Topic

Hi All,
The last couple of times out in the MG I’ve noticed the dreaded thud of what sounds suspiciously like the beginnings of a worn bush. Is there list of the usual suspects in ascending order of cost and ease of access for the front? ARBs, drops maybe?
It’s very timely as I’ve just finished this with the Freelander. That turned out to be a lower arm front bush bolt 3mm out from the arm ‘plate’ it should have been tight against.
Cheers,
Michael.

I suggest that you Jack the car up one corner at a time and using a pry bar check for any movement or soft bushes. I replaced every bush and ball joint during refurbishment and it was still very noisy, a second four wheel alignment vastly reduced the knocking noise. New polybushes for the engine mounts because the exhaust down pipe knocks the subframe on severe bumps.

Something you might consider looking at is the pinch bolt on the front lower ball joint.
These are not always replaced with the correct bolt, which are partially threaded, the cylindrical portion indexing with the machined indent in the stub.
These can be notoriously difficult to remove, accompanied by banging, thumping, expletive & in the last resort, the drill. The end result is a mangled mess, or swarf!
Replacements are sometimes fully threaded bolts which fail over time as the less resilient thread form disappears. This results in mysterious clunks from the car in general & not just from the from the front end.
This problem can also manifest itself as progressively worsening wandering in the steering.
It’s not bad practice to have a couple of proper replacements about you & to supply if you have suspension work done by a third party or to use yourself if the “shops are closed “.
M

Thanks to you both for your replies. As you can see below , I’ve got the rear end off the ground as part of my preparation for a replacement post cat O2 sensor coming this week, I thought I’d better get WD40ing the one installed. While having a good look round that area spotted this:





Both sides, rear ARB drop links. Not that I think these are the cause of the aforementioned thuds but obviously they’ll need attention and as the MOT is back end of next month I’d like to get them fixed beforehand. Got both bolts freed off but the lower bolt won’t come out due a certain brake disc being in the way. So, I presume the disc has got to come off, or if I chop/grind said bolt can the replacement be fitted from the back. I’m guessing no to that.
Seems I’ve got some work ahead of me, together with similar thuds from my Freelander plenty of experience changing drop links (they’re coming this week too).
Regards,
Michael.