre wear.

but all of those would affect steering in some way.

Originally Posted by Campaspe Man

My '99 D2 Td5 is now a little over 340,000 kms. At a recent tyre change I was told that the lower bushings on the front shockers are cracked and need replacing. The funny thing is that a week or so prior, I (probably stupidly) switched the front shockers from my donor vehicle that has (only) done something over 200,000 kms (after feeling certain something was awry with my front shockers).

Anyway, it seems like both sets of front shockers are original and don't appear to have any oil leaks... and they seem to take a reasonable amount of effort to re-stretch after compression.

So, my questions are:
1/ is it crazy to stick with the original shockers at this stage, and just replace the lower bushings?
2/ If not crazy, any advice whether using the Land Rover bushings (about $72 each) is a must, or are the 'generics' (at about $27 ea) ok to use?

An add-on question concerns some uneven tread wear on the inside (front tyres). Could this be due to the bushings being worn, or is it more likely a toe-in adjustment issue?

Thanks as always for any advice.

Myles

My thoughts are, if the shocks are still working then there isn't any problem in using them until they don't.

In terms of genuine or generic bushes, well you know that genuine always work and work properly in every respect. You also know that you will put another 200-300,000km on them. Some shock bushes slide all over the place on the T-bar, others flog out really quickly in the mud.

These days where possible I'm doing everything to buy either genuine, the OEM and as a last resort aftermarket - unless it is a known upgrade part compared to OE.

The treadwear will be toe, however there are a few things that can cause that such as parts wear. They alignment adjustment doesn't tend to just slowly go out - it is whats set, but ball joints, King pin bearings, wheel bearings all wear. I find my Disco2 is abnormally easy on tyres and it doesn't get babied around.

My defender has 180k, and I've been through the original shocks which are probably still quite good, and three sets of bilsteins and replacement bushes. I'm now on a set of Koni Raids.. they seem to be still going ok but I suspect the bushes might need replacement at the rear.

So I'm pretty impressed by how long you've got out of yours!

Originally Posted by Captain_Rightfoot

My defender has 180k, and I've been through the original shocks which are probably still quite good, and three sets of bilsteins and replacement bushes. I'm now on a set of Koni Raids.. they seem to be still going ok but I suspect the bushes might need replacement at the rear.

So I'm pretty impressed by how long you've got out of yours!

I'm impressed by how quickly you destroy yours. What happened to the Bilsteins? Mine have been in since 2004 and are still going.

Thanks very much for the advice Arthur and Slunnie.

Believe it or not, I replaced the upper and lower ball joints a couple of years ago, and they still seem to be fine (they'd better be, as doing those again would be more than a pain).

I'm obviously going to have to try to look much more closely at all the bushes and the like for wear.

One observation this evening is that I can twist/rotate the drag link pretty easily just by holding the bar in my hand. Does this seem right? I can't see any splits in the rubber, but there is definitely plenty of up and down movement. I did the same movement on the 2004 D2, and I could move it, but less. I then tried the donor D2, and no movement at all! (But it is on chocks at the front, under the Watts links - I can't see how that would make a difference, but what would I know).

Thoughts??

So, on my last trip down the freeway to the big smoke, I did notice some vibrations which I've never had before. I also felt like the front rocked side to side when stopping at traffic lights... this got me thinking about the shockers.

The other thing I noticed a few weeks ago was that my steering wheel is slightly to the left when driving at speed. I thought that's strange, maybe I've just never noticed! Now I'm wondering if it is another sign of defunctness somewhere?

As for getting a wheel alignment done, any advice? My local tyre shop is unenthusiastic.

Thanks again,
Myles

Originally Posted by Captain_Rightfoot

My defender has 180k, and I've been through the original shocks which are probably still quite good, and three sets of bilsteins and replacement bushes. I'm now on a set of Koni Raids.. they seem to be still going ok but I suspect the bushes might need replacement at the rear.

So I'm pretty impressed by how long you've got out of yours!

Well, I think they are original...

Originally Posted by Slunnie

I'm impressed by how quickly you destroy yours. What happened to the Bilsteins? Mine have been in since 2004 and are still going.

I don't really drive around town so whenever they get used it's hard going. In fairness though they were only the cheap bilesteins. They just stop working after a trip or two. They probably only do a couple of hard trips and after that they are probably ok when the car is empty but they just can't control the car loaded up on rough terrain..

They also do really good shocks? B60? I'm sure they would be good.

The Koni Raids were several times more expensive but replacing cheap bilsteins every few trips was expensive too. So far the konis have done 4 desert trips and nearly a month or so on fraser and still going good.

I found out after I bought the konis that the people who run Beadell tours rate the konis. I can find that up for you if you want.