D3 Control arm bushings liquid filled?

Gary my symptoms have been rattling (a little), uneven tyre wear (a little) and dodgy handling. The bush that goes is the rear lower bush as it cushions pretty much all impacts. Easy to test if you are inclined - jack the wheel up and shove a crowbar in and see how much fore - aft movement the arm has. A good arm will have none and worn bushes will let the arm move in and out (ie lower rear will move up to 1cm and and out from the body).

The state of my most recent ones is very sad (considering they've only done 50000km). I have the arms laying around at the moment and could take some pics of the amount of movement in the bushes if anyone is interested.

Poly bushes are a mixed bag but my advice from several sources was to stay away for comfort reasons and because they require lubrication and are not well suited to off road use.

A good way to check if they are shot, drive along and brake then release, a few times, you should get a clunk every time you brake.

My whole arm were replaced, my mechanic said they do this because there are worries they could bend the arm pressing the bushes out and don't want to risk it, it's the top knuckle that is the problem, not the 2 lower bushes.

I have my old arms at home and I'm going to test this theory and get some bushes pressed in, if it works I have some spares for next time, if not, I still have spare bushes;)

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Has anyone tried polyurethane bushes? SuperPro Solution for
Land Rover Discovery Series 3


Some info here about the lower
control arms: http://www.aulro.com/afvb/d3-d4-rrs/...nt-issues.html

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Looking at their warranty of 60,000ks, that's not all that good, considering my OEM bushes started to go at about 70,000ks.

EDIT; The D3 and D4 arms are different also, there is a slight change in the design, when I had mine done, there was another pair going on a D3, my mechanic showed us the slight diference.

Baz.

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Originally Posted by Drizzle

Mine have lasted 70,000km.

Has anyone tried polyurethane bushes? SuperPro Solution for Land Rover Discovery Series 3

Some info here about the lower control arms: http://www.aulro.com/afvb/d3-d4-rrs/...nt-issues.html

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I had the superpro bush installed (at 55,000k's) definitely significantly quitter than with the old knackered bushes.


In terms of ride they seem similar during most driving but possibly a little harsher on very rough roads.


The reason I decided to try the superpro bushes was that I didn't want to have to repeat the process in another 50,000k's. It was similar cost to either replace the whole control arms or pay for the extra labour to remove the old bushes. One of my bushes ended up getting stuck while being pressed out and had to be cut out.


I now have had 10,000ks on the new bushes and I don't feel they are significantly different. Would be interesting to compare with a Disco with the original bushes.

I have just started to notice a clunk when I go over speed humps. Mine is MY12 with 42k's.

Is this a warranty claim?

Luke

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Originally Posted by lpj

I have just started to notice a clunk when I go over speed humps. Mine is MY12 with 42k's.

Is this a warranty claim?

Luke

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Can't hurt to ask;) besides mine started to go at around 70,000ks and I have a bullbar, rear bar, sliders, Long Range Tank, drawers, roof rack, I also do a lot of offroad and towing, so I'd say yes

Baz.

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Originally Posted by Redback

Can't hurt to ask;)

Baz.

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I'll see how I go and report back. This weekend will be the first chance we have had to get off road- going to VHC.

Apart from that, its had a very easy life!

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Originally Posted by lpj

I'll see how I go and report back. This weekend will be the first chance we have had to get off road- going to VHC.

Apart from that, its had a very easy life!

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If that's the case then I'd say yes definately, should last longer than 40,000ks with only on road work, off road and sand is the biggest killer of these bushes.

Baz.

Mine went at 67,000km, and priced up bushes v whole arms,
Whole arms won out taking into account extra labour to press out / in
New bushes. Done a fair bit of off-roading so wasn't devo'd
When they came round. Don't have to worry about fatigue with the new arms either, piece of mind.

Just had my two lower control arms replaced yesterday, at... 80,000km. That includes hydrobush (at chassis end) and ball joints (at wheel end of arm). I've been told they replace the whole arm as it is cheaper - as labour to replace all ball joints and bushes is expensive. Replacement and wheel alignment after was covered by warranty.

With all the recent posts about battery charging and dead batteries, there must also be some LR empathy going on! My cranking battery seems to be on last legs! Tried to start it this morning at it turned over at about half normal speed and sounded like it was injecting every other cycle, followed by hazaard lights flashing on dash, as well as low range being lit up. It is now on charge - with aux battery disconnected - but not holding much hope.

Cheers,
Rob

Oh - and for the record, as well as the metallic clunk when hitting the brakes (from the worn hydrobush), I was also getting a different clunk when going into driveways (from worn ball joints). There was also a slight vagueness to the steering and ride was a little harsher than normal.