Disco 3 (LR3) Rear lower wishbones

This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.

gstuart

D3 Grandad
Full Member
Posts
30,792
Location
Kent
Hi

Hope everyone is keeping well and managing to also stay cool , may i quickly pick ur brains please

My Mot isn’t due till mid sep and had the rear lower wishbones as an advisory

Am wondering are they very difficult to replace please , as wish to be extra careful with the proposed energy price increases I’m thinking if I can do them my self or if it’s really the case to get a garage to replace them

Do have a mechanic that does basic servicing , Mot etc where he will pick my disco up and then drop it off at the end of the day , labour wise I’ll be looking at around £320 which equals roughly 4 x hours

More than likely I’ll get this kit from advanced which works out around £260.00

https://www.advancedfactors.co.uk/kit616-r...8432-p.asp

So by the time I put a Mot etc on top I’ll be looking around £600 , so just thinking in what kind of job it is, do have an impact driver and torque wrench etc , rear uppers have already been done thank god

Plus would it be worth replacing the bottom hub bushes plse, , have done the uppers

Many thanks and hope u didn’t mind me asking , I’m always so extremely grateful for the help and massively indebted by such kind advice

Have a great day and keep safe and well in this very hot weather
 
Apologises as forgot to ask please , if for argument sake I wasn’t able to get the wishbones done before the expiry of the MOT do I have to SORN it or can I simply leave it on my driveway until such times I can get the garage to collect it for its MOT please

Will still be insured and taxed

Many thks once again and sorry for the daft question
 
Also just noticed on the rear knuckle bushes on top there’s a bush clip, ref part number SKZ500012

Would buy a new circlip for the bottom bush , ref LR032644 , just surprised by that top knuckle clip seeing there missing on mine

many thks as always

A06AC573-9D6E-47CD-B362-794E929071D1.jpeg
 
"Advisory" means "you MAY fail on this next year". So you could just leave it and see if it deffo fails on it or not. According to this it looks as if you can still drive around on it.
https://www.treadfirst.co.uk/what-a...ou're given an,avoid failing next time around.
But I know what you mean, I always attend to Advisories except for ones like faint, surface tyre wall cracking which may well not get any worse as, for heavens sake, that wasn't even a fail a few years back.

And by the way Gary, if there was a "Politest person on LZ" award I think you would win it every year!!:):):)
 
it does not look to difficult if you have the tool's, but to replace the bushed in the Hub you may be able to do it without removing the shaft, if not remove the hub so you can work on a bench I normally pull the rubber out using a bit of threaded bar over a socket of suitable size, then cut the steel outer with a hacksaw the chisel out the shell, put the new bush in the freezer overnight the pull it in again with threaded bar and a socket and a bit of oil, with the help of a few washers to help it to turn easy,
 

Attachments

  • description & operation.pdf
    733.1 KB · Views: 266
Last edited:
I replaced mine. It wasn't any more difficult than the front lower wishbones, actually the rears are a bit easier, although some of the bolts are pretty difficult to remove. I didn't need to change the bearing in the hub, as it was fine.
 
Get the MOT done at a different garage and go from there
As you do such low miles and it was advisory last year it will just be an advisory again or will most likely not even be mentioned
 
Thanks so much as always for the fantastic help, alas I’m limited ref mot stations as I can’t wait around for it to be done, simply can’t sit in a chair for that long

suppose I could always chat with the mechanic that normally does my mot and servicing , he takes it to the mot centre for me , could then get his option on how bad they are , think the mot garage just said the lower wishbones were rusty but bushes etc ok

when I done the rear uppers got a bush kit which allowed to me to do the top knuckle bush at the same time, replaced the upper wishbones with the bushes already fitted , along with new drop links and brakes pipes/ hoses

Think all of us know , my god those upper wishbones were complete and utter @£&#&*=-5//#/# :(:(

shucks @Stanleysteamer , ur make me blush , lol, bless u though for such a kind compliment all thks to my parents for instilling good manners in me as indeed cost nothing

Thks again

DFA79CA8-11FD-4218-8C2D-792244659182.png
 
Last edited:
Thanks so much as always for the fantastic help, alas I’m limited ref mot stations as I can’t wait around for it to be done, simply can’t sit in a chair for that long

suppose I could always chat with the mechanic that normally does my mot and servicing , he takes it to the mot centre for me , could then get his option on how bad they are , think the mot garage just said the lower wishbones were rusty but bushes etc ok

when I done the rear uppers got a bush kit which allowed to me to do the top knuckle bush at the same time, replaced the upper wishbones with the bushes already fitted , along with new drop links and brakes pipes/ hoses

Think all of us know , my god those upper wishbones were complete and utter @£&#&*=-5//#/# :(:(

shucks @Stanleysteamer , ur make me blush , lol, bless u though for such a kind compliment all thks to my parents for instilling good manners in me as indeed cost nothing

Thks again

View attachment 269308


I think it was you that showed that kit before, I liked it so I bought one to do my rear knuckle bushes, went surprisingly well.
 
I think it was you that showed that kit before, I liked it so I bought one to do my rear knuckle bushes, went surprisingly well.

think it was mate, didn’t u have to dot punch ur upper knuckle bush , funny enough see this retaining clip on the top bush and wondering if it’s for later models ??

CF40468F-DAFD-471D-B972-3BFF27AC2909.jpeg
B0DFA55F-4224-441B-B17D-65D5ED740FFB.jpeg
D20F5F20-FDB7-486D-A7F6-3AAB67098359.jpeg
 
Gary, I did the rear upper arms on mine if you look on the other forum in my long thread I did write up about the trials and tribulations of swapping out the arms (go to page 3 in said thread). The biggest issue is whether or not the bolts holding the arms are seized. If they are it is an absolute battle to get them out, the bolts that suffer most are the upper mounting bolts - the ones you cant get to! I used a reciprocating saw to cut the arms off and then cut through the bolts. Lower arms may well be easier; I would have a go! It would be possible to do on a DIY basis but would not be as easy (relatively) without a lift. Watch out for the brake pipes and be mindful of the parking brake.
As for replacing the bushes, that may need some brute force. I've not done any bushes on the D3 so can't help you there.
Good luck!
 
Gary, I did the lower arms on mine if you look on the other forum in my long thread I did write up about the trials and tribulations of swapping out the arms (go to page 3 in said thread). The biggest issue is whether or not the bolts holding the arms are seized. If they are it is an absolute battle to get them out, the bolts that suffer most are the upper mounting bolts - the ones you cant get to! I used a reciprocating saw to cut the arms off and then cut through the bolts. It would be possible to do on a DIY basis but would not be as easy (relatively) without a lift. Watch out for the brake pipes and be mindful of the parking brake.
As for replacing the bushes, that may need some brute force. I've not done any bushes on the D3 so can't help you there.
Good luck!

bless u I’ll check that out , luckily I’ve already done the rear uppers and indeed they lived up to there name for being sods

did fit all new brake hoses and pipe when I done the uppers , plus used that bushing kit above to get the top knuckle one out

out of curiosity can u get an impact wrench on the lower arm bolts please , that’s a good point as forgot about the parking brake

thks so much once again
 
Brilliant found it , https://www.disco3.co.uk/forum/topic194444.html?highlight=Rear+lower+wishbones&start=30

thks again, plus reminds me must get my ac checked out, as the engine wasn’t started for 6 x months I think the compressor clutch might not be engaging , need to plug the gap iid in to double check the pressures first

also when I turn the temp dial to cold I can here the revs slightly fluctuating , turn to hot it stops
 
Had a quick look see, rear lower arm bolts are not too bad but you will need to drop the back section of the exhaust to get access to the rear bolts. The front bolts should be no problem. Have taken some pics.

View attachment 269344 View attachment 269346 View attachment 269347 View attachment 269348 View attachment 269349

Thk u so much , so alas looks more involved than I thought , I’ll get the mechanic that normally does my servicing etc to give me a quote , he does allow me to buy my own bits and he fits them for me

I’m just wondering if it will be to much for me to take on, seeing the last job when I replaced the turbo intercooler hoses and air inlet pipe took me nearly 6 x moths to complete , it would mainly be a great difficulty in lifting the wheels off and also using the trolley jack as I got one of the big 3 x ton ones , have plenty of tools to complete the job but if I ask my self honestly think it would be a great struggle to complete

also want to change my ATF oil but my mechanic won’t touch automatic boxes which I completely understand ,

thks again as very helpful

oh a few pics for when I done my rear upper wishbones

C70606E8-54C9-4F5D-9985-A3AE3D947AC0.png
02A671B6-14DA-460B-BC52-B7047DE1D7C7.jpeg
5581671D-2A83-43A7-94A2-6E46781307ED.jpeg
 
Did find it very easy to use removing the bushes without having to remove the knuckle

plus still trying to find out more info ref SKZ500012 - REAR KNUCKLE CLIP , which goes onto the upper wishbone knuckle bush but on mine they were missing , just strange that’s all and if maybe there fitted on later models

pleased that these rear uppers are all done, as indeed just need to find out about the rear lowers
218A275A-9652-4F9E-9687-A722E01A3BB8.png
 
Last edited:
So pleased all the intercooler work is done, plus pic of the absolute pig of a job pipes were to replace

on my first test drive I did notice the engine was quieter , pulled like a train with a very smooth power increase , wondering if that due to me finding all the intercooler air leaks , including ones from the throttle body egr pipes

9163BAD4-2228-4016-9734-434EBBB9AB8A.png
08718654-E5BF-46E8-B37B-9E276EC2B34A.png
234662C6-EDEF-4150-9147-5CB9C7701FBC.png
 
Back
Top