Thread: Suspension lifetime

Originally Posted by DiscoJeffster

You don’t need to split the BJ. I did mine at home without that. Simply pushed the arm down enough to get the strut in. I didn’t think twice about it?! Never crossed my mind

You do for changing the arms, which is what Josh was talking about. I’ve got arms and struts for the front.

Originally Posted by Eric SDV6SE

Latest price is 1800 AUD (1000£) delivered from the UK for four off BWI air bag and strut assemblies.

Unless your paying GBP 400.00 in freight costs I'd shop around. Pretty sure Island4x4 was only GBP 150.00 a corner plus freight.

Originally Posted by twr7cx

Pretty sure Island4x4 was only GBP 150.00 a corner plus freight.

Not for the OEM supplier BWI at that price. Pretty sure that’ll be Dunlop or Delphi. Not as good according to quite a few reports I’ve read.

Originally Posted by LRD414

You do for changing the arms, which is what Josh was talking about. I’ve got arms and struts for the front.

A solid upward whack with a mallet on the casting around ball joint taper releases it every time. There’s a right angle to hit it you can see on the Britpart video. Don’t whack the end of the BJ thread it won’t help.

There is another trick though. D3s with the smaller brakes (18” wheels) you *have* to remove the hub nut to push back the shaft enough to create enough room in front of the CV to wiggle the BJ out. Ask me how I know and it’s a major pain to do that after the wheel is off and car is supported. You really need two people and about 5 arms at this point to pull the hub out while pushing the shaft in while angling the LCA down to let the BJ come out.

On the D4 hub with larger brakes (19” wheels) there is enough room to wiggle out the BJ *without* removing the hub nut.

You get two new hub nuts in the AF kits normally so keep them for spares.

Originally Posted by LRD414

Not for the OEM supplier BWI at that price. Pretty sure that’ll be Dunlop or Delphi. Not as good according to quite a few reports I’ve read.

Did you bother to actually check before writing that? I did provide the name of the supplier...


Air Spring Strut Complete Rear D3 05-06 (Delphi) RPD000309 LR038096 Island 4x4 - Specialists in Land Rover and Range Rover Parts and accessories for all models. UK and worldwide mail order.

And just so you know that it's not an anomaly, here is my pricing with Brit-car who specify that the OEM is BWI:



Personally I have consistently found Advanced Factors one of the more expensive part suppliers in the UK once freight is considered and they have a limited range of options, but you do you...

Originally Posted by PerthDisco

A solid upward whack with a mallet on the casting around ball joint taper releases it every time. There’s a right angle to hit it you can see on the Britpart video. Don’t whack the end of the BJ thread it won’t help.

The Britpart video is well worth a watch before taking on this job. Outlines it all nicely.
Personally I found releasing the ball joints to be rather easy - nothing like the Discovery 2 ball joints! My tip is have a pry bar so that you can test when the taper is released - I found that it didn't really move much at all so looked like it was still in but when tested was removable.

Originally Posted by PerthDisco

There is another trick though. D3s with the smaller brakes (18” wheels) you *have* to remove the hub nut to push back the shaft enough to create enough room in front of the CV to wiggle the BJ out.

On the D4 hub with larger brakes (19” wheels) there is enough room to wiggle out the BJ *without* removing the hub nut.

Having just done a set on an MY12 D4 TDV6 with factory 18" wheels I can advise that these do not require the hub nut to be removed. There is sufficient room to get the ball joint out.


For me the hardest part of the job was removal of the bolts in the hydro bush. My bushes were shagged and had no more fluid in them. The bolts were rusted to the bush centre. After the nut and washers were removed they would not push through and had to be cut and head end between the bush and mount. This was time consuming with a reciprocating saw and probably doubled my insulation time.
When refitting I greased the shafts (not the threads) of the bolts with copper grease to hopefully avoid reoccurrence.

Originally Posted by twr7cx

Did you bother to actually check before writing that? I did provide the name of the supplier...


Air Spring Strut Complete Rear D3 05-06 (Delphi) RPD000309 LR038096 Island 4x4 - Specialists in Land Rover and Range Rover Parts and accessories for all models. UK and worldwide mail order.

And just so you know that it's not an anomaly, here is my pricing with Brit-car who specify that the OEM is BWI:



Personally I have consistently found Advanced Factors one of the more expensive part suppliers in the UK, but you do you...

AF do a kit of 4 BWI OEM struts for £630 ex VAT less the discount code. The individual strut price is a lot steeper.

Originally Posted by LRD414

You do for changing the arms, which is what Josh was talking about. I’ve got arms and struts for the front.

As mentioned below, don’t waste your time or money on a ball joint breaker. Some solid belts on the side of the casting works. I did just this when I did my arms. I tried heat initially but it didn’t help and wasn’t needed. You will need a decent steel mallet though.