I need to replace the ball joint on the lower front left on the Fl2. Has anyone done this before? I have been searching and where as the complete assembly is easily found the ball joint on its own is hard to find. So far from only one company!

So is it best to do a full change of the arm or grind off the rivets and bolt on a replacement ball joint?

Any pointers please,

Cheers, Ant 2008 G4 Freelander 2 TD4 HSE - 2008 Mongolian Reece - Reg No. 4759 YbP
2002 G4 Discovery II V8i ES - 2003 Event Stage 2 - Reg No. CA490.008
1994 Range Rover Classic V8 3.9i (Soft Dash)
1998 Freelander 1.8 XEi 3Dr
1983 (Rebuilding) Series 88" 2.25 County Station Wagon

The answer depends upon how long you are keeping the Freelie and how big your wallet is.
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Best bet is a genuine LR bottom arm.
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If you need to keep cash down and you are capable of doing the refit then buy the balljoint alone.
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If you don't feel comfortable about the grinding and drilling and are only keeping the freelie a short time then buy the aftermarket full arm.
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Aftermarket products are usually lower quality than OE quality and a low cost pattern arm may not be as accurate or last as long on its bushes.
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I personally would fit the new ball joint from a reliable supplier to the original arm, can you check with Dan at Duckworths just in case LR do sell just the balljoint?.
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Kind regards Fred.
. 2010GS Auto ex Celeb, Santorini Black, 2011 facelift , spoiler, spats, mudflaps, LED footwell lamps, Witter detach,
Other cars:-
1958 & 1959 Austin J40 Pedal Cars under restoration (I make many J40 parts)
If you have an Austin J40 or Pathfinder Pedal Car looking for a new home pls PM me.
2009 Meriva

Thanks for the reply Went the route of getting a decent Ball joint. I had to remove the arm to get the old ball out easily.

So all good again! Had a 4 wheel alignment done as well. The side I had not touched was a fair bit out of alignment. so its now all good

Ant 2008 G4 Freelander 2 TD4 HSE - 2008 Mongolian Reece - Reg No. 4759 YbP
2002 G4 Discovery II V8i ES - 2003 Event Stage 2 - Reg No. CA490.008
1994 Range Rover Classic V8 3.9i (Soft Dash)
1998 Freelander 1.8 XEi 3Dr
1983 (Rebuilding) Series 88" 2.25 County Station Wagon

Hi all

I've got this job to do soon. I have gone down the route of getting new arm

Has anyone got any advice or tips on removing the lower arm ?

Thanks in advance

Hi all

Do you really have to compress the coil-spring to remove the lower-arm or not ??

Anyone done this have any tips on doing it .....

Thanks

For anyone else reading this, I have just managed to replace the lower swivel joint with the arm in place. I had to buy a 90 degree drill in order to be able to drill the centre of the rivets in situ, as there is not enough ground clearance for a conventional drill, and with some chiseling and the use of a ball joint splitter and a short bolt I managed to push what was left of the rivets through. It takes a while and quite a bit of patience.

As for compressing the spring, I managed without, but it is a faf. I had to strap the lower arm down to two huge weights to pull it fully down and used a jack to raise the bottom of the leg very slightly, its a fiddle, but possible to put the taper in the bottom of the leg first and then persuade the fitting into the lower arm, just watch you don't put too much tension on the leg incase it jumps free, and dont put too much strain on the driveshaft.

Good luck!

I haven’t ever done a wishbone on a FL2 but from what I’m reading, you cannot get the wishbone low enough to get the tapered joint out of the bottom of the leg? That sounds the same as a Mondeo (you’re half an inch short no matter how hard you lever that wishbone down). The trick with Mondeo's is to remove the two bolts that hold the subframe up on that side and you then have plenty of room. Perhaps someone could try that next time they try to remove a wishbone from a FL2 and let others know how they get on. Past: FL2 TD4 HSE Auto
Evoque SD4 Dynamic Lux Auto
Present: Audi A3 S Line.

@Steve D

yes, the wishbone can be pulled low enough to get the joint in/out.
I've aready replaced my wishbones doing this way and with the help of my dad and a 1 meter crowbar.

It's not necessary to compress the spring

the technique I've used is similar:



look at min. 4.00

Holy crap. That is a wonderful lever he uses to pull the lower control arm down. No wonder I'm having trouble getting the bloody ball joint back in. Decisions decisions.

Any tips or tricks you guys have come across?

I've disassembled and removed the control arms, but getting the ball joint into the hub carrier has defeated me.

Thanks for any help. MY11 SD4 SE Auto

How about making one of those levering arms ? Jules

Or just buy one

£34 from Ebay in UK

https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/271639591629?chn=...wyEALw_wcB Jules

Yep. Made one out of gal water pipe. So now the control arm can move down further to clear the ball joint taper easily. However, the hub just won't go far enough towards the engine to meet up. I'm only a few mm away at the moment, but I can't get enough movement with my current technique.

I've compressed the spring a bit to help.

Any upward pressure on the hub carrier just moves it further outwards. MY11 SD4 SE Auto

Solved. In removing the LCA I pulled the bearing tripod out of the drive shaft housing.
Drive shaft out, reseat the tripod with big hammer, everything back together.

Geez, will read Haynes with several bags of salt in future.

Thank you youtube and experienced mechanics. MY11 SD4 SE Auto

Second side came out and went in very easily.
Cut a 6mm allen key to about 15mm (short leg) to lock the ball joint while tightening. Wheel alignment boss nearly went crazy and asked me to take my car home because the ball joints weren't done up very tight. Thankfully the mechanic chose to cut his own allen key and tighten them fully for me. MY11 SD4 SE Auto