Hi everyone,

Whilst getting the car services last week, the garage identified the dreaded knocking as being from the lower suspension arms. They quoted me £498 per side to repair. When I picked myself up off the floor, I asked why is it so expensive given my car is now 10 years old, they said they only fit genuine LR parts. They said they have had issues with fitting after market arms only to have the car come come back with the same fault quite soon after.

My question to you knowledgeable lot is, are there any good quality after market lower suspension arms available or do I need to put my big boy pants on, suck it up and pay the money?

I am located in Newport, South Wales and so if any of you know of a garage which can also do the work, I would be glad to find out.

Thanks eveyone

Meyle HD kit from Advanced Factors 4 year warranty, good quality and perfect fit.

Cheers
Col

What Col said.

I changed mine out for the meyle not long after purchasing my L320 and they lasted until I part ex it last year after 100K and some fairly decent off roading.

Wouldn’t hesite fitting them to my new one when the time comes. 2015 4.4 Autobiography
2010 3.0 HSE 162K - Gone

All we have ever fitted is Meyle HD, and we've never had an issue in nearly 7 years of fitting

Not the cheapest of arms available, but certainly the best option

Why dont people re use the original arms but replace the bushes and ball joint?
I assume its because paying garage labour it isn't as cost effective but I managed to fit LR ball joints, poly bushes and new LR bolts for under £120 for both sides. Obv wheel alignments after but all in less than £200, surely this is only 3-4 hours work for a garage.

Quite often, it seems, the bolts seize and the arm is cut off which obviously prevents reuse. 2012 SDV6 - it's missing a couple of cylinders
2008 TDV8 - it was a labour of love and is much missed

I had two seized bolts and cut the bolts and bush with a recip saw without affecting the arm. all on my drive in half a day for both sides.
It sounds like garages can get lazy and just cut the whole thing off and get the customer to pay for the hassle.

4 hours labour @ £60 p/h
£240 (+ VAT)
£120 in parts (sounds cheap)

Little over £400

Complete new arms are £100 less...

Guess it makes sense for the DIY mechanic then but not so if paying Labour, fair enough.

Add in the 4 year warranty that the Meyle parts come with. If your local mechanic fits the bushes in your existing arms, is he going to give that sort of back up? Possibly not. 2012 SDV6 - it's missing a couple of cylinders
2008 TDV8 - it was a labour of love and is much missed

Why would you need it on poly bushes. They will out last my car and for the gen LR ball joint parts they lasted 10 years so can't see them being an issue. My point is that the jobs a half day job diy so I have no idea why some places charge so much. If your not up to the job then only use an indi with good parts though. Something rewarding in that I have gen lr arms and ball joints with nuke proof bushes and saved a fortune.

Polybushes are a bit hit and miss. Some cars, thru are very harsh. Other cars, you do get away with

With the HD arms, they are still rubber, and as such, still have their compliancy and nowhere near as firm on the road

More than happy with my Superpro poly bushes in original arms  2003 BMW M5 - 5 Litres of V8 Optimax Slurping Goodness in Carbon Black

2013 SDV6 HSE Black Edition- Orkney Grey with Ebony & Ivory. LR Facelift RAI, Genuine G4 Expedition Rack, 4x Warn SBD-160 Spotlights, Warn 9.5XPS Winch, Mantec Underbody Protection and Sump Guard, Full Easy Lift Suspension Module, LR Light Guards, Light Force HTX230 Hybrid spotlights, 18” Compomotive PD1881 on 265/65/18 BF Goodrich KO2, ARB fridge, TuffTrek awning 😎

Superpro aren't just any old poly bush though

We done a family members D3 with full set of Superpro bushes nearly 5 years ago. I had it for a few days not long after, and actually forgot we had redone it all, it drove that well

And its not had a single suspension bush replaced since

I fitted a pair of new lower arm that already had poly bushes fitted, put up with them for about two weeks, found them just to harsh so binned them and fitted the Meyle one's instead and they have been fine ever since, personally couldn't be bothered pratting about just changing bushes to save a few quid. Will say I don't know what make the poly bushes were though only that they were a black material.

Cheers
Col