Anti Roll Bar Bracket Pushed forward

Just noticed that the nearside bracket for the front anti roll bar is bent forwards slightly

Would this effect the performance of the bar?

There is a crap weld behind it on the chassis, didn't know if this has anything to do with it?

How might this have happened? Think its been like it since I had it

Can it be bent back?

noticed my o/s mount had been bent backward last week... was making my disco lean to the o/side...

i took a 14lb lump hammer to it to straighten it up..

Whack it with bar on or off?

It's not leaning but does bear left but thought this was tracking

I'd take the ARB off, whack it wiv' a' 'ammer till it's straight, then re-check the welds ..

Personally I've took the ARB's off (Won't pass an MOT if tester knows it came with them as standard) but that's 'cos I want better movement off-road. It does roll a lot more on-road, but that's a small price to pay IMHO.

Paul D said:

Personally I've took the ARB's off (Won't pass an MOT if tester knows it came with them as standard)

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On that note, did they all come with with roll bars as standard? Would a tester expect to see them there on every Discovery 1?

If I was to grind the brackets clean off, tidy up and re-paint the axle/chassis where applicable to make it look like they'd never been a part of the vehicle, could it still fail the M.O.T?

Mark L said:

On that note, did they all come with with roll bars as standard? Would a tester expect to see them there on every Discovery 1?

If I was to grind the brackets clean off, tidy up and re-paint the axle/chassis where applicable to make it look like they'd never been a part of the vehicle, could it still fail the M.O.T?

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I guess you'd have to also do that to the front mounts of the rear ARB too, and all the mounts of the front ARB's ..

All I do is stick 'em on for the MOT and take 'em off. No chance of them getting too worn then either!!

Forgive my ignorance.but how can an mot tester fail something thats not there. I didn't think arbs were part of what id call the min requirements. I've heard of loads of people taking the rears off and never been questioned come mot time. Im taking mine off soon as its been battered off road. I won't be putting one back on.

They're classed as safety equipment and if the vehicle comes with them as standard then they shouldn't be removed. The point is if the tester knows for certain .. and as my tester has done it since I've had it, 10 years or so ...

Came in a few years ago, I believe.

Fair enough,but aren't anti roll bars an optional extra where landys of old are concerned. There by meaning they shouldn't fail for not having one even if one had been fitted.

MPfive said:

Fair enough,but aren't anti roll bars an optional extra where landys of old are concerned. There by meaning they shouldn't fail for not having one even if one had been fitted.

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Dunno, don't care .. mine had them as standard, as did all 300Tdi Discos I believe, so mine needs one for the MOT.

If a vehicle had them as optional extras I guess, and it is just a guess, it wouldn't fail a test for not having some.

Paul D said:

Personally I've took the ARB's off (Won't pass an MOT if tester knows it came with them as standard)

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Mine passes every year - took mine off years ago.

so, will it effect them if bracket is bent?

Hi, I had the same thing with my Disco, think it was caused by worn out springs. To fix it I used the bottle jack that came with the Disco and put the base against the axle, the cup of the jack against the bent bracket and jacked it straight. I had the wheel off and was going to try battering it with a hammer but couldn't get enough room to swing the hammer. It took me about five minutes to do, hope this helps.

Mine are removed.never failed a test(I don't do my cars myself) and it can't fail a test in something that cannot be tested. Prove it had one.... They can't.

MPfive said:

Fair enough,but aren't anti roll bars an optional extra where landys of old are concerned. There by meaning they shouldn't fail for not having one even if one had been fitted.

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ALL Disco's from 1989 onwards had arb's as std and that will be well-known to mot testers.

It should be borne in mind that removal of arb's increases instability in the vehicle - ie it won't pass the famous "Elk" test - as such any accidents and insurance claims could easily be rejected due to this modification.

Now some might say that they've only got 3rd party insurance so it doesn't matter as they won't be making a claim - Oh how wrong they are !!!!


Imagine a non-arb Disco is coming round a corner and has to do an emergency manoeuvre to get round a stray animal or whatever. In the process of doing this, the driver loses control and hits an on-coming family car. They are all killed.

The Police investigate and find an important piece of safety equipment has been removed. The insurance company now say that as a result the insurance cover is cancelled.

There is a court case and the driver/owner of the vehicle is found guilty. There is now also a Civil Court hearing brought against the driver by the relatives of the dead family. The court finds there is sufficient proof of negligence evidenced by the criminal court judgement.

The Civil Court awards damages against the driver/owner to the tune of £3,000,000. The driver loses his house and all his other assets; he loses his job because his employer is so incensed by his employee's behaviour. The court case is sufficiently large to achieve local and national notoriety so the driver never finds work again. His wife and family leave him.


So, to summarise, to achieve better off-roading our driver modifies his vehicle, making it unstable, crashes his car, kills an innocent family and loses all his possessions, his employment and his family.



Good decision to remove those arb's wasn't it?

What you've quoted was more of a question and Yes it was a good idea,removing my rear arb hasn't affected the roll on mine at all as im running bearmach blues. Its only increased articulation. I could dribble a bull **** story about fitting mud tyres,but people are wise enough to make thier own minds up on what they do to thier landys.

gosh gets extreme on here quick doesn't it
Hit it straight with a big hammer and weld a little triangular gusset into the front edge, then you can sleep easy without the worry of killing a family of cute crippled kittens and puppies and bringing on the beginning of the apocalypse

Well mine has never had roll bars on it, no chassis mounts have ever been there, and the chassis has never been repaired. Mines a 92 200

My Discovery had the front nearside roll bar bracket bent forward. With much messing about I managed to get a high lift jack between it and the front axle and pushed it back in to place. This saved putting a shock on the welds by hammering. However it had been like that for at least three years, so it does not seem to worry the testers.