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Front lower control arms DIY
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R1DSO
 


Member Since: 18 Aug 2020
Location: Surrey
Posts: 22

United Kingdom 2015 Discovery 4 3.0 SDV6 SE Auto Santorini BlackDiscovery 4

Can I ask if anyone has any advice on my other couple of questions - jacking up the front (or just one corner) without an adapter if they are no longer available + torqueing the shock absorber nut/bolt with the hub hanging down and not at its usual ride height?
  
Post #216862419th Aug 2020 11:14 am
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R1DSO
 


Member Since: 18 Aug 2020
Location: Surrey
Posts: 22

United Kingdom 2015 Discovery 4 3.0 SDV6 SE Auto Santorini BlackDiscovery 4
Parts and tools ordered:)

I rang Rimmer Bros. I spoke to someone who confirmed the OEM supplier of their control arms may not have supplied these specific parts to Land Rover as lynalldiscovery mentioned. The guy on the phone asked me to follow up with an email to check if this was the case and to find out whether their bushings were oil filled or solid.

I then rang Paul at Advanced Factors, who was incredibly helpful. He advised that, as the Meyle bushings were just on a pivot point, they wouldn't affect damping and there would be no difference in ride quality as others confirmed on here.

Paul said that the slightly more expensive Terrafirma kit would last longer, but that the polly bushings can dry out and squeak. So, I ordered the Meyle kit, along with £50 of other tools from AF - at £269 for the kit (minus the 5% forum discount), it was a tidy saving vs the Genuine LR or OEM supplier Rimmer Bros options.

Paul also inputted on my other couple of Q's...

He recommended doing the job a corner at a time vs lifting the whole front of the car up from the crossbeam. As I can't get hold of a trolley jack adapter, I'm hoping the metal saddle of the Clarke CTJ3000G will hold the chassis rail securely without slipping, before sliding in a Clarke 6T axel stand to hold the car up beside the jacking point. Both tools ordered as upgrades on my current lighter-weight trolley jack and stands based on this forum's recommendations Smile.

And Paul advised that - contrary to what the service manual suggests - the shock absorber nut should also be torqued with the hub raised to normal ride height. With the suspension in access mode, he said that there shouldn't be much pressure in the air shock and, if I have issues jacking it up, this nut should still be accessible with the car on the ground.

I've ordered a Norbar NOR15006-TB 1/2" torque wrench that goes up to 340Nm for this job as the torque limit of my current biggest wrench is 200Nm. Again, I chose Norbar in part based on this forum recommendations, although I knew they made the Halfords Advanced torque wrenches already in my collection.

All in all, a great experience so far with Advanced Factors; no doubt I'll be back to them for future service and maintenance parts. And plenty of knowledge gained from this and other threads on the disco3 forum - thank you Thumbs Up.

I'm looking forward to getting stuck in to the job when everything arrives and getting rid of those control arm knocks and wobbles Very Happy.
  
Post #216879320th Aug 2020 10:26 am
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R1DSO
 


Member Since: 18 Aug 2020
Location: Surrey
Posts: 22

United Kingdom 2015 Discovery 4 3.0 SDV6 SE Auto Santorini BlackDiscovery 4
Shock pressurised, despite being in access mode

Hit a bit of a snag. I took out the driver’s side lower control arm yesterday afternoon, left the car up on an axel stand overnight and have started installing the new arm today. I have the ball joint and lower arm bolts torqued; but, despite still being locked in access mode, it looks like the air shock has pressurised.



The damper is about 3 inches off where it needs to be to get the bolt through it and the control arm. I’ve tried carefully jacking up the bottom of the damper, but I can’t get it to go directly upwards - it starts coming out slightly, fouling the control arm on the way.

My hunch is that the shock may have extended because I have only jacked up that corner of the car. I’m going to try jacking the passenger side up slightly without raising the wheel, but I’m a bit nervous about the amount of pressure this is going to put on my axel stand - I could only fit a 1.5 ton (per stand) axel stand on the chassis rail beside my massive new Clarke jack, so the 3 ton per stand Clarke Strong Arms stands I bought for the job have not been used.

Any ideas how to connect my pressurised shock to my new lower control arms??? I have an OBD 2 connector, but I‘ve read that Landys need a bespoke bit of hardware to electronically depressurise the dampers. Ideally, I’d like to avoid manually taking air out of the compressor if poss.
  
Post #217028627th Aug 2020 2:28 pm
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Duc750
 


Member Since: 07 Aug 2017
Location: northampton
Posts: 305

United Kingdom 2005 Discovery 3 4.4 V8 HSE Auto Java BlackDiscovery 3

Have you disconnected the battery when doing all of this - air suspension can't think without electrickery ?
there's all sorts of stories about how leaving doors open etc stops the air suspension re levelling but I've seen the system adjust on my d3, d2 and the wifes RRS with the doors etc open.
 05 D3 V8 HSE, LR Passion tree bars, wildbear compressor guard, LRP switch panel, ARB rear locker + compressor, Trigger 6 shooter electrical system
12 RRS SDV6 HSE (Hers) - Gone and replaced with an I Pace - I can tell you now EV is not the future yet
Metalian Camper trailer 
 
Post #217029127th Aug 2020 2:54 pm
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R1DSO
 


Member Since: 18 Aug 2020
Location: Surrey
Posts: 22

United Kingdom 2015 Discovery 4 3.0 SDV6 SE Auto Santorini BlackDiscovery 4

Duc750 wrote:
Have you disconnected the battery when doing all of this


Nope, I didn’t disconnect the battery. I didn’t see that being a thing in service manual, or any of the tutorials I watched/read. However - in retrospect - many of those involved jacking the whole front of the car up, or raising it on a 4 point lift

I‘d read some posts about leaving doors etc. open to prevent the suspension from trying to level itself, but was under the impression that - if the car was locked in access mode - the suspension wouldn’t move.

Presumable, disconnecting the battery now would leave the pressure as is. Any thoughts on a workaround?
  
Post #217029327th Aug 2020 3:07 pm
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R1DSO
 


Member Since: 18 Aug 2020
Location: Surrey
Posts: 22

United Kingdom 2015 Discovery 4 3.0 SDV6 SE Auto Santorini BlackDiscovery 4

If there isn't a workaround, it appears that the easiest contingency option is to slowly release the air out of the RHF air harness connection numbered 8 in the below front valve block diagram:



I've only seen this procedure on a Disco 3, so hoping it is the same for a 4, and in the same location - behind the RHS front wheel arch. It would appear that simply tightening this harness connection again when finished, starting the car up and cycling through it's different height modes re-pressurises the damper.

Any confirmation of the above procedure being correct, or alternative workarounds to get my damper back in bolting distance of my new lower control arm would be greatly appreciated Smile.
  
Post #217030727th Aug 2020 4:11 pm
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gstuart
 


Member Since: 21 Oct 2016
Location: kent
Posts: 13568

United Kingdom 2005 Discovery 3 TDV6 Base 7 Seat Auto Java BlackDiscovery 3

Hiya

Indeed ref the suspension, Personally I’ve always raised my suspension to off road height before jacking the disco up , read it somewhere

Handbrake on

So u dont have to mess around leaving doors open , raise to off road height , turn engine off, pull fuse F26 that’s under the bonnet, Jack disco up and fit axle stand , pulling the fuse will stop ur system waking up around every 6 x hours to self level along with stopping the compressor

But as urs is already on axle stands, just pull that F26 fuse

Unless u have an iid to de pressurise the system u will need to loosen the nut on the front valve block, can’t t do it at the reservoir valve block because the line goes to the front valve block

So then with the air out, use a jack under the strut to slowly and careful raise it till u get the bolt in, coppaslip the blank part of the bolt, put ur nut on and loosely tighten , raise the arm to the correct height , then torque

The scissor jack is good to use under the strut because it’s thin, just be very careful it doesn’t start to tip over, I didn’t have a problem using it carefully , but of course ur have axle stands there as well but all ur trying to do is raise the strut

Put ur Wheel back on lower, do the same with the other side , then reconnect ur valve block pipe

Refit other wheel

Reinstall fuse , be careful as when u refit they fuse the suspension will drop to the bump stops

Torque wheel nuts

Start the car and raise suspension, use some soapy water on the valve block pipes to ensure it ok

If u put a spirt level vertically on the hub when tightening the Lower wish bone bolt and set it level

Will of course need the 4 x wheel alignment done after

Plenty to always advise if u get stuck

Hope that helps Thumbs Up

Ps, on top of the strut I fitted 3 x nylocs nuts
  

Last edited by gstuart on 27th Aug 2020 5:48 pm. Edited 3 times in total 
Post #217032227th Aug 2020 5:26 pm
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gstuart
 


Member Since: 21 Oct 2016
Location: kent
Posts: 13568

United Kingdom 2005 Discovery 3 TDV6 Base 7 Seat Auto Java BlackDiscovery 3

Can only find the info at the moment when disco is put onto a lift regarding off road height


Click image to enlarge
   
Post #217032927th Aug 2020 5:44 pm
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R1DSO
 


Member Since: 18 Aug 2020
Location: Surrey
Posts: 22

United Kingdom 2015 Discovery 4 3.0 SDV6 SE Auto Santorini BlackDiscovery 4

Thank you for the detailed post and help, much appreciated Very Happy.

gstuart wrote:

Indeed ref the suspension, Personally I’ve always raised my suspension to off road height before jacking the disco up , read it somewhere


I heard it was easier to jack up the car from off road height, but the service manual said to lock it in access mode - the idea being that this would take most of the air pressure out of the damper and allow the control arms to be fitted without depressurising.

gstuart wrote:

pulling the fuse will stop ur system waking up around every 6 x hours to self level along with stopping the compressor


However, I see from your post that the service manual must assume you're going to do the job within 6 hours before the suspension self levels again, and not leave the car jacked over night Laughing.

gstuart wrote:

u will need to loosen the nut on the front valve block, can’t t do it at the reservoir valve block because the line goes to the front valve block


Can I check that I can loosen the nut number 8 in the below diagram for the UK driver's side and tighten this up when everything's torqued at the correct ride height (466mm from hub). And, then - separately - loosen number 6 for the passenger side before doing that control arm?



As I only have one corner on stands, I'd like to depressurise one damper at a time. I'm thinking it won't be a good idea for the suspension on the opposite side (which isn't jacked up) to drop.

gstuart wrote:

If u put a spirt level vertically on the hub when tightening the Lower wish bone bolt and set it level


Last question (promise!)... I don't really understand the above - this is the first I've heard of using a spirit level in all the DIYs I've read/watched on the lower control arm install. Would you mind explaining? Is this because I will have depressurised the dampers?

gstuart wrote:

Will of course need the 4 x wheel alignment done after


The plan is to book the car in to Moonwizz for a full alignment Smile.
  
Post #217034327th Aug 2020 7:28 pm
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gstuart
 


Member Since: 21 Oct 2016
Location: kent
Posts: 13568

United Kingdom 2005 Discovery 3 TDV6 Base 7 Seat Auto Java BlackDiscovery 3

Hiya

Always happy to help where I can, have put answers inbetween ur questions Thumbs Up

Thank you for the detailed post and help, much appreciated Very Happy.


Indeed, pulling that fuse will disable the entire suspension system and the compressor , so u can lock and alarm it if u wish and the suspension won’t move , as u don’t want it moving , is just another way instead of disconnecting the battery Thumbs Up

gstuart wrote:

u will need to loosen the nut on the front valve block, can’t t do it at the reservoir valve block because the line goes to the front valve block


Can I check that I can loosen the nut number 8 in the below diagram for the UK driver's side and tighten this up when everything's torqued at the correct ride height (466mm from hub). And, then - separately - loosen number 6 for the passenger side before doing that control arm?

Yes u can do that Thumbs Up


gstuart wrote:

If u put a spirt level vertically on the hub when tightening the Lower wish bone bolt and set it level


Last question (promise!)... I don't really understand the above - this is the first I've heard of using a spirit level in all the DIYs I've read/watched on the lower control arm install. Would you mind explaining? Is this because I will have depressurised the dampers?

Before doing the lower wishbone camber bolt up , Put the spirit level on the hub so the wheel was vertically level , I done it at an Experiment just to try and prevent the wheels from scrubbing as much as possible before getting it to the alignment centre

Put some example pics Below Thumbs Up



Hope that helps answer ur questions better Thumbs Up



Click image to enlarge


   
Post #217035127th Aug 2020 8:00 pm
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R1DSO
 


Member Since: 18 Aug 2020
Location: Surrey
Posts: 22

United Kingdom 2015 Discovery 4 3.0 SDV6 SE Auto Santorini BlackDiscovery 4

Thank you very much for coming back to me on those additional questions. Very much appreciated Thumbs Up.

Nice trick with the spirit level. Moonwizz isn't far from me (and I don't have a decent spirit level), otherwise I'd give it a go.

All is clear and understood. I just need the weather to play ball now. Heavy rain is forecasted where I am all day tomorrow (the Landy is outside on my driveway) and I'm at a socially-distanced wedding on Sat.

Will follow-up with a progress report once done Smile.
  
Post #217035727th Aug 2020 8:18 pm
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gstuart
 


Member Since: 21 Oct 2016
Location: kent
Posts: 13568

United Kingdom 2005 Discovery 3 TDV6 Base 7 Seat Auto Java BlackDiscovery 3

Ur so very welcome Thumbs Up

Also have a digital spirit level, enclosed pic below , plus none of the lights came up as normally when u dont align them the dashboard lights up like a xmas tree ,thk u , was a real fluke it worked as a temp measure

Is heavy rain here , must admit did get a 4 x 3m gazebo which helps when ur working on the disco and starts raining

Have a good day sat Thumbs Up

Yes plse, let us know how it goes and don’t forget to always ask if u get stuck as god knows I’ve been helped over the last 4 x years


   
Post #217036127th Aug 2020 8:31 pm
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R1DSO
 


Member Since: 18 Aug 2020
Location: Surrey
Posts: 22

United Kingdom 2015 Discovery 4 3.0 SDV6 SE Auto Santorini BlackDiscovery 4

You know what, I was actually thinking about borrowing my father in law's gazebo. Not sure if his will be big enough to fit over the Disco, though Laughing.

Thanks again. Will report back when complete (or stuck Embarassed!).

Cheers,

Phil
  
Post #217036427th Aug 2020 8:50 pm
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gstuart
 


Member Since: 21 Oct 2016
Location: kent
Posts: 13568

United Kingdom 2005 Discovery 3 TDV6 Base 7 Seat Auto Java BlackDiscovery 3

Indeed know what u mean , Found the 4m is ideal giving u just that bit extra room to get round inc all ur tools

Ur so welcome and always a pleasure to help where I can , had the delight of replacing my rear upper arms, what a Censored job that was, but learnt lots along the way including getting invaluable advice from here , all because there was no coppaslip on the bolts Big Cry

Look forward to the update when it’s all done and dusted Bow down
   
Post #217037727th Aug 2020 9:40 pm
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R1DSO
 


Member Since: 18 Aug 2020
Location: Surrey
Posts: 22

United Kingdom 2015 Discovery 4 3.0 SDV6 SE Auto Santorini BlackDiscovery 4
Job done!

Right, sorry for the slight delay with my follow-up. Dodging the regular downpours, it took me until late Friday evening to finish the job in the dark, before a busy weekend; Hence, just getting to this now.

With the front dampers depressurised, the RHS went back together easily and the LHS was a relative walk in the park having done the other side already.

As suspected, the trickiest bit was accessing the nut on the passenger’s side rear lower control arm with the cat getting in the way. I didn’t have a socket or UJ in my arsenal small enough to get a breaker bar or air wrench on the nut over the sticking out bolt and, despite lots of WD40 and a some heat, I couldn’t get an angle to break the bolt off using two interlocked spanner’s with the car close to the ground on one jack stand.

My solution was to use a second small trolley jack with a rubber jacking point sill protector to turn one single spanner and crack the nut:



Of course, I had the same issue when reassembling, with there being no room for a socket to torque the nut up to 275nm. I thought about (but decided against) cutting the end off the long bolt to free-up some space. Turning the nut the other way presented me with a better angle using two interlocked spanners to get the nut very tight.

Un-scientifically, I counted the same number of exposed threads on the passenger rear lower arm bolt as the driver’s side rear, which I could correctly torque. Regardless, this and the other lower arm bolts will be undone and re-torqued when the wheel alignment is done. I’m looking forward to finding out how the garage gets a socket and torque wrench on it!

The only other strange point I came across was that the arms didn’t really need to be jacked up much (if at all) to get to the 466mm measurement between the hub and wheel arch referenced in the service manual. 466mm was pretty close to this measurement with the car on the ground, before I started replacing the arms.

In fact, I had to jack the passenger side arm down slightly to get it to 466mm, carefully using the car’s scissor jack against the wheel arch lining Laughing. I’m wondering whether the bushings in the upper arm were installed at the wrong height to cause this? Again, I’m aware that the lower arm bolts are going to be undone and re-torqued at ride height anyway when I get the wheels aligned.



I took the car out for a short test drive yesterday and, although the tracking is out slightly as you would expect (the car is pulling a little to the right when pointing the steering wheel straight), it’s driving well otherwise. The dampers are holding air and there’s no more knocking or steering wheel wobble from the old worn bushings.







Once my local indy LR specialist opens tomorrow, I’ll get the alignment booked in. The car won’t be driven again until it’s sorted. Thanks again for the pointers - I couldn’t have done the job without them. It’s very satisfying to have replaced the arms successfully on my driveway + it’s saved me a bunch of cash Very Happy.




  
Post #217084931st Aug 2020 12:26 pm
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