Radius Arm Bushes DIY

[Russ Kellermann]

Not quite sure i understand the marking out process, although i assume its simple, just awkward to do?

But!... how does it drive ? When compared to your original bush setup.?

[Boats]

Great info!

How many km on the old bushes?

[Peter Connan]

Great info!

How many km on the old bushes?

Boats, with rubber bushes it's less about km than about years.

[Michael]

Not quite sure i understand the marking out process, although i assume its simple, just awkward to do?

But!... how does it drive ? When compared to your original bush setup.?

Russ, this part took allot of time. Its so easy to get confused with the markings and I had to remove the first bush just after insgalling it because I made a mistake.

I could not test it properly yet as I live 8km from work and could not go faster than 80km/h. But it really does feel better and allot "stiffer" if it makes sense

[Michael]

Great info!

How many km on the old bushes?

Boats,

I agree with Pieter, its as if the rubber of the old bushes started to get hard and old over time. But for the record it lasted 250,000km

[Boats]

Thanks, it makes sense that the age is more indicative - your Patol is a 2001 and the bushes original? What was the condition of the rear radius arm bushes?

[Michael]

Boats, mine is actually a 2000 model that was registered in 2001. It is hard to say if the bushes are still the original ones that came with the car, but if I had to guess I would say that they are.

The rear radius arm bushes were still file, I just put them back as they came out. (think they cost R270 ea if I remember correctly)

[Russ Kellermann]

I'll bet all my money those were original bushes in there.

As for the new ones,.. you'll know once you get on a slightly bumpy road driving at 100km/h. Hopefully that sensation of vehicle shift across your lane will have been totally minimised and the vehicle tracks true and confidently.

[Michael]

That is true Russ, I drove the long way to work this morning so that I can get some open road and managed to drive 120km/h for a long stretch.....car feels brand new and drives with way less effort.

I now just need to do the birfield joint seal then its wheel alignment time

[Grant]

Hi Gents,

Can attest to this. When I originally did the suspension lift on my Troll, TJM 4 inch, TJM specialists at HQ did not know that the Patrol suspension is very different to the Cruisers.

We fitted this suspension in my shop which included 30mm coil spacers at the rear to for the weight of the drawers etc. We also fitted the castor correction bushes. Diffs moved left by about 4 inches and castor was still out of spec by more than 1 deg. Patrol stood for 4 weeks as we got the adjustable pan hard rods in and then GMAN manufacture a set of drop boxes for my specific lift. Lastly we fitted the spacer plate above the gearbox, and lengthened the brake and diff lines. Wheel travel was fantastic, even a little to fantastic as at full articulation the wheels got stuck in the wheel wells. Last mod was to lengthen the bump stops and now everything works well.

This has given my patrol such great ability that there is no need for me to fix the rear LSD, as I go were all the other Patrols go and more.

This is what is needed when you do a +50mm lift. Ultimately it was a great learning experience and it gave the Troll a great reputation especially at the Cruiser events I attended.


Maybe a suggestion is to have a GTG were we can have our vehicles on display for each other and can offer advice on all the extra's we have added. A typical GTG and tell day with a braai afterwards. No 4x4ing but more of a lekker kuier.