Don't fit Polybushes standard rubber are best

A standard Drag link will work just fine, fitting an expensive fancy one is a waste of money imo Rimmer Bros "OEM" is MOOG so i'd go with that they're not expensive..

When you mean "donut" do you mean the Harmonic Damper?

If yours is a Diseasel it won't have one on the front diff..

If you mean the coupling for the Prop, mine doesn't have rubber couplings.

No rubber donuts on the P38. The Disco has one, and I suspect the Defender does as well.
For your drag links and track rods, if they are stiff to rotate they will be good. If they rotate easily, or are sloppy they need replacing.

Lpgc wrote:

I've been on the floor under many thousands of vehicles for extended periods including hundreds of P38s.

If I'm doing 'on the floor' and not working on wheels/suspension my favourite method for raising a vehicle is to drive it onto concrete blocks.

But with Rangerover's it's so handy to be able to press a button and have the car lift itself up, no driving onto concrete blocks necessary.

With most of the Rangerovers I converted I just pressed the button and crept underneath, loads of headroom. On only a few of the Rangerovers I've been under have I felt it necessary to prop the body (including a few P38s I converted that were on bump stops when they came in...).

If I have to jack anything I'll try to leave both jack and axle stands under the vehicle sharing the weight and adding stability. Still, if a spring failed... But considering the vehicle has been driving around for years/miles and the spring hasn't failed it would have to be 'my time' and a freak accident for anything that untoward to happen. Although electronics on Rangerovers may decide to vent air from airbags at anytime, or airbags might suddenly blow, I've come to trust that won't happen.

But I do sometimes push the risks a bit... some of you have seen (on forum) pics of the Nissan I had resting on gas tanks while I dropped it's engine out from below..

After addressing all the obvious crush safety concerns my biggest worry under cars is the amount of crap I'll be getting in my eyes. I get loads of bits in eyes, mostly very minor issues but around 3 times per year I'll get something in an eye that messes with my eyes for several days. Can't wear goggles etc, can't see well enough through them.

Simon,
I’m like you, don’t like Goggles, I found a pair in tool station, more like a diving mask, find them quite comfortable to be honest, saved my eyes from a load of c#@p,, might be worth a look, I’ll see if I can find a link, no 64367,, made by UVEX

https://www.toolstation.com/workwear-safety/safety-eyewear/c243

Lemforder drag link and track rod end from Island 4x4, Lemforder supply LR (and BMW) so are OE and not expensive. To test the swivel ball joints you need to try to lift the hub up to check for play in them.

Thanks guys,

(Not diesel - it's a 4.0 Thor)

Picking up on most of this:

• Not going to fit Polybush, but I might fit Superpro ;-) However I've just priced up OEM vs Superpro and it looks like the price difference is substantial. Probably enough to pay for a press - even if not the shipping to Inverness... :-( So we'll see.

• Lemforder - yep - went for them where I could on the Defender

• Track rod and drag link. Again, there's a price difference between Gwyn's Sumobars and standard/OEM but in this instance it's only about £50/60 - and for that you get good stainless bars that could even be taken off and sold on if the time ever comes.

And talking about pricing up, I've gone through the parts list and it could be anything between £800 and £950 to do a suspension overhaul. By that I mean the stuff that bounces and keeps it in a straight line, not wheel bearings, halfshafts, hubs etc. Spread over 3 or 4 months that's OK - and the MOT's not due till September...

I think I'm going to get quite used to lying underneath it - but the state of the air springs at the moment mean I'll definitely want to use extra supports!

It's the balljoints that wear, generally it doesn't matter what grade steel the drag link it made of..

£950 seems steep I replaced almost all the suspension bushes for under £350

Checking through my lists approaching £1,000 sounds about right to do everything suspension related at 2020 prices. Reasonable though most individual prices are all the bits do add up.

Wouldn't touch stainless steel steering links with a barge, let alone the pole. Stainless isn't a miracle metal and there are manufacturing and fabrication issues where dynamic loads are concerned. I'd need do be very sure that such items came from a proper maker with the needful design skills and engineering back up. Not a 2 man and a dog workshop producing a look-alike.

My list for "everything" in 2018 - 2019 comes to around £930 with Lemfoder steering links, ball joints, official Land Rover bushes, full set of Bilstien shockers and Bilstien steering damper. Paddock prices for the Bilsteins were good at £350 for all five. Still need to get round to actually fitting the bushes in the front panhard rod tho'.

Air bags were done several years earlier so they would be extra.

As folks here know my opinion is that its best to do everything in one hit as you get maximum benefit for your money. Although £1,000 always sounds expensive you are really comparing cost against depreciation on something new enough not to need such work. Which will be lots more even though you don't crystallise the cost until changing the vehicle.

Being charitable we should spare a tender thought for those unfortunates who have an L322!

Clive

I agree what you say Clive about stainless steel stressed parts. It is very prone to cracking and usually stainless parts are made thinner because it doesn't rust. I doubt if any calculations have been done. Just make a few and try them out.
Someone sold a stainless steel Defender chassis a few years back. It wasn't around long due to cracking. If anything stainless stressed parts need to be beefed up and made thicker.

Well, today I've ordered a bunch of stuff to get started on this. Maybe the first month's 'instalment'...

I didn't go for the Gwyn Lewis steering bars this time around - though as a solid 30mm bar I don't think there would be any question about strength. I've gone for Lemforder versions - rods and balljoint assemblies, along with new front air springs and fixings, steering damper, panhard bushes and fixings, and front shock absorbers, anti-roll bar bushes and links and a new front propshaft. Radius arms tbc. That should all make a very useful difference to how the car drives. I'll look at doing the back end next month.

However after all that, I think I might have accidentally stumbled upon something else this evening which could generate a 'wobble' - and it's none of the above 😩... Rather than keep going here under this odd thread title, I think I'll start something else to document questions and issues as they crop up.