3 Attachment(s)
Fitting new bushings (Rear ball joints)
Today I made a start on fitting new rear outer bushings (or ball joints according to Land Rover) on my L322.
Sometime back I purchased a spare top and bottom bushing plus a "Laser Rear Suspension Bush Tool 5977"
You will find these for sale online
Now I did think that this tool I purchased did both top and bottom but it only does the bottom so I have also ordered their 5978 tool which will do the top bushing.
The advantage of this tool (or tools) is that I do not need to remove the axle nut, brake disc and backing plate.
To do the bottom bush I did remove the tie-rod and of course the brake caliper complete with bracket but left everything else in place.
Removed the through bolt from bottom bushing, circlip from bushing and fitted the Laser tool (Laser in brand only. Nothing to do with a laser).
Minutes to remove the old bushing and fit the new one from that stage.
Next one will be quicker of course now that I have a plan of action.
Having fitted the new bottom bush the top will be even easier so these tools are really good (in my humble opinion of course)
Will I ever need them again? Probably not so PM me if I can assist a fellow owner.
The tools do for L322 RR Sport and Disco 3 & 4
BTW: there were two stands under the car. Not just the jack
1 Attachment(s)
Top bush replaced in minutes
My new tool from Laser Tools arrived today and 15 minutes later the old top bush was out and the new one in.
Hub, axle, brakes all left in place. Pic attached.
One thing that will be of interest: I removed the seals from both old bushings to get a clear inspection of them. The top one still has good grease in it and was in quite reasonable condition. The bottom one was a different story as the grease or what might have once been grease was unlike any old grease I have ever seen. It was almost "stone" like and when I washed all internals of the bush it was clearly toast with significant wear. Injecting grease as some others have done was never going to fix this. IMO: Replace them!
Which bushings are toast!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
p38arover
The upper ones on mine look OK. I tried injecting grease but it made no difference.
I really need to get it onto a hoist to hunt down the source of the squeak.
Having replaced both bushings on right and left side then removed the rubber seals from old bushings I can say that the bottom bushes were very worn and any grease that may have been in them was completely dried out looking more like sand.
The top bushings still had fairly good grease in them and were not nearly as worn as the bottom but why not replace all?
Having replaced all front ball joints and bushings a few months back I was disappointed that the car still seemed noisy on bumps even on a reasonable road surface.
It is now as quiet as the day that we collected it from the dealer in 2003
OH and it almost goes without saying that there are no squeaks.
Injecting grease will not fix the issue. There is wear!
