freelander TD4 Steering rack bolts

Hi very new to site so please be gentle

i have a 2006 td4 HSE 74000, full service history and has always been looked after!

i had noticed a banging in the steering and thought it may have been a ball joint or track rod etc, on investigation i noticed the steering rack moving side to side

the top bolt was missing and bottom one was hanging out,so i tightened the bottom one and it tightened ok, the top one i can only guess has snapped off leaving the stud in. can anyone advise on how to proceed??

Hase any work done in this area ?
I have never had to remove my steering rack but I'm not sure just refitting the bolts would be good enough , do theyscrew into aluminium casting?
I'm thinking they may have been over tightened and stripped the thread ,

i think the opposite, i think they were under tightened and because they could move they snapped??

looking on the internet there has been a few failures of these bolts??

because bottom bolt was hanging out, the thread was clean and no signs of stripping
so i think they were both loose causing flexing

How long have you had the FL?

Epicuser said:

How long have you had the FL?

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18 months now,
started to feel the knocking in the steering a couple of weeks ago

Has nobody got any tips or advice to deal with this .

tilermark said:

Has nobody got any tips or advice to deal with this .

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Sorry, no. I've only had mine 2 months. 'Tis also a 2006 TD4 HSE, but auto.

How to proceed ? Do you have the Rave work manual? Are you looking for parts?

tilermark said:

Has nobody got any tips or advice to deal with this .

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The rack has to be secure for obvious reasons. The only way around this is remove the rack from the bulkhead so you can get a decent look at the captive nuts. If there is a broken section of bolt in there then you'll have to drill it and use an Easy Out to remove it.
Which end of the rack has the broken bolt?

Is there room for using "easy out" (screw extractors) ?

Have you tried a new bolt in top of the rack. It may have just come out instead of snapping off, if it has snapped then looks like rack'll have to come out, unless you can get the stud out without removing it.

Dont jump to the worst conclusion - if it has just come out, then put new bolts in and tighten them properly. Use threadlock if you want.

If it HAS snapped off in place, an easy-out should be one of the last things to try - firstly I doubt there is enough room to get a drill in place without removing the engine and secondly, if you #### it up and the easy-out snaps, you are really, really screwed with a bit of hardened steel in there which will be almost impossible to drill out.

Take the rack off - its not that hard - if there is any of the stud protruding, it should be easy enough to unscrew it with decent mole grips. If not, try tapping it round in the hole using a hammer and good quality punch. Since there is no pressure on the bolt from the steering rack, it should unscrew quite easily. It wont be rusted.

Mines a td4 auto too,
there have been a few cases of these nuts shearing off on 2005-2006 models,
generally at slow speeds.

it would be a good idea to check all yours, its the two main bolts where steering knuckle is on rack.
ill take a pick and post. if they work loose and allow the rack to twist thats what snaps them i think. my symptoms where a slight knocking in steering at first, almost like a worn ball joint, but if you look along the rack from behind your tyre whilst someone is turn the steering wheel side to side you will see if it is moving about. its the two main 10mm bolts with 1" washers on that are the problem.

i have ordered new bolts but its removing the old stud that i think will be an issue, i think rack off and hopefully theres room to drill and remove the stud. if not on;y option i think is engine out to gain more access.

link to one case of this
Land Rover Freelander Power steering rack bolts shearing snap repair fault issue

only today i have just changed track rod end on the drivers side of my freelander and noticed the top bolt of the steering rack missing the bottom one was not fully tightened. so i tightened that one up . i was not aware of this problem until just now . im now going to check to see if the missing bolt is snapped or just missing .

well its becoming more obvious this is quite a common thing, i checked the one down the road a 54 plate, both bolts loose.

PLEASE CHECK YOUR RACK BOLTS !

mines been fixed, it was steering rack out and had to slot the top of the broken bolt shaft, un screwed enough to weld a nut on the end then used socket to undo all the way, retapped hole to make sure the threads were ok

new bolts from Landrover are £4.50 each, but do not come with washers, so make sure you have some!

threads are M10.

any probs drop me an email and ill help as much as i can.

PLEASE DO CHECK YOUR BOLTS THOUGH, THE TWO JUST IN FRONT OF WHERE STEERING WHEEL JOINS RACK IN THE ENGINE BAY. ONE ABOVE AND BELOW RACK.

Hello all

Why had no one mentioned drilling out the bulkhead inside to gain access.

My bolts snapped. I drilled and the easy outs snapped......as you can imagine.......I was fuming.

Cut holes inside the cab and had perfect access to drill them out......
Would of doe it thay way to start with, would odd saved me alot of swearing and heartache