suspention question

[boss]

no front flex. alot of people are telling me to take the front bolt out of the radius arms but would that cause more problems than it solves?
decided against the 3/4 link kits as i have no time to make and i have no money for them. i have tried taking the bolts out before to replace the bushes but no hope how can i get them off?

[chris9119]

Would suggest that you rethink what your exactly asking for and post again in the Queen's English  :idea:

That way, someone maybe able to help.

Also, try the new spell check facility :idea:

[extreme90]

its spring rates that are giving you the problem
not radius arms
there isnt a stock disco spring that suits the balance of a bobtail truck cab's 90
you have to revert to defender 90 springs ( the pick up version ) as they are different again to normal 90 springs
dan

[clbarclay]

What sort bushes do you have in the front suspension?
Most polyurethene bushes come relativerly very stiff which notably reduces the movement of radius suspension.

Springs do have an effect, but the nature of radius arm suspension means you have to detort the bushes to get any movement so the stiffer the bushes the less movement. The plus side from radius arms is they act like an anti roll bar, you can feel the differeance between stiff polys and rubber on the road, but thats a minor point to me.


There have been many solutions to the conundrum and these are just a some of them

Using a radius arm setup
- Softer bushes
- Void bushes
- Hinged radius arm (more or less same as removing a bolt)

Or changing the radius arms
- Single link
- 3 link (plus panhard rod)
- 4 link

Each have their pros and cons. I'm working towards something other than radius arms, though for the time being standard metalastic bushes provide enough articulation to be getting on with and come the rebuild :roll: they will be getting a couple of holes drilled through them for DIY void bushes.

[extreme90]

i use stock bush's
mine has no problems with flexing
nor does jims disco
his suspention was ace until we bobtailed it
then the spring rates went to [!Expletive Deleted!]
took us ages to get the correct rates to get it flexing properly

[Range Rover Blues]

I get what you're asking, DO NOT under any circumstances try driving the car with one of the radius arm bolts missing.

What you need to do is bin whatever bushes you have in there and fit either 3.5 carb spec RRC metalastic bushes or Defender bushes, both of which are single layer soft rubber bushes to allow maximum deflection of the rubber.

When the EFi was introduced IIRC the RRC bushes were stiffened, the 2 layer type you see on standard cars today.  This was an effort to get some roll stiffness into the car, as it was going that bit faster. Later ARBs were introduced onto the 3.9, around 1991.  I can't remember if the bushes were changed back, but anyway you need the most compliant bushes available, same with the chassis end, you need rubber.

[boss]

chris9119 dont know what post you were reading but the spell checker was used!

the bushes in there at the moment are the landrover bushes that were fitted at the factory(as far as i know)....definatley need replacing! i have a set of polly bushes but the wrong ones and are too hard, i was thinking about slotting bushes but now those void bushes are around i dont haveto bother.
can anything else be done?

[clbarclay]

RRB
The later RRC with ARBs did go back to a single peice of rubber for the metalastic radius arm bushes, thats why I fitted some. It saved the effort of changing radius arms and axle to be able to fit early RRC or 90 narrower bushes. Having said that I'm sure with some carful grinding and some washers you can fit narrow bushes to wide arms and axle.


Dan
I take it you have narror arms and rubber bushes? if so try changing you radius arms to wide and fit stiff poly bushes and see what effect it has on the front suspension flex. It made a very obvious differeance to mine just by changing from polys to the single piece metalastic bushes.


Another point worth noting, rubber becomes stiffer with age, so very old bushes won't help either.

i have a set of polly bushes but the wrong ones

Are they orange and cost around £50?

[boss]

no there red and i think i payed alot more than that :shock:
would like to make a giant a-frame which incorporates the radius arms and makes it all into a 1 link....but no time and that would be bloody hard!

[extreme90]

RRB
The later RRC with ARBs did go back to a single peice of rubber for the metalastic radius arm bushes, thats why I fitted some. It saved the effort of changing radius arms and axle to be able to fit early RRC or 90 narrower bushes. Having said that I'm sure with some carful grinding and some washers you can fit narrow bushes to wide arms and axle.


Dan
I take it you have narror arms and rubber bushes? if so try changing you radius arms to wide and fit stiff poly bushes and see what effect it has on the front suspension flex. It made a very obvious differeance to mine just by changing from polys to the single piece metalastic bushes.


Another point worth noting, rubber becomes stiffer with age, so very old bushes won't help either.

i have a set of polly bushes but the wrong ones

Are they orange and cost around £50?

nope
mine are f*** off scorpion arms which are wide units
also
polys are c***
last a few months then are good to go into the bin  :shock: wont use them again apart from certain places
for reference, they were " polybush dynamic orange " not cheap inferior clobber
sand gets inbertween the liner and bush, then mixed with water it makes a rather fine grinding paste  :lol:
damn things 

[Range Rover Blues]

RRB
The later RRC with ARBs did go back to a single peice of rubber for the metalastic radius arm bushes, thats why I fitted some. It saved the effort of changing radius arms and axle to be able to fit early RRC or 90 narrower bushes. Having said that I'm sure with some carful grinding and some washers you can fit narrow bushes to wide arms and axle.

I had a nagging feeling they had done.  I havn't checked them all but every one of ours I've swapped had the stiffer bushes in there, of course the LSE needs them :-.


I'm going to take the polybushes out of the rad arms on Blue and fit a set of QT arms with Defender bushes in them, so I'll be needing washer in there too I guess.  Now it's not the only RRC I have to drive it doesn't need to handle quite so well and I want better articulation too, blue is the off-roader now, the TDi (when it comes back) is the daily drive and the LSE is for scaring myself/towing the 'van :D