Thread: Knackered steering box? What options?

Not the steering box - thankfully.

However: I cant believe how dangerous this design is. After turning the steering to see if I could gather more info, the steering wheel now spins completely freely with no wheel movement......100% loss of steering control. It appears the ridiculous ultra-fine spline on the steering shaft lower uni-joint has (unsurprisingly) worn to the point of total slip. I have about 30 vehicles, sort of mini wrecking yard and no other cars have such fine splines, they are all chunky..seems like plain stupidity to me to use such fine splines, this design could easily kill people.

I now have to figure out how to remove it and hope the spline on the steering box isn't worn.

It's one of the reasons that servicing involves more than an oil change. Every steering component should be checked for damage and wear when you're doing a regular service. A loose steering joint should have been picked up as it happened.

I wouldn't think the design is flawed, or else it'd have been picked up over the past 50 years since the intro of the first RRC back in the early 70s!

I'd say more than likely the result of a bodge job done previously by someone.

I had an RRC that I'd done 500+K klms on(totalled about 650K k's all up), and the original 3 bolt boxes were crap(always leaked). I changed mine to a 4 bolt.
I do remember replacing a seizing up uni joint too. But it only started to seize up and make steering harder, not really fail to the point of losing steering completely.

The uni-joint itself seems fine, no play at all. I think now the clamp bolt may have loosened over time, to the point where it has slipped (never expected such a thing to ever happen). I have never had any evidence before of any loose steering components in this vehicle. I tightened the bolt and it seems to be fine.....still worries the hell out of me with such a fine spline.

Any chance of the bolt breaking?

What I will do is scratch the bolt and take note of its alignment for checking. Does anyone know the torque setting for the bolt?

cheers

Personally I would find another uni shaft, install it and lubricate the clamp bolts before tightening. The torque would be the same as any other same diameter bolt around the engine bay, shouldn't be hard to work out. I've replaced a couple in situ, not a nice job but not impossible. There should be an intermediate spline that allows the shaft to shorten to be removed.

Agree...I have to replace it anyway as after loosening and moving the steering wheel to the correct position the thread has gone in the joint. I guess I have to move the steering box....or pull the steering wheel out, I cant see any join that can be undone without sliding off the splines.

I am still baffled at how they managed to get away without a recall on this. Ford has this year recalled 1.38 million cars for exactly the same reason.,,,,,,,edit..not the same as this refers to the single wheel bolt by the looks, but still potentially dangerous.


Ford recalls 1.38 million vehicles for loose steering wheel bolts | Reuters

A steering shaft bolt should NEVER come undone. I just checked my Volvo road cars and each steering shaft joint has a bolt with a nut and a pin to stop the nut from ever coming off.....3 safety features, bolt, nut and pin...in a road car. Compared to Land Rover, an off-road vehicle with just a bolt....bizarre in my opinion. I read on a forum where another person also experienced this same bolt coming loose.

I'll replace the bolt also, possibly use a longer one with an locnut on the other side.

According to this page I should be able to remove the shaft by just removing the pinch bolts....seems there is enough spline to slide it up far enough to get off..... ?? Seem right? Plus remove steering wheel.

Land Rover Workshop Manuals > 300Tdi Discovery > 57 - STEERING > REPAIR > LOWER STEERING SHAFT AND UNIVERSAL JOINTS

You don't have to take the steering off except as a precaution to stop someone else spinning it around while the shaft is out. You should have three splines (two at the top uni joint) to allow the shaft to compress enough to remove. If you decide to move the steering box, you remove the four bolts through the chassis and loosen the nut on the Panhard rod bracket. It should rotate forwards just enough to get the shaft off. I'm currently replacing a steering box on an '87 Rangie with a D1 one, as it's pretty easy with the engine out!