Pastycrimper Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 Hi all, Well I'm pleased to say that my MOT went much better than expected . The only failure was upper shock bushes on the rear (both sides). I've just purchased a set of red polybushes for these (both upper and lower bushes), so I thought I'd upper and lower at the same time. the shocks are still OK (well they didn't fail) so the question is, is this as easy as the workshop manual suggests? I'mm planning on starting this job tomorrow morning and ideally would like to get the vehicle retested for the MOT in the afternoon. What are the pitfalls? I was advised that I dont even have to take the wheel off. Do I just loosen the fitting bolts then jack up the vehicle taking weight off the shocks and remove? Also once I have removed the old bushes I notice that my new bushes are in two halves (for the uppers) so does this make things easier? I'm optimistically hoping the old bushes will easily be removed but is this just dam stupid optimism? All tips gratefully received as I'd love to be legal by end of working day tomorrow but fear I'll spend the weekend doping such as simple job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmgemini Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 Don't even try to undo the nut on the top crows foot mounting. Cut it off otherwise you could shear the threaded part off the pin that the shocker fits onto. As you want to re use the shocks. Also cut the bottom nut off. Machine Mart sell a good pair of nut crackers. When you refit the shocks. Put the self locking nut on. Then add another nut to tryto keep the threads clean. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 no need to jack it up either if you don't take the wheel off. undo the top nut & bottom nut, compress the shock & ease it out/off the mountings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pastycrimper Posted November 17, 2011 Author Share Posted November 17, 2011 Don't even try to undo the nut on the top crows foot mounting. Cut it off otherwise you could shear the threaded part off the pin that the shocker fits onto. HTH Surely if I cut the top nut off I ownt have anything else to screw back onto when I refit!??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pastycrimper Posted November 17, 2011 Author Share Posted November 17, 2011 no need to jack it up either if you don't take the wheel off. undo the top nut & bottom nut, compress the shock & ease it out/off the mountings. Cheers Ralph I was kind of hoping it could be done like this. It appeared that it should be able to remove the shock without removing the wheel as the nuts are accessible. Is it easy to compress the shock by end? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pastycrimper Posted November 17, 2011 Author Share Posted November 17, 2011 Also regarding the top mount.....most pictures of new shocks look like they come comlete with bush and a central tube...whereas I thought the central tube was part of the land rover which slides over the bolt.....i.e I was assuming when I undo the top nut and remove the shock the shock with worn bush would come out leaving the tube on the vehicle for me to slide the two halves of my new bushes on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 fairly easy to compress, I fitted my OME shocks when they were new without to much effort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Henson Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 no need to jack it up either if you don't take the wheel off. undo the top nut & bottom nut, compress the shock & ease it out/off the mountings NEVER work on the suspension system of a vehicle without supporting it correctly. If a nut or thread shears, you are in trouble with an unsupported vehicle on your hands. fairly easy to compress, I fitted my OME shocks when they were new without to much effort. Not if they are gas or gas assist shocks. There's no way you'll be ble to compress one while huggung the wheel (which should be off anyway in order to make the job much easier/more accessible) The steel sleeve is part of the original bush. You should have washer, bush (with sleeve), washer, nyloc nut. Poly should be inner bush half, sleeve, outer bush half. Washers are the same as original. Les. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pastycrimper Posted November 17, 2011 Author Share Posted November 17, 2011 Well I have new washers and nuts but the polybushes aren't supplied with a steel sleave so I'm guessing removing the sleeve from the old bush is something I need to add to the list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmgemini Posted November 18, 2011 Share Posted November 18, 2011 Surely if I cut the top nut off I ownt have anything else to screw back onto when I refit!??? I give up !!! Cut the nut with a nut cracker or go to the dealer and order two new top mountings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Henson Posted November 18, 2011 Share Posted November 18, 2011 Mike meant to cut the nut off (split it off the thread), not cut through the whole thing Les. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pastycrimper Posted November 18, 2011 Author Share Posted November 18, 2011 Thanks all, Yeah I was a bit slow on the nut splitting vs nut sawing angle. Nonetheless both the top nuts came off OK via the normal method in the end. However the bottom ones I oculdn't get off so a nut splitter would be the sensible option here. However the lower rubber bushes seem absolutely fine. I bought the upper and lower polybush kit but I found it was very easy just to slide off the top mount and replace the top bushes without any trouble so I stuck with that as the MOT only required the top ones. When I get a splitter I'll do the bottom bushes although as said they're fine at the minute so I may hold off. It must be said that the polybishes seem a lot more considerable compared with the ones I removed even despite their wear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pastycrimper Posted November 18, 2011 Author Share Posted November 18, 2011 On the subject - The LR workshope manual says to torque the bottom and top nuts to 27lbf/ft whereas the Haynes manual says 61lbf/ft!!!!! I stuck with the landrover value but figured this figure will vary for each different type of bush presumably. I used fresh A2 nyloc nuts and copper grease so hopefully good for removal when the shocks go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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