[beachfront]

Can someone explain (based on my internet description) what is most likely going on with my ride so I can research and be able to discuss with an indie mechanic shop..

If I am going 60 mph and decide to slow to a stop .. there is a short rattling up front for about 5 seconds .. typically its around 50 mph but I have also felt it at slower speeds, the steering wheel shakes and somewhere down by the front tires is also clanking around.

The best way I can describe it is when you are in an airplane decending down to land and you hit a patch of light turbulance in an otherwise smooth ride ..
I had asked before if it was a safety hazard and told no but I think I want to get this fixed regardless... tires are new and balanced, aligned, etc so I know its not that.

Thanks for the help.

Is there any reason a local non RR shop could not perform this fix? Or should I pawn my duffy boat and take it to LR Newport Beach ..

 

[gooseyloosey]

Assuming its not a warped rotor issue on the braking and/or something else brake related, have the shop check:

1. The upper and lower control arm joints and bushings
2. The steering tie rod ends
3. The sway bar end links (and mounts while you're at it)

It may be one or a combination of these, and yes, a decent indie should be able to diagnose and repair these conditions.
You can look on-line at diagrams of how a wishbone suspension is set up to see how these look.

You will need an alignment for 1&2 though. The RRS alignment process seems to be funky though and the indy shop may not be set up properly. So if not, maybe pawn some oars, the bilge pump and the green and white striped Sunbrella canopy and take it to Newport Beach LR for the alignment?

Edit: I would use OEM parts on anything needing replacement, unless you wanted to head down the poly bush road on the swaybar mounts.

 

[beachfront]

Had it checked and thought I would post for others if interested.

It was the front lower control arm bushings that were bad. When you hit the brakes you could see the inital jolt these bushings were supposed to absorb.

So I had 2 choices

1. Replace all 4 bushings at $100 bucks a pop plus 5 hours labor
2. Replace the 2 lower control arms which includes the new bushings and new ball joints at $250 a pop plus 3 hours labor

All is done and a huge difference.

The only problem is the shop mentioned by front disc's were warped prob due to the excess movement created when braking with the bad bushings... still the jolts and major vibration when hitting the brakes or going over a bump are gone, as well as most of my squeeling brake issues for some reason...

My point above is that if you have to replace the bushings, it is actually cheaper the replace the whole control arm and you get new ball joints included in the process .. I am not sure my dealer would have explained that to me .. b a s t a r d s ..

Thanks GLoosey for the input ...

Carry on soldiers..

 

[PJPR01]

My point above is that if you have to replace the bushings, it is actually cheaper the replace the whole control arm and you get new ball joints included in the process .. I am not sure my dealer would have explained that to me .. b a s t a r d s ..

This is actually the preferred route as many shops don't have a press to properly remove the bushings and then press the new ones in...so it's a lot easier to replace the entire structure.

Rotors are not expensive...so if they are severely warped and the shaking in the steering wheel upon braking is intolerable, then replacing the rotors is an easy solution.

 

[gooseyloosey]

Glad you're all sorted out bf. And to what Paul said, I'll add that the the dealer prolly replaces the whole thing as well. I doubt they'd muck around w pressing out bushings.

Depending on how warped, a warped rotor can also increase wear on the various suspension bushings. Unless you have fairly new pads in there, & if it was me, I would do new pads with the new rotors...'cause that's the way I roll.

 

[bluemandm1]

I'm replacing some arms myself and wondering if there is a better arm out there other than the factory arms. I notice that of all places O'Reilly Auto Parts has some, unfortunately the listing they have says there are two of one style and one of another style. I ordered all of them and as it turned out they were all left front trailing arms. What is the deal with the names of these arms? One is call a upper and one is called lower when this suspension is a McPherson style meaning there is no upper A arm in a conventional sense?

 

[beachfront]

I am not sure but I went with aftermarket. My shop mentioned that there are a lot of AM parts that, in their opinion seem to be higher quality than the RR OEM stuff. Pricing was similar, the dealer wanted $ 276 and $265 for the R and L lower control arms, I paid approx 250 each. The shop showed me their pricing to let me know they were not making more money off of these as RR gives local shops a 30% discount.

If you really need the info I could ask them the brand,, it seems they are all one big ***** of metal though.

N

 

[gooseyloosey]

I'm replacing some arms myself and wondering if there is a better arm out there other than the factory arms. I notice that of all places O'Reilly Auto Parts has some, unfortunately the listing they have says there are two of one style and one of another style. I ordered all of them and as it turned out they were all left front trailing arms.

What is the deal with the names of these arms? One is call a upper and one is called lower when this suspension is a McPherson style meaning there is no upper A arm in a conventional sense?

This is a very funny post. I enjoyed it. :thumb:

 

[Frisco_TX_RRS]

I've been getting an occasional clunk on the RF wheel going over a bump at a very slow speed, pulling out of my driveway or garage over the lip, Another noise is is going very slow I am able to mimick it by tapping the brake. Could this just be the bushings or the control arm or can;t be determined till I get underneath. If its a control arm - do I have to replace both or just one. If its the bushings I would replace both I assume.

What noise would i get if its the sway bay bushings? Do any of these issues cause a vibration in the wheel and should it get progressively worse as the speed increases or is it dependent on the type of road. Sometimes I have a shimmy at 50ish and not the others. I've looked into the steering gear issue - but thought I'd do the control arm route 1st.

 

[gooseyloosey]

I've been getting an occasional clunk on the RF wheel going over a bump at a very slow speed, pulling out of my driveway or garage over the lip, Another noise is is going very slow I am able to mimick it by tapping the brake. Could this just be the bushings or the control arm or can;t be determined till I get underneath. If its a control arm - do I have to replace both or just one. If its the bushings I would replace both I assume.

What noise would i get if its the sway bay bushings? Do any of these issues cause a vibration in the wheel and should it get progressively worse as the speed increases or is it dependent on the type of road. Sometimes I have a shimmy at 50ish and not the others. I've looked into the steering gear issue - but thought I'd do the control arm route 1st.

IMO the noise is very similar between worn swaybar mounts or control arm. A trip onto the lift will diagnose it. The upper control arm is under much less stress than the lower and likely does not need to be changed out unless your rig's got lots o' miles--like in Umberto territory. If you are replacing the lca, then I would go ahead and do the swaybar bushings while you're under there. Again, it seems the way of LR is to replace the whole arm. Mine's doing the knock knock who's there just a little bit and I'm rolling up on 48K so I'm hoping either it gets worse in the next 2K or my dealer will do me a solid and take care of it under warranty, as is. ray:

 

[Frisco_TX_RRS]

So I checked with the dealer and the control arm bushings are under my extended warranty. If I wanted them to do the whole control arm, which may be cheaper - they may not be able to write it up that way and can't do it. I will have them check the sway bar mounts as well - hopefully this is part of the extended warranty too. Will find out tomorrow what the issue is.

 

[localbrew]

So I checked with the dealer and the control arm bushings are under my extended warranty. If I wanted them to do the whole control arm, which may be cheaper - they may not be able to write it up that way and can't do it. I will have them check the sway bar mounts as well - hopefully this is part of the extended warranty too. Will find out tomorrow what the issue is.

Please let us know, I have the same noise on the same side.

Thx!

 

[Frisco_TX_RRS]

So it was the control arm bushings. It runs smooth and nice now. There is a slight wobble in the steering, but its dependent on the road which I think is the tires. Also seems nice and tight feel in the steering after the control arm busings were replaced.

 

[gkwait]

So it was the control arm bushings. It runs smooth and nice now. There is a slight wobble in the steering, but its dependent on the road which I think is the tires. Also seems nice and tight feel in the steering after the control arm busings were replaced.

Did you take it to LR Frisco? I'm having a similar issue but leery of the friso guys. They didn't seem to be too helpful last time.

Which extended warranty do you have?

 

[Frisco_TX_RRS]

Talk to a guy named David at LR Frisco. He knows his stuff. I have a warranty purchased from the dealer.

The other steering vibration I have are really dependent on the road - will be smooth as hell on a well surfaced black top road or a new road (e.g. Eldorado), but on other concrete roads, I see a slight shimmy. So its leads me to think it the tires doing it.

 

[localbrew]

Talk to a guy named David at LR Frisco. He knows his stuff. I have a warranty purchased from the dealer.

The other steering vibration I have are really dependent on the road - will be smooth as hell on a well surfaced black top road or a new road (e.g. Eldorado), but on other concrete roads, I see a slight shimmy. So its leads me to think it the tires doing it.

so they did it under the warranty?

 

[localbrew]

One last question, was it upper or lower control arm?

 

[Frisco_TX_RRS]

I've got the extended warranty. It was the lower control arm bushings