Steering box bolts don't line up... am I a muppet?

Half way through replacing the leaky steering box on my Dad's '94 Disco tdi.

All according to plan so far, 4 bolts on the chassis are tight, steering column is reconnected, but the stabiliser or support bracket or whatever you want to call it is a problem.

The bolts don't line up and the bolts themselves seem to be too big to go through the holes in the new 'box; they're a very tight fit if bashed through with a hammer....

I've undone the nut securing the bracket to the chassis - there's adjustment but not enough.

Have Paddocks messed up and sent me the wrong 'box?

Or do I need to change the stabilising bracket?

I've searched the forums but can't find anything on this. I note someone has mentioned a 'locating lug' on the chassis while changing the box on a 90, but my (admitedly Range Rover) Haynes manual makes no mention of it - could I have missed something?

HELP! We need this one back on the road quick!

Uncle Fes said:

The bolts don't line up and the bolts themselves seem to be too big to go through the holes in the new 'box; they're a very tight fit if bashed through with a hammer....

Click to expand...

I recently had to swap my '94 disco leaky box over with a 2nd hand one - they were both 'four bolt' boxes, but had a few slight differences - the bolt holes were smaller on the 'new' box (which I beleive came from a range rover, don't know what year) Luckily, the bolts came with the box, so it swapped over fine. All the other bolt holes matched up, but I do recollect having to loosen the other end of the 'stabaliser bar' to allow it to line up.

Hope this helps.....

So...

1. Loosened the 4 bolts that hold the 'box to the steering off

2. Took the chassis brace/stabiliser off and bashed it with a hammer...

3. Put the brace back on, levered it down and bashed the bolts through with a hammer...

4. Tightened the whole lot up.

Job done - once I can stop the ball joint turning round!