Land Rover Series 3 - Suspension Overhaul - Part 1

Replacing the rear springs and shock absorbers on my t(r)usty old "leafer".
Fitting standard road springs, battles with rusty bolts and bushes guaranteed but the end result was good.
This film includes chassis bush removal and replacement, often a real struggle.
Working on the front today, video to follow.
(109" Series 3, 1983)

[@gonesailing]

Hi and thanks again for the helpful advice. I successfully changed over the brake pipe protection plates today to their correct location. It took all day and I had to drop the springs completely from the axle. What a $:(/$& that was. However, a combination of the tips you had given and perseverance got me there in the end. The joy of previous owner repairs... Cheers Ian

[@steamwally]

no worries Ian, glad you got it sorted. These things are never as simple as they look! Phill.

[@pedro2130]

that chassis bush puller you've made up at 10.57 is genius. well played

[@steamwally]

Cheers, I'd like to say it made light work of the job! the rear bushes are small enough and it just pulled those out. The fronts are larger and I had to hacksaw a slot in them first. still, it will be easier next time round!

[@odc43054]

Nice job with your bushing extractor, Phill. One trick I learned from someone was when working with threaded rod, to put two nuts on one end, bind them against each other so they were locked together, then you can use a ratchet on the outer nut to drive it, rather than using a wrench mid way. It's made my life much easier. Oh, that, and we need to get you an electric impact wrench. A great addition to any toolbox when you don't have enough air for the pneumatic variety. Makes a job like this one much easier.

[@steamwally]

odc43054That's a very handy tip.... seems obvious now, thanks!

[@odc43054]

steamwally You're welcome. And I was watching an old "Wheeler Dealer" on BBC America this morning where they were rehabbing a Fiat Dino. The mechanic guy had to replace the rear suspension bushings. He used a large socket and some washers to drive the bushings out/in. When I saw it, I thought about your custom made spacers and how much better they worked. Well done!

[@steamwally]

I guess time is money where TV is concerned!

[@lillysdad2687]

Yes good tool you bodged up to pull out the bushes. I just changed the front springs on my series 3 109, to find I have a series 2 front axle fitted. Which means the locating peg hole size is too small to take the series 3 springs. And also the size of the series 2 axle is much chunkier than the series 3, which also means none of the supplied Ubolts fitted :( I have had to have custom made parts to make it all fit. Job done now and it looks very nice and very strong :)

[@martinsmith1447]

Editing made that look easy! Nice job fella!

[@steamwally]

Martin Smith Thanks Martin, it's all simple stuff - just some of those bolts haven't moved in a long, long time! The only tricky bit was removing the front chassis bushes, I spent 6 hours or more on that yesterday.

[@mattyb120]

This ought to help me out, my project series 3 had been hammered by the previous owner and I had a look under the rear to realise not only rubber was coming out of the side of the bush but there was no nut on the bolt

[@glensmall9194]

Brilliant. Thank you. You are so patient and smart.

[@NathanNostaw]

Nice bush puller. I made up a similar but rougher unit for mine (many years ago). Mine were so stuck I stripped an m10 threaded rod, but had success using an ACME thread from a scissor jack. I've also done the burn and cut method, what a messy stinking job. Never again. That black soot/oil from the rubbers gets everywhere and never comes off.

[@scopex2749]

Got to take mine out to weld new rear spring supports on so I'll do all this at the same time. Great infor about the puller I need to get making one as my old girl is 51 years old so they WILL be 'welded' in! :(

[@Geordo1960]

Even though it looks simple Leaf springs can be hard to change!

[@tonyalways7174]

Excellent thank you

[@georgeogg6687]

Really interesting video m8

[@steamwally]

George Ogg Cheers!

[@HeinerStorchennest1]

Hi and thanks for the vid. Did you ever consider to fit PU Bushes?

[@55kemi]

Good job phil, glad you didn't waste your money on them fancy parabolics!

[@arjanwilbie2511]

Parabolics are nice for a offroader and low load on road. For my work vehicle i have the toughest ones out there. I shall make a copy of your tool as bushes can be A holes.

[@steamwally]

55kemi I've got the front done now, and having driven it; the improvement is so marked I'm glad I saved the extra cash.

[@steamwally]

Arjan Wilbie That's the other thing that put me off, I often carry a fair weight in the back. Took an engine to a show today having done the front end now, (finished about 11pm yesterday.....) it coped just fine.

[@arjanwilbie2511]

steamwally i bought a 109 2a with the heaviest springs at the rear and parabolics up front. It did not handle well :(

[@steamwally]

I'm no expert, but it doesn't sound a good combination to me! One wonders why people do such things...

[@David-lb4te]

Useful video. Editorial comment; you are fading the audio before you have stopped talking, which clips your voice. Just run each section a few seconds longer before cutting.

[@amerabbasi2076]

Because in my country use the hummer and fire to remove the bush chassi

[@steamwally]

Can't find where your comment about the size of the extractor components went, but I can tell you what to do. Once you have the new bushes, measure them. There are four things you need: 1- Different lengths of tube, slightly larger than the new bush but small enough to bear on the steel tube in the chassis, that is the strongest point. Rear chassis bushes are the same as the springs, front chassis bushes are larger so you'l need two sets of tubes. 2- You will need two heavy steel disks, slightly smaller than the bush - these will pull the bush through. 3- You will need a disk larger than the tubes on which to pull the bushes - I machined a step for each size of tube to keep everything as central as possible. 4- High tensile threaded steel bar, don't bother with mild as it won't take the pull. Just watch out, HT will let go without warning if you give it too much welly. Finally, pray to the Land Rover Gods, sacrifice a coil spring and wait until the wind is in a favorable direction! Good luck and happy rovering! Phill.

[@andrewhewitson6682]

Thanks for all that mate,just about to make a start on mine next and feel a lot more confident after watching yourself 👍🏻. Do you have a Facebook page to contact you about trouble shooting some other jobs that are puzzling me ?

[@bronsonjosue7423]

instablaster...

[@harryconn3172]

Looks like a job well worth doing. Isn't the fall uncomfortable? Cheers

[@steamwally]

Well worth doing. Fall?

[@harryconn3172]

Floor, lol

[@steamwally]

Lol yes it was, Ive only just stopped aching from doing this job.

[@TheBrianfanner]

Get a small thin mattress. Makes working on the ground much more bearable... wish I'd have done it much earlier in my life!

[@gonesailing]

I have a question about dropping out the leaf springs and want to ask your advice please? A previous owner installed the two brake protection brackets on the wrong side (not sure of it's name, but this is the plate you riveted the brake lines too). I need to swap them over left to right. I followed your helpful video in terms of jacking up and supporting the land rover (Series 2, SWB) and axle, and in the same way proceeded to undo the nuts on the u bolts. The plan was not to drop the whole leaf spring completely, but to lower it a bit so that I could remove and then swap the plates over. After wrestling for many hours and even removing one (now broken) u bolt the springs remain firmly attached (rusted together most likely) to the axle. I tried hammering but no joy. In the centre of the spring is a pin or bolt (threaded with a nut at the bottom of the spring). I didn't touch this, but wanted to ask if that would have been the issue in things not separating with a bang like with your springs? I thought this is just a pin the locates in the axle. I figured by first loosening and then removing the u bolts it would separate. Any thoughts would be much appreciated. Always enjoy watching and learning through your series of videos.

[@steamwally]

sorry I didn't reply sooner. The pin that locates in the axle is the very same which has the nut through the spring, but you need not remove the nut. Try jacking the axle away from the spring, but be careful. it can pay to put a sling around the axle to stop it straying car when everything does let go! you can put in timber props between the chassis and spring if its really stuck, get a bit of pressure on with the jack and then use a hammer and soft drift to shock the axle off the spring.

[@gonesailing]

Great and thanks very much for your helpful suggestion. I will give this a try (still trying to find matching U-bolts to replace those I damaged in removal), to finish off. Have been enjoying your other series of videos covering your Land Rover and small engines.

[@amerabbasi2076]

Thank you for this but can you anyone to tell about instrument of removing buch of chassi and where can I find it

[@steamwally]

I made the chassis bush extractor myself, but you can buy a tool called a bushwhacker.

[@johnclifford9695]

Where did you purchase the springs from?

[@amerabbasi2076]

Can you tell me dimension each piece separately

[@ГлебКасаткин-н3ц]

щас бы снять рессоры и не покрасить мост