Frightening experience

On or around Thu, 27 Oct 2005 10:13:04 +1000, "Samuel" enlightened us thusly:

bloody unusual, they're normally impossible to get off if you want to.

Just goes to show, though, always worth doing proper checks on the vehicle when servicing.

Are the steering arms just interference fit? (is that the correct terminology?) or do that have some form of additional fitting?

Personally, I'd have thought that you would have felt and noticed the increase in free play as it was presumably working loose for a while prior to actually coming off? Badger.

Samuel

Similar experience 18 months back - drag link ball joint snapped travelling at about 20 mph. Finished up on someone's lawn. Fortunately no one was hurt.

Interestingly the ball joint was changed 7 months back at the annual MOT - Not a genuine Land Rover part.

Oriondirect

300 Series Disco (95)

Back in the mid 70s that happened on my tricked up

1600 Ford Anglia. It didn't drop off it broke. Thankfully it was pulling out of a parking space not doing 20 year old idiot style things on a bendy road.

I guess the max strain is when you are slow manoeuvring.

nigelH

I've had a customer have one snap outside the unit (not one supplied by us!). Arguably the shoulder where the thread starts at the top of the taper was too sharp which may have introduced a weak point, but on checking the other TRE's we found that they had been massively over-tightened which was quite likely real cause of the failure.

Richard

nope. no free play at all. i shoved the arm back on the box just enough (arm was only about a third or less onto the splined axle coming out of the steering box) so i could get the car out of the way for other cars, and it didn't feel a tad different.

as to wether it's an intereference fit, the axle that comes out of the steering box has a concave section about halfway along the splined section. i believe the retaining bolt that goes through the arm is meant to sit flush in the concave. it may be that the bolt was too small and not providing the block, allowing the arm to slowly lever itself off despit the retaining bolt being tight. i had tightened it 1-2 months earlier.

i will check that it has the right bolt fitted, and while i'm at it i will move the arm over a couple of spline so the steering wheel is actually straight when i'm going straight.

Sam.

Nearly happened to me, the swan-neck that connects the steering box to the steering was hanging out of the bar at a 45-degree angle. The garage that spotted it during a routine service asked "Who fitted that!" to which I replied "You did." After a few more "Who fitted that" incidents I don't go there any more.

Tapered Spline with nut and lockwasher. Leaving the lockwasher off can cause the arm to drop off the box. The nut becomes loose, drops off and the drop arm is next to work it's way off, eventually.

The drop arms on the steering relay are spline with interfering pinch bolt, not the same as the steering box.

Alex

About forty years ago I had the lower lever on the relay crack through from the splined opening about thirty miles out of Pimba leaving me with no steering. Fortunately the road was straight with loose gravel worn into ridges about six inches high which sort of kept us straight. Drove slowly into Pimba stopping every so often to straighten the wheels, and got the arm welded up there. It lasted without problems to Alice Springs where I got a new arm - noticeably heavier than the broken one. (I doubt you would find ANY Landrover parts at all today in Alice) JD