My freelander was recently involved in an accident. Mostly front suspension damage. The drivers side steering tie rod (no. 28 on the image) which is torx bolted to the steering rack is bent and needs replacing. According to the Haynes Manual to remove the tie rod the whole steering rack needs to be removed. It also says this only applies to the TD4 model. I've had a look and the torx bolt is located in a confined space. Is it absolutely necessary to remove the whole steering rack? I'm hoping this can be circumvented as it involves a lot of work to remove on bolt.
Freelander 1 TD4 Steering Tie Rod Removal
- Thread starter Cam12
- Start date
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There's no need to remove the whole rack.
You will need to remove the E Torx bolts, as they're thread locked in position, so need new application of thread lock application before refitting. You can't undo just the bolt for the damaged track rod, as the rod is held in location by a spigot to the rack.
It's worth checking the rack for damage of the rod mount, which is only a chunk of aluminium, so can crack in a hard impact.
It also helps if you can turn the steering to the opposite the side of the damage, so you can access the track rod bolts through the cutout in the inner wing.
It very possible to do though, as I've done it myself, when the wife decided to turn our 50th anniversary edition FL1 into a battering ram on a low wall.
You will need to remove the E Torx bolts, as they're thread locked in position, so need new application of thread lock application before refitting. You can't undo just the bolt for the damaged track rod, as the rod is held in location by a spigot to the rack.
It's worth checking the rack for damage of the rod mount, which is only a chunk of aluminium, so can crack in a hard impact.
It also helps if you can turn the steering to the opposite the side of the damage, so you can access the track rod bolts through the cutout in the inner wing.
It very possible to do though, as I've done it myself, when the wife decided to turn our 50th anniversary edition FL1 into a battering ram on a low wall.
kernowsvenski
Well-Known Member
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- Truro
As Nodge says, it is possible. Moving the steering from side to side allows access to the bolts. I bought a set of torx ring spanners and managed to crack the bolts with a bit of tube on the spanner for extra leverage.
I removed the torx bolt today. As you mentioned it involved moving the steering to find the most accessible position. Even when the threaded section of the bolt was completely undone and moved freely there wasn't enough access to take it out due to an engine part blocking its path. I raised the engine about 1cm with a jack which provided enough space for the bolt to slide out. I haven't tried to refit yet but hoping enough space can be found to tighten with a a torque wrench.
