Thread: MOST DANGEROUS 4X4 EVER MADE!

Good to hear that your wife is safe mate.

What ****s me about this is the fact that it is known to LR. I don't know how many cases they've had but I remember reading only a couple of years ago that a bloke in Beaudesert, QLD. had a brand new RR and it had a complete electrical failure, causing the engine to shut-down.

He was driving at night but fortunately on a very quiet and straight road. That car was flat-bedded away by LR. I'm certain it did it more than once and he went the tonk on LR and finally got the vehicle replaced.

With the technology already in the car and available today, how hard could it be to design a steering lock that has two way activation and does not have a passive default position. You control it with logic that the car recognises as a specific operator input.....IOW driver turns or pushes ignition to either start or stop. That way an electrical failure does not register as an intended input.....so the lock remains off.

I couldn't design or make something like that....but I'm sure it couldn't be too hard!

Kev.

Hi Kev, and the technology is already available, it’s called a central locking motor.

A simple motor would remove the problem in one go.

If the vehicle had a catastrophic electrical failure like mine did, the steering lock would remain unlock.

If the central locking motor failed, as central locking motors tend to, it would only fail in locked position if your were about to drive not while you were driving, and if it failed while you were driving, it would fail in the unlocked position, again, no threat to you or any one else.

The more I think about what happened and what could have easily happened, the more steamed I get.

The big problem is that this could happen to any D3, D4, RRS, or Vogue.

This reminds me of when my old man got stuck in my mums car one day, it was a Eunos (Mazda) 800 and it also had a power failure.

The central locking somehow engaged and would not allow him to disengage it so he was stuck inside the car. Luckily he was just up at the shops so he managed to get help without resorting to breaking a window.

I could imagine if this happened to an old lady on a hot day in a rural area... would not be able to break a window and would certainly be in strife.

It's beyond belief that manufacturers do not test and have solutions for these types of scenarios,

Originally Posted by drivesafe

Hi Kev, and the technology is already available, it’s called a central locking motor.

A simple motor would remove the problem in one go.

If the vehicle had a catastrophic electrical failure like mine did, the steering lock would remain unlock.

If the central locking motor failed, as central locking motors tend to, it would only fail in locked position if your were about to drive not while you were driving, and if it failed while you were driving, it would fail in the unlocked position, again, no threat to you or any one else.

The more I think about what happened and what could have easily happened, the more steamed I get.

The big problem is that this could happen to any D3, D4, RRS, or Vogue.

It would be a very scary situation to be in. I've been in a power boat that the streering wheel came off in my hands at full throttle in a windy river, cars that have lost their brakes, etc and it scared the pooh out of me....to lose it all at once and just on dark....real bad.

Maybe we're missing something....why the hell would LR put people at risk...and potentially become another Toyota....and get sued legless....when the fix appears so easy?

Originally Posted by drivesafe

I don’t think this is going to be an easy or quick fix..

I've seen the D4's lock and whilst I can't remember exactly how its fitted, I recall thinking that its like all I've seen before where its held in place by bolts that have to be drilled - out because the heads are designed to break off when fully tightened. If that's all it really is then it will be removed when I have an hour to spare.

Originally Posted by drivesafe

I don’t intend to risk trusting the steering lock ever again.

As posted earlier, I intend to either permanently disable the steering lock or remove it.

I don’t think this is going to be an easy or quick fix and I’m waiting till Tuesday to make some phone calls to see how it has to be done.

While on the subject, does anyone know of any other make that has electrical steering locks.

I’ve had a chat to few mates with other makes and most vehicles still have mechanical steering locks, worked by the ignition key and the ignition switch is in the steering column.

There are a few exceptions like some Mercs with the ignition switch in the middle of the dash, like LRs, but I don’t know if the Merc has a mechanical or electrical steering lock.

Hi there Drivesafe.
Sorry to hear of your predicament. Not a happy experience.

Re your question, we have a 2009 Audi A4 that has an electric steering lock. I can hear it release with a bang when I insert the key fob into the hole in the dash, which is then pressed to start the car. While a marvelous car to drive, the electric systems drive me crazy. To simply push the car 1 foot across the garage floor so that I can work around it, I have to get in and start it up, engage D/R etc and drive it. The shifter will not move from Park without the engine running and my foot on the brake and the same for the electronic handbrake. To do the same with our D2a, it is as easy as shifting the shifter to N, releasing the parkbrake and giving a shove to move the car out of the way.

I would hate to be in the same total electrical failure scenario in our Audi, I fear it would be the same predictament as your RR. To the same extent that I would not even be able to open the boot to access the triangle and safety vest, which lives with the spare tyre under the boot floor. For that matter the battery lives under there too......

I am very interested in what Landrover's perspective is on the whole issue.

Chris

Originally Posted by cjc_td5

I am very interested in what Landrover's perspective is on the whole issue.

Chris

Count me in with that as well Chris.

Originally Posted by drivesafe

I don’t intend to risk trusting the steering lock ever again.

As posted earlier, I intend to either permanently disable the steering lock or remove it.

I don’t think this is going to be an easy or quick fix and I’m waiting till Tuesday to make some phone calls to see how it has to be done.

While on the subject, does anyone know of any other make that has electrical steering locks.

I’ve had a chat to few mates with other makes and most vehicles still have mechanical steering locks, worked by the ignition key and the ignition switch is in the steering column.

There are a few exceptions like some Mercs with the ignition switch in the middle of the dash, like LRs, but I don’t know if the Merc has a mechanical or electrical steering lock.

Good to hear your wife is OK Tim.

On a slight tangent, Saabs don't have steering locks because the ignition key is in the centre console. Instead of an ignition lock they have a gearshift lock. Might be an option to consider?