Member Since: 27 Aug 2015
Location: Colchester
Posts: 697
Front lower arm rear bush is it knackered?
im assuming this video I took this morning shows a worn bush. Front tyres are wearing on the outside too. Can someone just confirm this isn't normal play?
Both sides similar, all other bushes and joints seem sound.
8th Dec 2018 6:14 pm
DN D3 Decade
Member Since: 23 Jun 2006
Location: W.London.
Posts: 2346
Those bushes do have quite a lot of movement, I wouldn't say they were knackered until you hear knocking when dabbing the brakes at low speed, or when driving over undulations. That's what flagged up to the MOT person to fail mine last year at any rate. D3 owned from new, P017 brake recall, BAS FBHIC, new FBH, LR013487 oil pump, new water pump. RRS front lower suspension arms. New suspension compressor/ relay. New Denso alternator. CuNifer rear brake pipes. New GKN rear propshaft. New HPFP belt & tensioner. New A/C Condenser.NO WARRANTY for many many years.
8th Dec 2018 6:36 pm
trailhound
Member Since: 27 Aug 2015
Location: Colchester
Posts: 697
Getting a little clunk almost feel it through steering wheel as I reverse off steep drive onto level at an angle. Could be steering column maybe?
8th Dec 2018 6:55 pm
DN D3 Decade
Member Since: 23 Jun 2006
Location: W.London.
Posts: 2346
Yes, it could easily be the steering column (lower section usually). Can be like that for a long time before it becomes bad enough to be of concern. Check the steering joints, suspension ball joints, anti roll bar bushes and drop link joints though, just to eliminate those. D3 owned from new, P017 brake recall, BAS FBHIC, new FBH, LR013487 oil pump, new water pump. RRS front lower suspension arms. New suspension compressor/ relay. New Denso alternator. CuNifer rear brake pipes. New GKN rear propshaft. New HPFP belt & tensioner. New A/C Condenser.NO WARRANTY for many many years.
8th Dec 2018 9:22 pm
eightfoot
Member Since: 12 Apr 2015
Location: sunny essex
Posts: 810
Re: Front lower arm rear bush is it knackered?
trailhound wrote:
im assuming this video I took this morning shows a worn bush. Front tyres are wearing on the outside too. Can someone just confirm this isn't normal play?
Both sides similar, all other bushes and joints seem sound.
I would say that's pretty much normal playplease excuse any grammer/punctuation mistakes,i'm thick,thankyou
current vehicles 2005 d3 2013 d4
8th Dec 2018 9:47 pm
trailhound
Member Since: 27 Aug 2015
Location: Colchester
Posts: 697
Thanks DN and Eightfoot. Everything else looks tight. Reckon I'll go down the steering column root Union root.
On a side note do these arb bushes look ok?
Is the big gap at back okay.
8th Dec 2018 10:12 pm
trailhound
Member Since: 27 Aug 2015
Location: Colchester
Posts: 697
Thanks for all the feedback - everything but the lower arm rear bushes seems solid. So why are my front tyres wearing on the outside edge? Alignment was done 5k miles back. Looking back through receipts looks like the rm are 60k miles old - that sounds a lot for this car - how long do they last under normal Tarmac conditions?
9th Dec 2018 7:21 pm
Globetrotter448
Member Since: 21 Mar 2017
Location: Londonderry NSW
Posts: 1822
Was the alignment for just the front - these vehicles require a proper four wheel alignment to run good.
10th Dec 2018 7:12 am
lynalldiscovery
Member Since: 22 Dec 2009
Location: Maidstone
Posts: 7274
I would check for play horizontally 90 degrees to the chassis as thats where the loading is going to be when the vehicle is moving ie in and out ratehr than up and down.
Mine had a clunk at slow speed and I was convinced it was the front lower arms, new front arbs bushes (which I would have said were okay) cured the knock and I havent heard it since.
10th Dec 2018 7:17 am
M3DPO
Member Since: 22 Sep 2010
Location: Notts.
Posts: 8243
trailhound wrote:
Getting a little clunk almost feel it through steering wheel as I reverse off steep drive onto level at an angle. Could be steering column maybe?
Anti roll bar is under maximum torque in this situation, points to arb bushes It can when others can't,
It will when others won't,
It goes where others don't.
10th Dec 2018 8:00 am
trailhound
Member Since: 27 Aug 2015
Location: Colchester
Posts: 697
Thanks guys here's a pic you of the arb bush. Is that gap at the back an issue?
11th Dec 2018 8:22 pm
timmyt79
Member Since: 18 Oct 2016
Location: Pemrokeshire
Posts: 589
I would say those arb bushes have had it... Looks a good 1-2 mm gap there.. Which when under pressure makes for a surprising amount of movement.
Cheap and easy to replace and eliminate 👍
11th Dec 2018 11:10 pm
trailhound
Member Since: 27 Aug 2015
Location: Colchester
Posts: 697
timmyt79 - thanks for the advice.
12th Dec 2018 8:00 am
lake_District
Member Since: 14 Jan 2013
Location: Reading
Posts: 174
I replaced my front rear lower bush with polybush!
Seems to be working a treat. Front bushes were fine.
12th Dec 2018 8:28 pm
trailhound
Member Since: 27 Aug 2015
Location: Colchester
Posts: 697
Lake_district: guessing pushing the polybush in was doable? Any special tools?
Getting the old bast d out must have been more challenging?
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