Doh! Where did that '1' come from?

Ok, so has anyone had any experience with using these bushes on a D2? :)

A "Watts Linkage" is a set of rods and 'hinges' that help stop the car from wobbling yet still allow the rear axle to go up and down. Two rods join to the chassis - one on each side of the car and in the middle they meet at a pivot/seesaw that is fixed to the axle.

The 'hinges' have some pretty heavy duty bushes in them and they're very pricey - hence my interest in these - they're a set of 2 for a 1/3 of the price!

I know they're probably too cheap to be any good but if they last a couple of years then in the long run they'd be cheaper than the original part.
 
Watts linkage allows the axle to flex, but maintains it in the central position.

They are pricey because the centre one is actually a bearing.
 
Maybe I've gotten the wrong end of the stick...

I think an RGX100960 is _one_ of the bushes that joins the arm to the pivot - it is not the central bearing/bush that joins to the axle. So you don't get the central one for your money - just one of the outer ones.

At £30+ each - getting two for £22 would be a bargain - but....

Has anyone ever tried these?
Dingocroft (Penn Rental Service Ltd t/a) Polybush part sets and additional bushes

Maybe I should rephrase - would I be a fool to try them?

:)
 
Maybe I've gotten the wrong end of the stick...

I think an RGX100960 is _one_ of the bushes that joins the arm to the pivot - it is not the central bearing/bush that joins to the axle. So you don't get the central one for your money - just one of the outer ones.

At £30+ each - getting two for £22 would be a bargain - but....

Has anyone ever tried these?
Dingocroft (Penn Rental Service Ltd t/a) Polybush part sets and additional bushes

Maybe I should rephrase - would I be a fool to try them?

:)

I need to change one of these on mine after it was picked up on the MOT.

I enquired with the local indie and was told you couldn't get poly bushes for the watts linkage.

I payed £30 for a new one which is still sitting in the house along with a whole heap of other stuff to be fitted when I get time.

If you get these let us know what their like and weather or not it's worth getting them.
 
Yeah I paid about 21+vat for an outer bush.

Got a feeling it was a pillow ball bush as opposed to normal rubber and sleeve.

Just get it changed mate! But try the polybush, all that can happen is it wears out again!
 
Turns out the dingocroft ones are for the chassis join end of the link arms - not the pivot join so I'm back to sourcing them from elsewhere - I doubt I'll get them as cheap as I thought I was :(

Any suggestions of sources for these as 'easy to insert' polybushes?
 
Hmmm - I too am researching this, as I get a loud knock when the car is rocking side-to-side when off-road (don't really notice the sound on-road).

I thought:
RGX100970 its inside the rod where the rod meets the chassis (PolyBush Kit "1AE" is the replacement)
RGX100960 fits on the joint where links meet the pivot
RGW100020 fits the watts linkage to the rear axle joint "the middle pivot bearing".

Rimmer Bros seem to stock POLYBUSH alongside OEM...
Land Rover Discovery 2 Rear Watts Linkage at www.rimmerbros.co.uk
 
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Yes, Rimmer Bros have the genuine parts and the poly bushes - annoyingly, though, their poly bushes are more expensive :doh:

I did find these:

£29.99 - Island 4x4.

£19.99 - Britishparts.co.uk

Obviously +p&p

I'm beginning to wonder if the best solution is to go to a breakers and get a whole pivot arm.
 
Did I mention I paid about 21 quid for a genuine one off of Land Ranger Services.

That was an outer bush for the pivot.

Gotta fit something up to the job, but a poly should do it I reckon!
 
Ok, So I went for the British Parts bushes - call me cheap if you want :)

My very first investigations showed that I only need to change one (the lower) of the two bushes (RGX100960) on the pivot arm.
When I took it all apart I found I needed both - even though, originally, the top one did not demonstrate the same wobbling problem.

Because the other bushes looked bad I thought I'd buy the other bushes (central one RGW100020) and the two outer ones (RGX100970) too.

When they all arrived I went for it taking the watts linkage off.

Firstly I realised that you really do need some big spanners - the access is just not easy for sockets:

For the RGX100960 and RGX100970 joins, the nuts are 21mm and the bolts are 19mm
The RGW100020 is held to the chassis with a very long 21mm bolt and two 24mm nuts.
(The 'inner' one is done up to torque, the other seems just to be a captive nut - holding a length of wire in place behind a washer for some reason)

For the 21mm heads, I ended up using a 7/16" W (1/2BS) spanner as I do not have a 21mm spanner (!!)
I was lucky that my 24mm socket fitted - your mileage may vary!

If one of the spanners for each joint is a ratchet spanner it makes it a lot easier!

Doing this job I realised that the 230Nm on the central bolt is 'very stiff'.
I ended up using a blow torch to heat the nut and a length of scaffold pole on my socket wrench to 'break' the nut - I've never done that before!

Doing this nut back up requires a significant torque wrench - you may struggle with space under the car when you do this nut up if the car is only on ramps!

When it was all apart, I discovered there wasn't a hope in hell's chance of shifting the old bushes using just my vice - I needed to use the 10 ton press at the local garage!

In the end, I only changed the RGX100960s - the 970's just would not fit - I broke one trying to get it in. As a result, they're going back and so is the 100020 - I didn't want to risk damaging that one and not get a refund.

Other gotchas were that you have to take the exhaust off its final mount to be able to bend it out of the way to apply the torque wrench.

The joint with the chassis on the upper arm is difficult to get a torque wrench to - 140Nm might break any obvious universal joint. Wobble bars might be a good solution or you can just wing it by trying to do it up as tight as the one on the other side by hand.

So, in summary, you'll probably need to replace more than one bush, you will need access to a big press and a 230Nm torque wrench. You will also need a nice big breaker bar to crack the nuts, 19mm and 21mm spanners (7/16"W) and a deepish 24mm socket (check this fits before you start)

Oh yes, you need to support the discovery on the chassis using stands for most of the work - except for the final torqueing when it needs to be standing on its wheels - probably on ramps (nice tall ones so you can wield the huge torque wrench!)

Lastly, the bolts are, supposedly, specially lubricated with wax. They can be reused but you cannot replace them with standard bolts.
The nuts I took off the central bolt was a nyloc though I could not see this stated anywhere in a manual. In the end I reused the same nut (!) you may prefer to check if yours is a nyloc and replace.

If you're going to have a go yourself feel free to ask me any questions - I'll try my best to answer them.
 
TaDa - great write-up, Thanks.
Must admit, my knock is getting worse, but I keep putting this job off till another day...for now. I'll have to do it soon (probably before next MOT)...

One thought...
Oh yes, you need to support the discovery on the chassis using stands for most of the work - except for the final torqueing when it needs to be standing on its wheels - probably on ramps (nice tall ones so you can wield the huge torque wrench!)

Does the vehicle have to be supported by the chassis? Or was that for access...would an inspection pit be OK?
 
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I didnt find it that hard of a job, just nuts and bolts folks!

excellent write up by ta da, but perhaps a little on the critical side!! :D

having said that, i have a mechanics background, so maybe it didnt faze me so much.

not a bad job though, and you can lie down whilst doing it :D

definitely need a big press to crack the bushes out though!

and yeah, i have no idea what that piece of wire was all about either...!

cheers, sam
 
I didn't mean to be critical or negative - just trying to ensure the more casual DIYer is properly tooled up :)

As you say, it is just nuts and bolts - many of which will be rusty (watch out for it falling in your eyes) and very tight - but just nuts and bolts

The space under the car on ramps is very limited when you come to torque up the big nut - I was really lucky in that the nut was just at the right angle for me to get the torque wrench to it and turn it using my arm pit :eek: I did give out a little squeak of joy when the wrench clicked.

Its all plenty achievable for a DIYer and a walk in the park for a real mechanic - especially one with a car lift

I wonder, though, whether I'll ever use my 3/4" drive 70->400 Nm torque wrench ever agiain :)
 
What piece of wire??:confused: never seen it on mine.

I didn't torque the bolts either but then again I didn't read an manuals before I started just jacked up the car and unbolted everything.

Agreed it does take a lot of pressure to get them out, I did think at one point it was never coming out.

The only problem I had and I was lucky there was some else about was the body and axle moved and wouldn't let me line the bolts up but with a bit of a push it was back in place.

If you have a mechinal back ground then yes it's easy but I could see how someone not quite as comfortable with spanners could sturggle.
 

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