Bushings

[Houm_WA]

I probably won't do that just because the ride feels fine to me. I think the bushings are a little soft but mine have not worn out and I like feeling rocks on the trail. I have about a year left on my extended warranty and about 3 years left on my Mechanical Breakdown insurance through Geico (which acts like a warranty) so if I have problems in that time I will act on it. Until then, I'm not going to take things apart.

 

[squarecircle]

Greetings jjvd21;

Please tell us more about these ARB SHIMS and their immediate benifits.

1. What are they?

2. Where do they fit on the LR3?

3. Where does one buy them?

4. How difficult is the installation?

Thank you in advance >>>>> sq.

 

[jjvd21]

Instructions and additional information can be found on disco3.co.uk: http://www.disco3.co.uk/forum/topic30622.html

 

[jimbiram]

I have had the fronts replace a couple of times in the past, and now recently, the rear, upper and lower. However be advised that if you put it off, it has an effect on the control arms in the rear. I had to have the lower rear control arms replace, as they had worn so badly that the new bushings would just fall through the end, and the extended warranty would not replace because there was evidence of corrosion. That cost an extrat $250 to me. the extended warranty covered the bushings and the labor to install the new control arms. I would not recommend putting it off, as you will probably end up in the same boat.

Changing the rears changed a lot, as the front was wandering a little bit, and now the whole truck feels tight, even though just the rears were replaced.

Funny though, the next day I went offroad with a dealer event just for grins, and near the end heard a lot noise every time the front end hit something. The dealer mechanic looked under the front and found the left front bushing had actually cracked all around, so it is back to the dealer this week.

My advise is not to put off bushings, as they have so much to do with how your truck handles, both on and off road.

 

[Houm_WA]

Jim, my SA just told me that the extended warranty would only cover bushings if it was proven that they were failed....and that a "knock" or other noise is not evidence of failure.

How did you show that they'd failed? Was there a visible problem with them?

 

[dantheman1]

Hmm, y'all have been having some strange extended warranty issues. When I brought my rig in for front-end knock, turned out only the right side lower control arm bushing was worn. Instead of the just changing the bushing, my service rep ordered new right AND left entire lower control arms with new bushings and ball joints, all paid for by my extended warranty. It was about a $1400 job and ext. warranty covered all of it, the ext. warranty inspector guy didn't think twice about it (from what my service guy tells me). Then again, me and my service guy go way back. My family used to buy Jags from them before they even sold and serviced Land Rover and we've always gone to him for servicing. It could be a case of the dealer just not wanting to do the work. Y'all should try going to an independent Land Rover shop and let that shop charge the new parts to the extended warranty, many of them would love to do aftermarket warranty work.

 

[Houm_WA]

Well I don't go way back with my SA.

If one or more of the bushings are worn, they'll fix it against the warranty. What I'm saying is that if it's just a knock and is noisy then that's not enough to invoke the warranty.

Hence the question to ANYONE who has gotten their bushings replaced...was there any visible evidence of them being worn out or failed?

 

[jimbiram]

It is difficult to see some of the bushings, especially the upper ones. I have two of my old bushings in my loaner Hummer (POS!!!) and you can clearly see the chuncking of the rubber inside the bushings and the separation from the inner sleeve. My conclusion is that so much of this is regional in nature and dependent on the Extended Warranty Company, your relationship with the service advisor, and where in the country you live.

The bushings are the weakest part of the LR3 suspension, and if you drive a lot of washboard roads, they will wear out very fast. LR could have used urethane, but they chose hard rubber to make the ride softer, which for most drivers is preferred. The lower bushings can be looked at, but only an experience mechanic can see the upper bushings, and they have to put it on the rack.

Today's adventure is "NEW AXLE". Seems the right front outer axle was broken resulting in a clunking during hard turning. So a new one had to be ordered today. Power was delivered to the axle, but only when hard turning did the axle slip, creating a new knocking sound. So...there is another twist to clunks and thunks.