AdzTheUprightMan
New Member
- Posts
- 2
- Location
- Malestroit
Hi All,
I have been a LR owner and member of various LR forums over the years since. My first experience into LR was purchasing a L322 Vogue. It was mint, 1 owner from new, 56k auto box. After 45 days of ownership the gearbox died - this was my welcome to the world of LR ownership
.
Since I have had a D3, then D2 (which I loved more than the D3 apart from the leaky roof and MPG) - all dirty diesels.
Anyhow I digress, I now own a Freelander 1 2004 TD4. I bought this as I was moving to France and it was a LHD conversion from a RHD. I bought it from a guy that did the conversions, he had a yard of Freelanders and as he modified he would sell on the results. It all seemed good and had been a good car for the 12 months of ownership. Now I noticed what felt like a knock on the steering, I've had this before on an old volvo and assumed it was a track rod end gone. So until I had time I sort it out, I lived with it. However yesterday, the steering felt odd and then i heard and felt a noise on the bulkhead. So I got the missus to turn the wheel as I looked yonder at the connection to the rack in the engine bay. I saw the rack move side to side and thought "that aint no good" and the fear that the car may be destined for the scrapheap hit my stomach. I thought the mounting on the chassis had failed or it had been some bodge modification that had finally given up.
So I investigated further this morning. I have attached photos of the issue .So when i first looked at the bolts coming through into the footwell I thought "Christ, the nuts are not even there" and the lower bolt looked like it was about to fall out. Then in the engine bay I saw that the bracket supporting the rack (that end) was broken. There was relief, a bracket is an easy fix (so I thought) but the panic still resided that the nuts were missing on the mounting bolts, but then I discovered as the wife aided me, that the bolts go into threaded fixings in the bulkhead (still why nuts are not on there "belt n braces" as my father in law always swears!)?
So I then get the broken bracket off and head for the laptop to google the solution and find the part. I am then baffled by what I find, this rack is totally different (yes it is a LHD one) from all the other Freelander 1 series ones I find on fleabay and elsewhere. They all have a cast flanged mount near the steering column connection. My one just has the flared mount to which said saddle bracket was afixed to (same as the opposite end) - photo 3 shows this point (clean metal). So I am laying my hope in that someone on here knows if this is right, that my freelander just has a newer type of rack and where I can order/obtain a new saddle bracket. We only have the one car and need wheels rolling.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Adam.
I have been a LR owner and member of various LR forums over the years since. My first experience into LR was purchasing a L322 Vogue. It was mint, 1 owner from new, 56k auto box. After 45 days of ownership the gearbox died - this was my welcome to the world of LR ownership
.Since I have had a D3, then D2 (which I loved more than the D3 apart from the leaky roof and MPG) - all dirty diesels.
Anyhow I digress, I now own a Freelander 1 2004 TD4. I bought this as I was moving to France and it was a LHD conversion from a RHD. I bought it from a guy that did the conversions, he had a yard of Freelanders and as he modified he would sell on the results. It all seemed good and had been a good car for the 12 months of ownership. Now I noticed what felt like a knock on the steering, I've had this before on an old volvo and assumed it was a track rod end gone. So until I had time I sort it out, I lived with it. However yesterday, the steering felt odd and then i heard and felt a noise on the bulkhead. So I got the missus to turn the wheel as I looked yonder at the connection to the rack in the engine bay. I saw the rack move side to side and thought "that aint no good" and the fear that the car may be destined for the scrapheap hit my stomach. I thought the mounting on the chassis had failed or it had been some bodge modification that had finally given up.
So I investigated further this morning. I have attached photos of the issue .So when i first looked at the bolts coming through into the footwell I thought "Christ, the nuts are not even there" and the lower bolt looked like it was about to fall out. Then in the engine bay I saw that the bracket supporting the rack (that end) was broken. There was relief, a bracket is an easy fix (so I thought) but the panic still resided that the nuts were missing on the mounting bolts, but then I discovered as the wife aided me, that the bolts go into threaded fixings in the bulkhead (still why nuts are not on there "belt n braces" as my father in law always swears!)?
So I then get the broken bracket off and head for the laptop to google the solution and find the part. I am then baffled by what I find, this rack is totally different (yes it is a LHD one) from all the other Freelander 1 series ones I find on fleabay and elsewhere. They all have a cast flanged mount near the steering column connection. My one just has the flared mount to which said saddle bracket was afixed to (same as the opposite end) - photo 3 shows this point (clean metal). So I am laying my hope in that someone on here knows if this is right, that my freelander just has a newer type of rack and where I can order/obtain a new saddle bracket. We only have the one car and need wheels rolling.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Adam.
