LR3 Front upper suspension arm replacement | Land Rover Discovery 3

Recently I discovery that my front upper suspension arm bushes in my Discovery 3 where completely shot. So after waiting for parts to arrive its now time to get into changing the arms over. This is a relatively easy change out that actually doesn't take all that long each side.
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[@faizkhandbnsa]

Thanks Shane you have helped me alot with this straight forward to the point video. god bless🙏

[@Shanes_Shed]

Thanks for watching

[@HostileAmerican]

Solid video, thank you 🤘

[@Shanes_Shed]

No problem 👍Thanks for taking the time to comment

[@brucegrinter7640]

nicely done 👍🇭🇲

[@Shanes_Shed]

Thanks 👍

[@ayanhassan4858]

Hats off to you for tackling this. I've only ever seen one other KZbin video tackling this job. Whereas there are dozens on the front and rear lower arms - because they are way easier to do .I've replaced all the control arms on my LR3 except those front uppers. It just seemed to me I wouldn't be able to get at those bolts with any kind of wrench (spanner). I've had the replacement arms sitting in a box for couple of years! I remember the handling of the car with the rear uppers gone was quite scary around corners.

[@Shanes_Shed]

I've had the front upper arms out several times over the years for access for other jobs. They are not really any more difficult than the other arms. I had a worn rear toe link a few years ago - that make for some weird handling at times when the rear wanted to steer itself

[@philr878]

Thanks again Shane. Like the neat trick with the ‘one clap’ wheel removal. You’ll have to do a vid on that! Make sure you do them nuts up ferkin tight.

[@Shanes_Shed]

I surprised myself how well that wheel removal trick worked. Glad to see someone knows what FT means

[@RetroVeloMelbourne]

Brilliant. Exactly what I needed thanks mate.

[@Shanes_Shed]

Your welcome, thanks for taking the time to drop a comment

[@Rickwardful]

Thanks for this Shane Yesterday, finally managed to find out exactly where the source of a suspension ‘creaking’ noise was coming from, by my brother opening the passenger door of my L320 RR sport, and hanging outside while I drove it over to some undulating ground in off-road suspension highest setting mode. Turns out to be the rear bushing of the left hands side upper suspension arm, proved by rocking the car while stationary, with my hand on that bush and feeling it ‘jerk’ rather than move smoothly. It has been annoying me for ages and have changed so many other parts trying to stop the noise. Most annoyingly, the noise disappears in Winter when it is wet, but returns in the dry Summers. Hopefully changing the arms will solve the problem. But I’ll check that the bolts are done up tightly first, in case them being too lose is that actual problem.

[@Shanes_Shed]

No worries, hope you get it sorted.

[@Rickwardful]

@@Shanes_Shed Cheers. I am just wondering if my garage didn’t set the wheel axle at the correct height before tightening it or didn’t tighten it enough, which is causing the noise. Bloody annoying, but am fairly certain I have at last located exactly where it is coming from at last. Great video btw!

[@Shanes_Shed]

Tightening at the incorrect height on its own probably wont cause the noise, but it would result in lower bush life which could then lead to noise as the bush flogs itself to death

[@sebastiangawowicz4121]

Very helpful 😊

[@Shanes_Shed]

Thank you. I am always glad to hear my videos are of use

[@ciarancarty6186]

Great video. Thanks Shane. I'm about to tackle this job shortly. How did you go with the other side? I had a quick reach around the back of the strut mount on that side and it seems that heat shielding is in the way of the front bolt. Did you have to remove/loosen shielding on that side and if so, can you offer any tips in that regard? I want to avoid risk of losing heat shielding bolts/nuts or not being able to get it back together! Cheers.

[@Shanes_Shed]

Going from memory here, but I don't believe I had any issue with the heat shields getting in the way.

[@stuarth43]

thanks, got to rebuild my turbo, so all that's gotta come out on the passenger's side d4, trouble is lost use most left hand from stroke Used to work at Cummins, could whip a turbo off of an N14 Rebuild and refit before lunch, my d4 cannot even see the turbo

[@Shanes_Shed]

Well that sucks (both the loss of your left hand and the turbo). Are you going to be doing the job yourself or farming it off to someone? Thanks for taking the time to comment

[@Fatboi_slin]

Hey Shane, love your work. I’ve done the lower control arms before due to the big clunk when braking hard. Did you notice any noises while driving with the dodgey uppers? Or did you just notice when doing the tyre rotation?

[@Shanes_Shed]

There was an very slight clunk that only occurred when I was moving forward after reversing out of my carport. Only happened when the steering wheel was being turned from the left to the right at the same time as moving forward as well.

[@richardwilliams8667]

So the factory has the bolts going in from the backside with the nuts on the front side of the bushes. This makes doing up the nuts hard on the back bush as you are blocked by the arm angle at road height. I wonder if it matters which way they go as doing up the nut on the back side looks a lot easier to get some swing on a ring spanner. I can't see why it would matter what orientation the bolts are?

[@Shanes_Shed]

My bolts have always been in this orientation since I've owned it. I've never tried to put the rear bolt in the other way, but I would have guessed that the body position would make installation and removal difficult. Front one could easily be put in the other way, but putting the nut on would be an absolute bastard of job - hard enough just putting the bolt in from around the back of the strut tower

[@wilsonng911]

Considering doing mine soon. Would there be more room to work by removing the plastic guards??

[@Shanes_Shed]

They do open up a little more room at the top with them out.

[@PeterOZ61]

Great video mate, would an elbow adaptor or offset allow a torque wrench in there? Have you done the rear upper and lowers? I'm considering that on mine as it is wallowing badly and getting a bit of wander. Shocks are almost new.

[@Shanes_Shed]

Its possible that would work - Torque adaptors is the google term to look for. Basically a ring spanner that a 1/2" drive torque wrench can hook onto. You will need to re-calculate the torque if using these. And yes I have done the rear lower and upper arms, was about 4 years ago. If you don't have rusted bolts to deal with then they are just as easy as the fronts to do - still have the same issue with getting a standard socket and torque wrench on them too.

[@PeterOZ61]

@@Shanes_Shed yup I did see those online. There are. A few articles about how to calculate the difference in torque. I may invest in a torque wrench that the elbow built on. I think LR time use one. Can’t say my 61 year old back is looking forward to the job or my wallet 🙄😭

[@BrinkHouse]

Great video! About to do this on my LR3 but I have a 1.5" johnson rod lift. Do I need to add that 1.5" to the hub measurement (466mm) at the end?

[@Shanes_Shed]

Yes it would be good practice to do that. You need to tighten the bushes in the normal height position otherwise they will have a little bit of a twist through the bush all the time.

[@BrinkHouse]

@@Shanes_Shed Thanks for the quick reply!

[@stuarth43]

think my turbo control arm has fallen off, got the upper arm off, it is not there:((

[@Shanes_Shed]

Not 100% sure what part it is exactly your referring to - I'm assuming your referring to the rod for the variable vane movement?