Swivel Housing

I have not tried it in the past but since the broken bolt is located upwards I guess it will not be leaking.

Take care Pantelis

It's a bad idea....

Later Range Rovers actually had an additional bolt put on at the bottom to strengthen it up so they have 7 bolts.

You have to consider the possible effect of weakening the assembly by over 15 percent. If the remaining bolts can't take the shock of hitting a pot hole, for example, without the sixth bolt then the result is that you lose brakes and steering in one go. Range Rovers of that age will have a tandem brake system where both circuits go to the front brakes so if you lose a front caliper completely you also lose your rear brakes.

Persevere with it and do the job properly, your life or someone elses may depend on it.

If there is anything of the old bolt remaining above the surface then weld a nut over it and undo it that way. If there isn't anything left then consider drilling through from the other end with a small drill and using a pin punch to tap the remains of the stud remover out. If there is enough of the end of the bolt showing then you could try welding a nut onto that end and winding the bolt all the way through (this assumes that the remains are threaded all the way to the breaking point).

cheers

Dave W.

You could always buy a new swivel housing from Paddock or other dealer. Their non genuine housings are £48.50 each. I know it's still quite a bit of wonga, but I think the peace of mind would be worth it.

Genuine OEM parts are probably better, but you could buy 4 of the Paddock ones for the cost of a genuine LR product.

Regards Martyn

Mark Hi again,

Are we discussing about the part that keeps the complete swivel housing on the axle or for the part that keeps the swivel housing's seal in place?

Take care Pantelis

On or around Sun, 24 Aug 2003 20:59:56 GMT, Martyn Cottrell enlightened us thusly:

but the problem is in the axle casing, surely? hmmm. Just looked at the picture in the book. The swivel-to-axle joint is a pair of flanges, one on the axle and one on the swivel, with the bolts going into the axle flange. My advice would be to *carefully* drill out the broken remains of the bolt to the full thread diameter, then refit with a longer bolt and a nut on the inside of the axle flange. 2 things to make sure of: the new bolt must be the same size and spec as the original (or better spec...), they're very likely high tensile bolts, and the nut has to sit nicely behind the flange. This may require a modified nut with part of one side filed off, or may require a packing piece to get the nut clear of the flange/welding on the axle. I'm going on the drawings in the book here - I can, if you want, go and look at the disco axles with a view to whether this is possible and how to do it if so. Assuming for the moment that it is possible, once the bolt/nut etc. are all installed and tightened, you can then weld the nut to the flange/axle to make it captive.

As to the chap (or is it you) who's got a broken stud extractor stuck in the hole...well that makes it more tricky. If you can get the stud extractor etc out, the same fix should work.

Accident - insurers discover vehicle "faulty" - no pay! / police prosecute / people hurt/killed - Worth it?