Disco 3 (LR3) Rear upper wishbones pic heavy

hi

Wished to share some pictures of what’s involved replacing the rear upper wishbones, this is the drivers side and not for the faint hearted , @Co-Pang-Yang can also verify this, lol

Main issue is lack of access, plenty of sensor and wires around, bolts rust solid inside bushes and lock solid

Only course of action is cutting the bolts , alas maybe something like an inductive heater would be ideal

Personally using any form of heat on the back bolt would worry me too much

Used an electric recip saw and indeed looking into what other things that can be used for the passenger side to make life easier for others when attempting this job as it’s a right &#&#£@&&@£#&&

Now have the remains of the old bolts which are high tensile , will be putting them into my vice and trying suitable tools that will fit in the restricted space and cut through the bolt better than a recip saw

Will then give some feedback over time ref tools and what does and doesn’t work

Goes without question all solutions welcome, lol


More Pics to follow

I even tried using a 3 x ton hydraulic puller from both sides of the bolt to aid removal as I needed the bolt out in order to get the bush extractor kit on

No good as it was locked solid Into the metal casing of the bush , so that also had to be cut off

I was also fearful of giving it too much stick in case I put a split in the top of the hub

This is the main culprit that gives the most trouble and wish to find a solution plse somehow , before attempting the passenger side

Have to get a thin cutting tool between the left hand nut and bushing , nut is welded to a small plate , as per pic of new parts

5 x hours on an electric recip saw and many blades later wasn’t fun, good quality blades as well, used 18 and 24 Tpi blades , made my dewalt, Makita, silverline

Thks as always

PS, average life of these bushes should be around 50- 60,000 miles and top rear wishbone and front lower wishbone replacements will req full Hunter wheel laser alignment

New and old upper wishbone , gave new wishbone coats of dinitrol

gstuart said:

5 x hours on an electric recip saw and many blades later wasn’t fun, good quality blades as well, used 18 and 24 Tpi blades , made my dewalt, Makita, silverline

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Wow. Well done. Just hope you don't develop 'white finger'. I take it you had a good pair of ear mufflers on. I used one for removing nails protruding from the wall after removing old skirting and blades soon blunted.

brianconwy said:

Wow. Well done. Just hope you don't develop 'white finger'. I take it you had a good pair of ear mufflers on. I used one for removing nails protruding from the wall after removing old skirting and blades soon blunted.

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Many thks, unfortunately didn’t have any gloves or ear defenders

been really pondering with this, there’s got to be an easier way to get these back bolts out, as I certainally don’t fancy spending hours on a recip saw again for when I do the other side

Something sized like a dremil with the metal cutting discs would be ideal but just on a larger scale In order the disc is large enough to get all the way through

Kept the saw at about half speed, any faster would strip the teeth pretty dam quick

Will take a pic when I remember of the completed side

This video shows what’s involved with replacing these arms

Plus this pic shows the near side upper wishbone , next one to be replaced

U can see top right hand side of the bolt head and other far left , nuts are welded onto a small metal plate

Top right bolt can’t get any socket on there , this is the sod that seizes up solid, first picture shows it better, have to cut between the chassis plate and bearing , nut end , chassis is slotted at the bolt head end , so once the nut end is cut off the arm lifts up

So can see how tight access is , have to remove the suspension air compressor cover out of way for this one, ( far left) also main wiring loom is this side and plenty of sensors , inc one of the suspensions rear valve blocks

I'd be tempted to rent an oxy acetylene pack for the weekend and gas axe it into little bits.

dieseldog69 said:

I'd be tempted to rent an oxy acetylene pack for the weekend and gas axe it into little bits.

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To be honest there’s so much there, ie main rear loom, sensors, air compressor silencer , EPB cable etc , etc, it’s also the heat transferring into the chassis etc that also worries me , ( 1st picture is the troublesome bolt )

Would indeed be so much easier using a cutting torch but also having restricted access doesn’t help

I’ve got a few ideas up my sleeve so if it works without using any form of heat should get that bolt out in around
20 mins flat

Seeing there’s 8 x of these arms I’m thinking of some forward planning seeing I now know what’s involved