Noticed a "clank" when going over bumps from the front left so lifted the hood and pushed down on that side of vehicle and heard it again. tried it on front right and didn't hear anything. looked at the shock when i did it again to each side and noticed the top part of the shock (where the bolt is sticking up and the nut is attached above metal plate) is moving within the cylinder. front right doesn't do this....stays together as one piece. so thought maybe that nut needed to be tightened but appears the bolt just spins when i do that. does whole shock need to be replaced or is there easier fix? included picture of what i'm talking about.

98 disco se

 

sounds like the shock bushings are gone. You can buy just the bushings, but if you are going to the effort of taking it apart, it might be worth your time to buy shocks. Unless they are still pretty good.

http://www.roverparts.com/Parts/OMEB42.cfm


The shock towers are also known for rusting out where they mount to the chassis.
If it's the tower that is bad, britishpacific has them cheapest, they are like $27. They are $50+ everywhere else.

 

I agree, just replace all four shocks.
You can get them anywhere and in every price range, from $100 to $1000.