I double-checked the shocks, they all seem good still. The upper bushings on the rear shocks are kind of loose. Anyone change them? What's the trick to getting them installed. They're quite hard rubber. Doesn't seem like they'd press on w/o some damage. There's a steel inner sleeve so ya can't cut them in half. I didn't see anything in the Rave manual on it other than they can be replaced. Any suggestions?

I really don't understand the engineering design intent, using spool-shaped bushings over a normal pressed-in bushing you find in most shocks. Maybe the goal was a larger diameter bushing to distribute wear pressure across a larger surface area?? Oddly, the washer that mounts on each side of the bushing doesn't compress them in 'harder' (so they would fit tighter). The washers actually sort of cone 'outward' from the bushing which seems counter-intuitive (that's also what the RAVE manual shows). Can anyone help me understand the 'Land Rover magic' on these? ...why they went with this design?

Thx

 

Probably just grease em up and press em in. Maybe warm in hot water first. Trailfitter videos show some interesting pressing techniques for really stiff front drop arm bushing replacements, including c-clamps, vice, and hydraulic press.

My new shocks used two pieces. The big coney washer bottoms on the shaft shoulder and allows some side to side axle movement. Good luck.

 

Soak in PB blaster and hammer the old ones out, hammer new ones in.

Honestly though, is this whole operation even worth it? How old are these shocks, and why not just get new ones that come with new bushings already installed?

 

I've got a press so I don't need to hammer out. Yeah, maybe heating up and using a real slippery grease (plate lube?). They're not 'squishy' rubber like most shock bushings.

Why replace the bushings? IDK. I do a lot of things that don't make sense to other people ...ha ha.
1) The original shocks seem good. I recall reading a long time ago the OEM shocks were made by Bilstein. Not 100% sure if that's true, but that was talked about back in the late 00's. Back then I remember there were threads where they tested old LR shocks with high miles, and they performed as good as new. These on my rig, seem to be fine and perform fine for me. The rubber bushings aren't worn out, they're just loose.

2) Just because a shock is xyz years old doesn't mean it's worn out. Unless it leaking or something like that. That's urban myth. I remember reading many years ago guys on the Disco forums declared that the original LR shocks were made by Bilstein. They last a long time.

There are a few enlightening videos some folks have assembled a group of shocks of different manufacturers, old, new, high performance, and OEM and test them on a shock dyno using industry standard test procedures. Surprisingly, original shocks that were 20 years old with 150k mi (not leaking) performed perfectly well and even better than newer aftermarket shocks. In fact, just this summer, I just looked at my Hummer's original shocks. 180k miles. They're mono-tube shocks which generally last a long time (like Bilsteins), I knew for sure I had one bad shock, I was going to replace them all. Well they all had tremdendous pressure (except the damaged one) and seemed to have the same push-pull resistance as the brand new Delco (mono-tube's) I bought. So I just replaced the known-bad shock (which was my fault it got damaged...it didn't just 'wear out'). I'll save the other new ones for a future replacement.

Another example: We have a Jeep GC Overland with factory lockers and lift. Supposedly those were also mono-tube shocks from the factory. It's got 235k miles on it now and I can detect no degradation in the shock performance. I had one shock off several yrs ago and it 'seemed' quite good. Some of the roads around here are like going off-road (LOL), so I'd know if it was bouncing all over. So, unless a shock is damaged or not performing to expectations, why replace it?

I'm sure I can fab up a 'cone' out of steel and machine it on the lathe (and maybe that's what I'll end up doing), and use your guys' suggestions and compress the bushing as it goes into the shock eyelet. But if there was some 'neat trick' to do it easier/faster, I'm open to suggestions.

It almost seems like the shock would be 'tighter' at the eyelet if a guy cut the bushing in half, then allowed each half to 'squeeze' into the shock's eyelet. Which I might also try. I don't go off-roading. This is just a for-fun summer vehicle that doesn't get driven much. Mostly I drive the H3 (with the Lux & Adventure pkg) is a LOT more fun to drive and wheel (but just as expensive to own/maintain lol). But Land Rovers are (obviously) cool in their own way.