Shaking and clunking

[roverman]

Ouch well that’s not very encouraging! but thanks for letting me know what I’m in for.

 

[ryanjl]

Since yours are still new, you can try to grease the ball joints. My problem is that I didn't realize they were undergreased from the factory until they had worn some.

 

[roverman]

I actually never even considered the ball joints. I thought the rubber bushings were the only issue, Guess I didn't pay enough attention. Anyway, I appreciate the heads up!

 

[greiswig]

Are the ball joints greaseable, at least?

I'm going to answer my own question here: It looks like there aren't any greaseable ball joints made for these suspensions.

Here is a good writeup on how to inject some grease into the joints without piercing the boot, though.

 

[Kevin Mokobi]

Lower and upper control arm bushes - also take a look at your sway bar bushes

 

[JKJK]

I had the same experience with my 2012 LR4 last year. Car had about 130k miles at the time.

My control arms had been replaced several times and were in good shape.

The violent shake only occurred at highway speeds and at first was less severe under very hard braking.

I replaced the rotors and pads but the problem persisted.

Checked all bushings and hubs again but they were good

The issue was coming from the front as you could feel the shake.

Noticed that one front caliper piston was a little less smooth when compressing it. Replaced that caliper and finally issued resolved for now.

So could be a few things as other have said. Control arms are the first check, next the rotors. If all else fails make sure to inspect the calipers thoroughly.

 

[gsxr]

I bought [Lucky 8 control arms] once. Ball joints went out at right around a year, making a horrible squeaking sound and clunk over any little bump. Looked like there was hardly any grease in them from the factory. Called Lucky 8 and was told there was nothing they would do about it. Swapped those out for some from AB.

This is why you never shop based on price, even from an otherwise reputable vendor. Nobody is selling top-quality stuff dirt cheap. If the vendor doesn't list the brand name of the parts, that's almost a guarantee they are junk.

Thanks for sharing this data, Ryan, it's exactly what I expected, although I was hoping for a better result.

 

[ryanjl]

I was hesitant, but the Lucky8 guy on the phone told me they had been running them for over 100k miles. That, and they are the only control arm Lucky8 sells--it wasn't like I went with their cheaper option--so I figured they must be okay if that's all Lucky8 carries.

They probably would have been okay had I greased them before they were installed, but that just wasn't something I thought I needed to do on a new, "sealed" unit.