Julian Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 Firstly hello to all, I've just stumbled across this site as a result of looking for maintenance advice. On Friday I bought an 1990 Tdi Discovery from a friend, this is my first Land Rover, It's only done about 100,000 miles and the chassis, engine, gearbox, transfer box and diffs are all in first class condition. It does have plenty of faults though! I've already replaced the front propshaft UJ's (one was collapsed) and the rear shocks. (top rubber mounts almost gone) Both front swivels are spewing oil, and when I rock the wheels I can see massive play in the lower pins. The funny thing is the rounded bit that the seal runs on is perfect so it looks like I can keep the cost down. I;'ve spotted the article on this site about doing this job. (anyone want some practice!) Aside from that there is some quite loud clonking that appears to come from the rear of the vehicle when going on and off the throttle abruptly. On top of the rear axle is a ball joint that lives in an 'A' frame thing - I've found play in this, could this be causing the clunk? All of the other suspension bushes, although very old, look OK and stand being levered with my large screwdriver. Lastly, just how much does the transmission and suspension clunk and knock in these types of vehicles? It's got to be more than (say) a Ford Focus, but never having owned one before I'm not sure what is the norm. Thanks in advance Julian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddyplugger Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 Hiya Julian! Congratulations on your purchase and whilst I'm not an authority on this I'd thought I'd throw in my two penneth to get the thread on a roll! Aside from that there is some quite loud clonking that appears to come from the rear of the vehicle when going on and off the throttle abruptly. On top of the rear axle is a ball joint that lives in an 'A' frame thing - I've found play in this, could this be causing the clunk? I believe the ball joint you are describing also clonks going round corners too. Lastly, just how much does the transmission and suspension clunk and knock in these types of vehicles? It's got to be more than (say) a Ford Focus, but never having owned one before I'm not sure what is the norm. Yes, there is a certain amount of play in the transmission, what is 'normal'? I don't have the answer in physical measurements but I'm sure someone will. I always worry with transmission clonks its not the gearbox mainshaft and the transfer case input gear! Sorry to put a downer on it! I am using the head in the sand approach to my LT77 box! Good luck mate! PS. fill in your profile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LR90 Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 Well welcome to LR4x4 Julian, glad you found us Sounds like you know what you are looking at so I guess you'll find LR maintenance a pretty simple task though there's plenty on here willing to give advise (and Tony's tech archive is a good source of info). With so many gears, shafts and joints the amount of play in the LR transmission is something you'd best just get used to. Though that A frame ball joint you've spotted will cause clunks of its own and does need changing. Not a job I've done myself so I can't comment on how difficult it is though I did seperate the ball joint on my 90 last weekend when changing the axle and it proved easier than I'd anticipated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BogMonster Posted June 13, 2006 Share Posted June 13, 2006 The A frame ball joint makes horrible noises when worn. It is not that hard to change with a press to get it out of the bracket, must admit I've not tried doing one without as I have only ever had to change one - they are usually worn out by lousy gearchanges and I only ever had to change one on a vehicle I had just bought due to the previous owner A degree of clunks and bangs is to be expected on a high miler, but whether it is serious or not is hard to define without hearing it. There's actually no excuse for it - you won't find backlash like that in a Toyota - its just LR "variable" build tolerances my 90 is nearly new and has the same "variations" worse by far than my old 90 with 5 x the mileage on it. If there is that much in the king pins, then they could be broken or maybe bearings collapsed. I would look at it sooner rather than later anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian Posted June 14, 2006 Author Share Posted June 14, 2006 >PS. fill in your profile. I've done what I can, now everyone will know my age! >If there is that much in the king pins, then they could be broken or maybe bearings collapsed. I would look at it sooner rather than later anyway. I agree, I don't like the look of all that play, next week was my target. I'm getting stuff from Land Rover Supermarket (near Liverpool Airport) because it's quite close to me in Warrington- is the place OK, or can 'the team' point me in a better direction? I have to say that the new spiders they supplied for my front propshaft don't have dust seals that are as good a quality as the originals. They have alloy rings holding the seal that are just crimped onto the cups, one or two of these rotated on the cup rather than the seal moving on the spider! I'll give them a shot of grease every oil change and see how they go... Julian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian Posted June 15, 2006 Author Share Posted June 15, 2006 Update: I've replaced that rear axle ball joint and it's transformed the vehicle, all the clunks and clonks have gone! I didn't use a press I just walloped the new joint into the housing with a short shaft sledge and a suitable length of steel pipe. Now for those swivels.... A job that I'm not looking forward to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LR90 Posted June 15, 2006 Share Posted June 15, 2006 After the A frame ball joint swivels should be a doddle. Sounds like your trucks coming together quite nicely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian Posted June 26, 2006 Author Share Posted June 26, 2006 I've started the swivels, the off side lower swivel bearing was collapsed with a broken cage. Also the chrome balls have some chrome missing and rusty bits right at the bottom, so it's new ones of these too. Question: The track control arm has a slight kink in it just where the damper bracket is located. is this correct or should it be straight? My next door neighbour has oxy/acet so I can straighten it easily. Also, I could not remove the TCA as per the instruction in the tech archive, it won't lift up enough for the ball joint threads to clear the tapers because of interference from the axle arms. (not sure of the correct terminology) They came away after the the hubs had been loosened - what's the normal way to get the TCA off? Cheers Julian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LR90 Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 TCA should be straight. Not sure why you can't get it off though it is tight under the diff. I can remember having to remove it to remove the radius arms but not the other way round. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diff Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 The easiest way to get the Track rod (behind the axle) off is to turn the steering to full right lock, then remove the left hand end first. This will give you enough clearance. You may need to go to full left lock to get the right hand end off. The track rod should be perfectly straight. If you straighten it, I suggest you keep it as an emergency spare only. Once they have bent once, they bend much more easily the second time round. The Track rod on the coil sprung landrovers is notoriously prone to getting bent if the vehicle is used off road. Many people choose to fit uprated track rods eg SUMO bars or sleeve the track rod with a tube eg DAN BAR. Regards, Diff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian Posted July 1, 2006 Author Share Posted July 1, 2006 The easiest way to get the Track rod (behind the axle) off is to turn the steering to full right lock, then remove the left hand end first.This will give you enough clearance. You may need to go to full left lock to get the right hand end off. The track rod should be perfectly straight. If you straighten it, I suggest you keep it as an emergency spare only. Once they have bent once, they bend much more easily the second time round. The Track rod on the coil sprung landrovers is notoriously prone to getting bent if the vehicle is used off road. Many people choose to fit uprated track rods eg SUMO bars or sleeve the track rod with a tube eg DAN BAR. Regards, Diff I've done the swivels now. I needed some new trackrod ends for the trackrod, they were full of rust and stiff/notchy. I straightened the track rod by putting it between two axle stands and giving it a wallop with a lump hammer, then I needed to warm it to remove the ends and dragged the threads out of the link end! (Grrr!!) Beam Ends in Stoke have a new rod and link, so it's off on Monday for collect them. I'm not sure why the rod had become bent in the first instance, the vehicle had only seen light use and towed the odd horse trailer - maybe the semi-siezed track rod ends caused it? Cheers Julian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbeaumont Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 The A frame ball joint makes horrible noises when worn. It is not that hard to change with a press to get it out of the bracket, must admit I've not tried doing one without as I have only ever had to change one - they are usually worn out by lousy gearchanges and I only ever had to change one on a vehicle I had just bought due to the previous owner I did the one on the range rover by hand - it's not too bad to get out provided you apply plenty of heat (not so sure whether that's good for the A-frame...), but getting the new one in is a git. Expect to spend all day hammering on it. If I ever have to do another I'll pay someone with a press to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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