I've thought about doing just that same thing. Great minds eh?

 

i have been tossing around the idea of getting the GAP for a small lift anyways. Let me know if 1 inch over stock drive height works if you end up going that route.

To the dealer I go… if it’s an insanely expensive fix I will order the part myself and go third party. I think I read @sarek was working on a replacement at some point, but not sure if it was ever released. Cant find any mention of it on his website.

i imagine this will become a widespread problem in the future on our Defenders. Seems like the part was never revised, so it will also occur on brand new models.

 

BTW I tried looking too in my 7 seater. I can't figure out where on earth the top nut is for the rear shocks. Seems to be quite buried under some kit -- definitely not as simple as a 5 seater to have a Quick Look.

Reason I started looking, btw, is that my front drivers shock wires are twisting away (although no clunk) so I think I have the issue up front.

 

Luckily my dealership has an opening on Monday, I want to get this fixed before there’s a catastrophic failure.

FYI - Late last year, I signed up with AAA’s “Technology” subscription extended warranty service which I believe should cover this (under “Ride Control Suspension” inclusion). They have been great to work with on another issue I had recently per my service advisor. If this costs upwards of 4k out of pocket to fix, I would likely just sell the vehicle and look elsewhere. Fingers crossed here and knock on wood.

One last note, I would throughly challenge @The Insider claim that vehicles experiencing this aren’t being used as intended - or that this is the result of poor manufacturing. My vehicle has NOT been used extensively off road, or in a way which would otherwise cause such a failure. My vehicle is 100% stock (I.e. no lift rods, tire mods, etc). The problem is also seemingly present across all MY, and thus cannot be isolated to a certain batch of parts.

If this becomes a larger issue, I think the Defender is truly unfit for purpose. I say this as someone who otherwise loves my car. This seems like a very serious problem that will continue to surface on Defenders as they age. I’m in disbelief there’s been no superseded part.

 

Yeah as the brand ages, these type of problems become a bigger issue.

Failing shocks in a sub 50k mile vehicle was not on my radar. Off-road or not, these are billed as being tough as nails, drive them anywhere, yada yada yada. A shock rattling is a real wake up call. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
I too am a fan and my Defender has brought me many smiles and adventures that I would otherwise not have had but I'm beginning to question the vehicles usability as billed.

Coupled with a terrible dealer knowledge base and it's a bad combo.

 

To me, it’s a real concern that JLR have not acknowledged the problem in any sort of public capacity. @sarek had said they are aware, but I haven’t read anything beyond that. Nothing other than a generic apology letter for any problems we may be having. Talk about pouring salt on the wound.

DRLs going out, windshields, etc are problems that plague any vehicle. Frustrating as they may be, they’re ultimately not structural nor integral to operation. But this is entirely different and represents a major design failure if what we’re seeing becomes a larger issue.

Simply inexcusable from an engineering standpoint and very, very concerning. I’m not sure how one can claim otherwise when the evidence is right there in front of you. It seems that if these vehicles were truly tested in remote locations over many thousands of miles, we wouldn’t be here talking about a problem of this magnitude.

But, instead of fixes or a recall, we are getting a new “OCTA” model for $200k which I bet will suffer from the same problem in due time. Not that those will ever see dirt… in any event, the standard L663 isn’t built to withstand anything beyond a recently paved Walmart parking lot. Maybe I’m lucky, but I haven’t ever dealt with broken or twisted shocks on vehicles costing half of what this did. I’m definitely starting to question my decision here.

 

Broken upper shock mount confirmed today.


Parts due tomorrow

 

I would urge you to have them check the shock itself as well. They first diagnosed it to solely the shock mount. I sent my SA some photos of what happens with the shock and they confirmed mine is stretched and also needs replacing.

 

I did but they never listen to me.