One of the vibration dampers on the rear suspension has come loose and is knocking when I go over bumps.

I've identified that part number as LR007800, superseded with LR041112, and it looks like it ought to be an easy fix.

It appears to be bolted to the bottom of the strut, where the spring sits, but I can't quite tell if it's possible to remove that bolt with the spring in situ.

Any advice, please?

Not done this myself but there are a few on YouTube who have just search Freelander 2 rear shock absorber replacement

I'm happy to report I was able to remove the old damper fairly easily.

I removed the wheel to get better access, and found I could just get an 8mm socket on the head of the retaining bolt.

I then cut the bottom end of the damper off with an angle-grinder, so the rubber weight dropped off, and I was able to get a stilson wrench on the exposed shaft and unscrew it. I was fully expecting the bolt to shear off but it didn't!

I'll order a new damper and it should be easy to fit without removing the wheel again. Meanwhile, I don't mind driving it without the damper for a few days - it will be interesting to see if it feels any different.

Here's the remains of the old one:

Interesting to know it's assessable without a total strip down,
can you let us know if you've found any difference? DAVE.

Last edited by Dave47 on 10th Aug 2021 5:09 pm. Edited 1 time in total

I've driven it round town a bit without the damper and boy what a difference it's made without the clonking sound!

Funny how you get used to clonks and rattles and only realise how bad they were when you fix them!

I have to assume that the damper is only there for vibrations at higher speeds, but I will replace it anyway. Looking at the posts on various other forums it seems there are a lot of cars out there with no dampers fitted (presumably when the rear struts get replaced the dampers get forgotten) with no ill effects reported. But equally well there must be a lot of people driving around with a clonk like mine thinking "that sounds expensive, so I'll just live with it"!

Update:

After driving around for a few days without the damper I noticed a very slight vibration/rattle when the engine was idling. I thought it was the engine under-tray loose or something like that, but I couldn't pinpoint it. The rattle disappeared as soon as the engine revs started to rise.

So yesterday I fitted the new vibration damper and guess what - the rattle disappeared. I reckon the rear springs/strut unit must vibrate in sympathy when the engine is idling, and the damper is there to stop it.

So now we know.

After seeing your post yesterday I wondered if this was the cause of knocking on mine. I checked dampers and both sides slide up and down freely on there spindles. Are they supposed to do that?

No, they are meant to be rigid. Time to replace them!

People are very surprised usually when they see some quite heavy and physically large lumps of iron hanging off brackets under vehicles in various places, they often find it hard to believe that a lump like that could ease a vibration/drone at places well away from the placement…….NVH is a black art  Regards

David

Lovely i6 has now gone, but not me......

Please let me know if anything in my post offends you, as I may wish to offend you again......

Has anyone tried just squirting some super glue into the weights to stick them to the spindles?

You would be better injecting silicone sealer/glue into the broken void, but don’t expect it to last for very long they get an enormous bashing. Regards

David

Lovely i6 has now gone, but not me......

Please let me know if anything in my post offends you, as I may wish to offend you again......

thehelper wrote:

Has anyone tried just squirting some super glue into the weights to stick them to the spindles?

I'm not sure I understand how these things work. Aren't the weights bonded to the spindle when new?

Yes but they usually have a flexible bonding material (like rubber) if you fill a void with a solid setting glue the mount will not behave in the correct manner.
If it’s a case of a flat NVH mass damper detached from a mounting surface a super glue might work but usually with spindle mounted weights the rubber has deteriorated so much that it’s falling apart and filling that void will stiffen the characteristics of the damper. Regards

David

Lovely i6 has now gone, but not me......

Please let me know if anything in my post offends you, as I may wish to offend you again......

Judging from the one I took off, it would be very difficult to super glue it together due the amount of rubber that had disintegrated and got lost. Having the rubber bit bouncing up and down on the shaft continuously must have worn away a lot of material.

For the sake of £20 or so, it's easier to replace with new.