Death Wobble Experts - PLEASE ADVISE

[p m]

The problem is finding quality rubber bushings. I had a new set of rubber trailing arm bushings last less than 500 miles(2 days on Wisconsin fireroads).
Can you even find Genuine LR any more??

I don't think so.
Usually, I try to keep the original rubber as long as I can. Then, it's a crapshoot.
But there's a difference, still - even shitty rubber bushings tend to last about a year in desert Southwest. Poly bushings are hard as rock and half-worn after a few hundred miles in the desert.

 

[Jimmy]

Another PolyBush blue user here... but just in the axle end of arms, and in the panhard. This was after destroying a minimum of three sets of rubber bushes. The polys have lasted much longer than the rubber to the abuse of flexing it out offroad.

Oh, and my TF rod came with yellow poly bushes and was the "gold" color. Pretty sure I ordered it from LRDirect.

 

[Tugela]

Nick...

This is just like glowing report of upgrades to 4.6. One year of ownership means something if you put at least 50 kmi on the truck in this year.
OME rear shocks greatly improved handling of my D1.
But one broke off the eye in Death Valley about 1200 miles and 8 months later.
And "people in the know" raised their eyebrows and said - what, you didn't know OME break off their tops?

I have never seen polyurethane bushings last more than one-half of comparable lifetime of rubber components. In case of genuine Land Rover parts, it is about one-fifth at best.

That is precisely why I gave the context of my ownership. I can speak to my experience with the parts while I owned and drove the truck, not beyond. Readers can make their own determination of whether or not a year of data is useful for their purposes. At minimum it shows one data point and there is value to that as part of a larger sample. There are a lot of variables influencing bushing longevity so I think it's difficult to apply a one-size-fits-all determination to the question. And if genuine rubber bushings are unobtanium then the choice for replacements boils down to the least worst remaining option.

 

[terryjm1]

Having not experienced “death wobble“ can someone explain it to me?

Update... nevermind. Found a youtube video that shows it well. Yikes! Hope I never have that!

 

[jymmiejamz]

I know I've said this many times before, but I don't like poly bushings because when they fail, they usually fail catastrophically. My experience with rubber has been a slow fade.

 

[fishEH]

The above referenced trailing arm bushings. The rubber peeled off like two donuts. The ass end of my truck was all over the place. Had to hose clamp the rubber back in place to make the drive home.

 

[jymmiejamz]

The above referenced trailing arm bushings. The rubber peeled off like two donuts. The ass end of my truck was all over the place. Had to hose clamp the rubber back in place to make the drive home.

What brand were those?

 

[fishEH]

What brand were those?

IDK. All makes or ShitPart probably.
Funny thing is I put a black set of Britpart poly bushes in my red D1 and they have held up well, at least better than those rubber ones.

 

[Knightspirit]

The problem is finding quality rubber bushings. I had a new set of rubber trailing arm bushings last less than 500 miles(2 days on Wisconsin fireroads).
Can you even find Genuine LR any more??

Makes me wonder about the brand new bushing that failed - maybe it was just crap from the get go. We'll see how these hold up once I start driving again. I think I'll let the poly bushes in the panhard bar stay initially - and replace if needed with rubber.

 

[fishEH]

Makes me wonder about the brand new bushing that failed - maybe it was just crap from the get go. We'll see how these hold up once I start driving again. I think I'll let the poly bushes in the panhard bar stay initially - and replace if needed with rubber.

Given the ease of installing/removing poly vs pressing in/out rubber, I think that's a good call.

 

[lunchbox]

The last time I replaced my bushings, I went with one piece bushings. I think they were Terrafirma and Superpro, depending what was available. The only factory bushing I use is radius arm to chassis. The split bushings in the panhard rod are a joke.

 

[kennith]

Nick...

This is just like glowing report of upgrades to 4.6. One year of ownership means something if you put at least 50 kmi on the truck in this year.
OME rear shocks greatly improved handling of my D1.
But one broke off the eye in Death Valley about 1200 miles and 8 months later.
And "people in the know" raised their eyebrows and said - what, you didn't know OME break off their tops?

I have never seen polyurethane bushings last more than one-half of comparable lifetime of rubber components. In case of genuine Land Rover parts, it is about one-fifth at best.

I think I've only broken one OME, but if I recall correctly, that was after the mounting bolt sheared off and it bounced around for a while.

They don't last as long as I'd like, but while they do the darn things are valved pretty well for the applications. I almost went to something more fancy a while back, but the OME units seemed to hold up to my use. Then again, designs and quality change. We'll see on the next set when it's time.

Remote reservoirs would have done me a lot of good, I think; but I never went that way on the DII.

Cheers,

Kennith

 

[bendts]

Had the death wobble in my 95 classic. Hit a bump on the highway and it was all you could do to hang on until you could get control. Brought it into a shop, and they found that all the wheel weights had fallen off the front rims. Not sure if they were the tape on kind. Re-balanced and all was good.

 

[Knightspirit]

UPDATE - I just received my new Terrafirma adjustable pan hard bar - it came black with red bushings:





I was expecting two piece poly bushes - but these are actually pressed in. I'm happy!

Meanwhile a test drive has confirmed that the whole problem was a bad bushing - I am now wobble free!

 

[Stocksuspension66]

Nice. That’s the same one I have. Will be installing tmro