pathfinder Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 Hi all My steering went with no warning at all, fortunately I was on doing about 20mph. At first I thought I had a flat tyre because I was turning a corner and the steering did not respond properly and the vehicle drifted, on closer inspection I realised that the steering box had failed and it wasn't until I removed it that I discovered the real sobering potentially fatal failure! The actual main shaft that drives the drop arm had completely sheered! This is what I was greeted with when I looked underneath and this is what I found when I removed the box and the remaining part of the shaft fell out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuck Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 Bloody hell! Suggest you put a quid on the lottery tonight! That could have been so nasty as I'm sure you are aware, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 Never seen one go like that before, good job you were moving slowly. possibly had a internal flaw in the shaft when it was made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbs Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 At least you won't have to remove the drop arm for the new box -seriously though I'm glad you're ok and no damage was done to you or the rest of your 110 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happyoldgit Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Blimey.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dantd5 Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Holy Zeus!! owww ... A near miss!! Surely easy to get the drop arm on the PAS but thank God it went well!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M&S Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 That was a lucky escape Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happyoldgit Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 What's the history of the box - i.e what type, how old, use, etc, etc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pathfinder Posted April 27, 2011 Author Share Posted April 27, 2011 The box was off a disco 300 tdi around 1995 I think, it has never been off tarmac, I fitted it about 7 month ago and it has been used on some challenging lanes since then! ie: Chapel Gate, Derbyshire, all over the lake district and yorkshire dales and south wales! I run 33/12.50/15 tyres on 10" rims too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Brock Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Very lucky indeed ! Does make you think tho.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
q-rover Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 I had this happen on a 84 110. Luckily I was parking it at the time. All of a sudden the steering wheel just whizzed round endlessly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 A mate of mine had this happen on his 110, I believe they have a machined cut at the point of failure which is why they go. TD5 Disco2 boxes don't have the cut and are supposedly stronger, unfortunately they aren't a bolt-in replacement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moose Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 been used on some challenging lanes since then! ie: Chapel Gate, Derbyshire, all over the lake district and yorkshire dales and south wales! I run 33/12.50/15 tyres on 10" rims too! yep that will do it... when you start running bigger/wider and there for heavier tyres you will find standard steering boxes expire all the time, granted not every the time like this but some times... which is why the rule/law about needing a mechanical link and not allowing full hydro steering is such rubbish.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Webster Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 This is not all that unusual a failure on vehicles used heavily off road. It is quite a regular sight on speed events. I've had one fail, fortunately on a slow corner of a hillrally, shortly after we had been doing about 90mph on the gravel through the trees! They usually give just a little bit of warning. Enough to say 'steering feels a bit funny!' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 Fortunately, steering loads are heaviest at low speed, so if a steering component is going to fail, it's likely to be while at low speed or stationary, but it's not impossible to have one fail at high speed, especially if the steering takes a knock from a pothole or similar. Glad you had no other harm to you or the vehicle. Just be warned that many of the "recon" boxes out there are just repainted units from scrapped vehicles. If it's not direct from Adwest, my advice would be don't touch it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor cully Posted December 22, 2023 Share Posted December 22, 2023 Hi my 90 box has just snapped the same as yours, the box was a re-con about 4 years ago, I run big ish tyres and only used in the forest 5 ish times a year. It broke as turning on a drive but very scary thing what could of happened, very bad design that shouldn’t happen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted December 22, 2023 Share Posted December 22, 2023 25 minutes ago, Trevor cully said: Hi my 90 box has just snapped the same as yours, the box was a re-con about 4 years ago, I run big ish tyres and only used in the forest 5 ish times a year. It broke as turning on a drive but very scary thing what could of happened, very bad design that shouldn’t happen As Moose said in his reply, big tyres will do that, and as I said in my reply, only Adwest did a proper job of reconditioning the boxes. But I can imagine how scary it’d be to have this happen rather than the usual leaks or shimmy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevebus Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 Jesus, just seen the post, glad your OK, that could of gone anyway, happy Xmas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uninformed Posted December 24, 2023 Share Posted December 24, 2023 That shaft has been known to fail over the years, I would not say common or many , I guess in the scheme of things you could say rare but I’ve heard of 5 or more now. D2 box is stronger there but the worm gear is cheese. P38 RR steering box would be the better bet, easy enough to source and bolt in kits are available . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shep The Disco Posted December 26, 2023 Share Posted December 26, 2023 Well I've not experienced that issue. Run big tyres etc off road in tractor ruts ,over boulders. I certainly make sure I'm always moving before turning which might help. Do the D2 boxes bolt into the D1 set up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted December 26, 2023 Share Posted December 26, 2023 11 hours ago, Shep The Disco said: Do the D2 boxes bolt into the D1 set up? Nope, the bolt pattern is larger & taller. That said I've been running a D2 box since I built the 109 back in 2006-7 and it's never been on anything smaller than 36" tyres, so far so good... although that box came brand new from Adwest so doesn't even have the mandatory oil leak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shep The Disco Posted December 27, 2023 Share Posted December 27, 2023 10 hours ago, FridgeFreezer said: Nope, the bolt pattern is larger & taller. That said I've been running a D2 box since I built the 109 back in 2006-7 and it's never been on anything smaller than 36" tyres, so far so good... although that box came brand new from Adwest so doesn't even have the mandatory oil leak Fair enough. You do realise that the rust prevention system built into the steering boxes is necessary....🤣 Not spotted anything that would retrofit while rummaging in the scrap yard yet. Most of the Japanese stuff is completely different. Going truck scrap yard in the spring on the hunt for a large intercooler. seen some monster sized ones in the scanias.., Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted December 27, 2023 Share Posted December 27, 2023 8 hours ago, Shep The Disco said: Not spotted anything that would retrofit while rummaging in the scrap yard yet. The 6-bolt Gemmer boxes are described in the manuals as "Heavy duty" while the 4-bolt is the "light duty", the 6-bolts were fitted to 127 and a few others. I've no idea of the physical differences as I've never had one apart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted December 28, 2023 Share Posted December 28, 2023 12 hours ago, FridgeFreezer said: The 6-bolt Gemmer boxes are described in the manuals as "Heavy duty" while the 4-bolt is the "light duty", the 6-bolts were fitted to 127 and a few others. I've no idea of the physical differences as I've never had one apart. The sizes look comparable (though I doubt any parts are interchangeable). The biggest difference could just be metallurgy or more rigorous ND testing to make sure stressed parts have no inclusions, cracks or voids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reb78 Posted December 28, 2023 Share Posted December 28, 2023 4 and 6 bolt are a straight swap (inc drop arms appropriate for each). My 110 started life with a 6 bolt but it got a bit wandery so i bought a new 4 bolt from adwest in the days when they were reasonably priced. I dont recall doing anything other than unbolting one and bolting the new up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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