Lower front Strut bush gone or on the way out or not??

[PLAYDOH Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PLAYDOH]

Noticed the other day when the Prado was parked with the front wheels turned that the lower bush on the strut "looked" to be on its way out. Anyway I figured I'd check it out later when it was parked on the concrete wheels straight.

I've tried running a cable tie through each side, the passenger side I can get the cable tie through but you can feel resistance. The drivers side once wrapped around I could lift it up and down slightly more than the other side and the bush does not "look" to be as perished or as bad??

Anyway I've got some pics interested to hear opinions, if its just normal or does the bush look to be end of life?? I would say the suspension is just over a year old now and has done less than 20thou k's all up. I also understand that this bush is taking all the spring load and weight of the front. I don't have the conveiniance of just dropping into a shop to have a professional look it over and say yes it needs replacing. So looking for others advice or possibly pictures of what other Prado owners front strut bushs are looking like??



passenger side

[Whitey1 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Whitey1]

Yep. Sorry to say that looks knackered. Does it also squeak? Thats when you really know its gone. The bolt should be in the center of bush.

[matt150 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close matt150]

Yes they are rooted.

[ZORDO Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ZORDO]

They are Walaby Bob's cousin. ROO TED

[wholesalesuspension Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close wholesalesuspension]

This is a bad one i replaced a couple of weeks ago.
Yours will look something like this one.

Regards, Jason.

[PLAYDOH Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PLAYDOH]

Thanks for the replies, went back to the 4WD shop that did my original lift for me, got me in reasonably quickly and replaced them under warranty for me. So have a new set of rubbers up front again now and that awesome ride again.

[t303 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close t303]

I can't recall, are the metal tubes trapped between the mounting bracket sides ie crush tubes? A lot of probs with bushes is down to tightening them while the weight is off the suspension. The rubbers get twisted out of shape (and eventually tear) when the weight comes on and the angles change. I always let the car down off the stands before tightening the bolts.

[kellott Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close kellott]

Had my 08 GXL serviced yesterday, 60 k. All good except the squeek from the front end turned out that the lower end dushes are gone. The service guy said I should do probably get them replaced or replace the front suspension as she is a bit nose down. I looked at the bushes myself (drivers side) and yup she's gone. There is bits of rubber curling up out of the top on both sides. Measured the front at 870 and 905 at back. Either I'm measuring wrong or it seems pretty high as it is. Have to get it fixed before we tow the boat to Port Stephens in 10 days.
Not sure if I have to replace the front suspension or if I can just get the bushes replaced.

Scott

[Chrisnvi Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Chrisnvi]

Just had mine replaced after a year and 10,000 kms. They didn't last long but they were replaced by the suspension shop straight away.

[Guest Close Guest]

Measured the front at 870 and 905 at back. Either I'm measuring wrong or it seems pretty high as it is. Have to get it fixed before we tow the boat to Port Stephens in 10 days.
Not sure if I have to replace the front suspension or if I can just get the bushes replaced.

Scott

Looks like you have measured from the ground. Suspension measurements are usually from the bottom of rim to the wheel arch.

[kellott Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close kellott]

Thanks amts. Will check again when the car is back.
Had to borrow another because the misses did n't want to drive it to Canberra after I showed her this picture....
Can't understand why?
http://www.pradopoint.com/attachment...2&d=1352515298

Guess what I'm doing on Monday...

[kellott Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close kellott]

Have finally worked out that the suspension was upgraded to Ironman by dealer from new. Have found a Iron an dealer who can supply 2 replacement bushes. There pretty cheap but workshop want to charge $300 labour to fit them. This seams pretty steep to me.
is it a hard job to replace the bottom end bushes on the front struts?
Does the whole suspension system have to be pulled out or canthe bushes be changed in situ?
Are any special tools required?

I read most of the threads dealing with suspension replacement and being somewhat mechanicly minded (and detailed threads) it doesn't seen too hard. Any advice is much appreciated.

Thanks

[D4Dforme Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4Dforme]

Have finally worked out that the suspension was upgraded to Ironman by dealer from new. Have found a Iron an dealer who can supply 2 replacement bushes. There pretty cheap but workshop want to charge $300 labour to fit them. This seams pretty steep to me.
is it a hard job to replace the bottom end bushes on the front struts?
Does the whole suspension system have to be pulled out or canthe bushes be changed in situ?
Are any special tools required?

I read most of the threads dealing with suspension replacement and being somewhat mechanicly minded (and detailed threads) it doesn't seen too hard. Any advice is much appreciated.

Thanks

Most places are around $100 per hr for labour nowadays so $300 is not over the top by any means...........they will have to remove the strut's press out the old bushing's clean them up and press in a new one's......3hrs sounds about right..........also look at getting a wheel alighnment done aswell.

Dan

[Boyce Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Boyce]

I had exactly the same issue with the front bushes after around 20,000K on my 2004GX. The suspension installers mentioned that Prados are notoriously hard on the front end. Also got them replaced under warranty after a bit of a process with the suppliers. The kilometres were mainly done on road but with some heavier duty on Gibb River Rd and up to Mitchell Plateau. Were were mostly towing a camper trailer as well. Always made a point of adjusting tyre pressures for the road conditions. Not many kilometres to trash the bushes!!

[Guest Close Guest]

Are these installers tightening up the lower strut bolt with the wheels on the ground? It sounds like they are tightened up with the wheels in the air. If they replaced the bushes and still tightened the lower strut bolt with the wheel in the air, you're gong to get the same problem again.