The project today was to replace the front Anti Roll Bar rubber bushes, which, having completed 116000 miles were ready for swapping. They've not done too badly - the knocking was only on the roughest of surfaces, and there were no spacers fitted.
It's worth also taking a look at Disco_Mikey's guide on fitting the rubber spacers under the old style of ARB bush - an option I considered but decided to fit the new improved bushes in the end. The more you can read up about this kind of job before starting it, the better!
I raised the front of the Disco with ramps which gave enough room to work (with the suspension in off road height) , and there was no need to remove the wheels. As long as both front wheels are level there will be no torsion on the anti roll bar, so you can remove the bush brackets with no problems.
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Starting on the drivers side bracket (RHD vehicle), firstly the fuel cooler bolt needs to be removed allowing the cooler to be moved out of the way (see Mikey's thread for more info). This will allow you to get an 18mm socket onto the top nut, which is quite tightly done up (especially on my 05MY). Don't be tempted to leave the fuel cooler in place as you'll most likely damage it due to the lack of space - it's only held in place by a 10mm bolt, but access is a bit tricky and a ratchet spanner definitely helps.
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To get the ARB bracket nuts released initally I used a 1/2" breaker bar with 1/2 to 3/8 adapter, short 3/8 extension and 3/8 18mm socket. That gave enough leverage, which a 3/8 ratchet drive didn't.
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To highlight how tight the nuts are done up I actually snapped the 'male' end off my Halfords Pro 3/8" short extension trying to get one undone, and had to regrind the end to give me another 3/8 square section to fit in the back of the 18m socket!
With both nuts removed.......
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the metal bracket can be levered off using a screw driver, leaving just the rubber bush attached to the ARB....
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The orange clamp on the ARB wasn't necessary - I was just using it to make removing the clamp easier, thinking there was some tension on the bar, but there wasn't.
The old rubber bush is easy to remove by hand....
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Comparing the old and new designs you can see the later bush is thicker at the base, so hopefully good for at least another 116000 miles
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New bush placed on the ARB......
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and bracket pushed onto it......
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As the new rubber bush is a bit wider than the bracket, I used some washing up liquid to make it easier to fit on. Get 1 nut on by a few threads, then push the bracket onto the other stud and fit the 2nd nut (easier said than done, but OK with a bit of swearing and perseverance )
Both nuts on and tightened to 115Nm / 85lb-ft.....
Click image to enlarge
And now you need a cuppa, or beer, before attempting the other side which is a complete ba$t@rd (but don't let that put you off!)
So, for the nearside ARB bracket you need to remove a cross member that sits under the front diff. The bolts are 15mm - 3 as shown and 1 more at the other end of the cross member. These are also quite tight to undo, so the breaker bar and 1/2 to 3/8" adapter are required again.
Click image to enlarge
With the cross member out the way, you've got better access to the top nut, which will make you eff and blind big time! Land Rover in their wisdom managed to design about 15mm of clearance between the top stud and front diff bracket, so getting a socket, extension bar and drive onto it is very difficult. This is where I managed to snap the male end off my 3/8" short extension, hence the need to regrind the square back onto it. There was no way this nut was coming loose without using the breaker bar, but eventually it came unstuck, using the combination in the 3rd picture above (from the top).
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You will only be able to use the socket for a couple of turns before it gets trapped onto the nut by the diff bracket. Before this happens you will need to take the socket off and use an 18mm open ended spanner.....
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Patience is needed at this point, as you don't want to start rounding off the nut before it's off! There maybe another way, but I had no other tools that would fit in there once the nut started backing off towards the diff mount.
You can see from this picture how tight it is around the top nut....
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Eventually you'll get to this point, where the bracket is off and the old bush is ready to be removed...
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and just like the other side, new bush on, bracket in place, nuts ready to tighten. Again, you will need to use a spanner to tighten the top nut until it's far enough on to get the socket back on. I resorted to grinding away some of the back edge of my 18mm socket so I could get it onto the nut sooner, for the final stage of tightening.
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Both nuts torqued up to 115Nm......
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Just the chassis cross member to re-fit, and job done
With a slight change to the diff support casting this would be an easy job, but the limited clearance makes it 'a bit' more challenging, but still very much a DIY job as long as you have a decent socket set and breaker bar.
2 very well used ARB bushes! ......
Click image to enlarge
Next job, both front lower wishbones Previously:
2005 D3 2.7 TDV6 S
1984 90 2.25 Petrol CSW
1992 90 200TDi Hard Top
1995 Discovery ES 300TDi
2003 90 TD5 Truck Cab
Member Since: 07 Dec 2004
Location: Bramhall
Posts: 26698
Cheers, done that one too.
4th Feb 2011 5:48 pm
Dave
Member Since: 08 Mar 2006
Location: North Yorkshire
Posts: 2462
Excellent work mate. Thank you for sharing your work, it will make the job a lot easierCaptain Nick Medhurst would ask:
"What is the first rule when overlanding?"
I would Reply:
"Duratrac"
4th Feb 2011 10:39 pm
Tawny Owl
Member Since: 22 Oct 2008
Location: Here and there
Posts: 1645
Nice write up with good pics
Front lower arms tommorrow then
4th Feb 2011 10:49 pm
Dave
Member Since: 08 Mar 2006
Location: North Yorkshire
Posts: 2462
Awesome guide Andy, I carried out this job yesterday, made simple by your instructions. Also, if it were not for Disco Mikey I would have have been stopped at the start of the job with the removal of the fuel cooler.
Whole job including bushes, shorter 18mmm socket to clear the passenger side, penetrating oil and a 1/2 to 3/8 reducer cost less than £40. The relief from the knocking is priceless
I do not know how much a dealer would charge but must at least £150 I guess.
Thank you very much Captain Nick Medhurst would ask:
"What is the first rule when overlanding?"
Glad you found it useful Dave Previously:
2005 D3 2.7 TDV6 S
1984 90 2.25 Petrol CSW
1992 90 200TDi Hard Top
1995 Discovery ES 300TDi
2003 90 TD5 Truck Cab
6th Mar 2011 8:12 pm
Matty 2332
Member Since: 02 Dec 2008
Location: West Yorkshire
Posts: 670
Just done my front bushes today after soaking the bolts in WD40 for past couple of days, all came off with ease Hardest bit was undoing the fuel cooler bolt, a bit fiddly. Many thanks ridgeback_moor for an excellent write-up
25th Mar 2011 2:13 pm
radders89
Member Since: 30 Aug 2010
Location: West Sussex
Posts: 1051
Fitted new ARB's on the the front today. I can certainly notice the difference!!
That nearside top ARB nut is a proper bitch!
MY15 D4 SDV6 HSE Corris Grey - Gone
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31st Jul 2011 7:50 pm
cja1579
Member Since: 30 Nov 2009
Location: Kendal, Cumbria
Posts: 96
Just changed the front ARB bushes myself for polybushes, the difference is amazing . As the above instructions, for the O/S you just move the fuel cooler, But for the N/S I unbolted the front diff bracket (3 large bolts) and levered the bracket out of the way so I could get the nuts undone. Some might comment on how I did this but it worked for me. JE Remap, De-cat, Blanked EGR's, Allisport intercooler, Samco intercooler hoses, D4 rear lights, A bar, Big spot lights, Front headlight guards, 20'' Stormer wheels,
31st Jul 2011 10:36 pm
big_si
Member Since: 25 May 2010
Location: East Yorkshire
Posts: 90
Many thanks to ridgeback and mikey for this excellent 'how to'!
Did mine yesterday and wouldn't have stood a chance without the advice.
Took about 2 hours in total. The most time consuming part for me was undoing and re-doing the fuel cooler bolt, definitley a ratchet spanner job as advised! At first I had to come back to mikey's post to check where the bolt actually was, as it's that far up and hidden on the back of the bracket!
Drivers side ARB bracket took a little getting back on as the bush is a very tight fit, but ok once you get it just far enough to get a couple of turns on the nuts. After doing that side I then looked at the passenger side one... blimey there's definitely not a lot of space there.
The ratchet I have is quite large and I was almost going to give up and either wait to invest in a shallower 18mm socket and short extension bar or maybe even pass it on to the dealer and get them to do it, when I noticed this in my socket set...
I'm not sure what the proper name for it is, but basically it's an extension bar with a 1/2" adaptor that slides along.
I postitioned the adaptor right at the end and to my surprise it worked a treat on the top nut, just enough room to squeeze next to the diff support bracket. I must admit that the socket wasn't perfectly straight on the nut but it was on plently far enough to avoid any slipping. Once I got the nut undone and past the locking compound on the threads I was able to fully undo it easily with just my fingers.
The passenger side actually took a lot less time than the drivers side. Mind you I did use copious amounts of washing up liquid this time to make sure the bracket went over the bush easier than the drivers side! I also didn't need to remove the cross member either which was a bonus.
Trouble is that the knocking sound is still there. I wonder if I've got the courage to attempt changing the lower suspension arms?! Now that will be interesting!2006 D3 S (I use it when I can prise the keys off the wife!)
2009 Astra CDTi SXi ecoflex (I use this when I can't!)
24th Oct 2011 7:09 pm
verdone
Member Since: 15 May 2011
Location: belgium
Posts: 14
Hello,
I had knocking aswell, changed both arb front and rear bushes didnt help but they needed a change anyway, so then i changed lower front arms and behold knock free :p
Its not a very hard job to do rlly, u read a lot of horror stories but i sprayed my bolts with wd40 a week in advance and they came loose pritty easy, only thing i had problems with was seperating the driveshaft from the hub :p
Greetz Verdone
24th Oct 2011 11:13 pm
henry-john
Member Since: 22 Feb 2011
Location: Belgium
Posts: 337
I'm changing all of them by RED polybushes.... will let you know what the findings will be
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