JeffR Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Had a really bad moment this morning, whilst heading out to pick up a new exhaust for the Disco (why do the back boxes drop off when the rest of the system is perfect?), went round a tight left hand bend with adverse camber and the right hand rear axle tie rod bracket decided it did not wish to be attached to the axle anymore.... :o :o No amount of opposite lock controlled the resulting spin (rear axle steering), or the trip through the hedge, luckily stayed upright despite going sideways down a grassy field. Got recovered to a garage to find that the weld on the axle bracket had failed and the bracket was in perfect condition, just not attached to the axle anymore(surface rust yes, but no real corrosion). Now my question is how would one control such an event as opposite lock clearly didn't/couldn't/wouldn't help (max straightline speed was 22mph according to plod who was behind me), or do you do what I did and wait for the accident to unfold as a passenger? Gotta go clean the drivers seat now..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Glad you're OK Jeff, we wouldn't want to miss your stories . Seriously, glad you are OK, I bet that was not a nice experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffR Posted June 18, 2012 Author Share Posted June 18, 2012 Being in a 2ton vehicle over which you have absolutely no control whatsoever.... I am so glad the wife wasn't driving, or if it had sheared 10 mins earlier I would have been doing 60 on the A69. Only took Nigel Prices in Newborough an hour or so to repair, most of that was spent grinding off the old weld! Bloody vehicle is making me very old very fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 In that sort of situation you are but a passenger I'm afraid, any hope of controlling the thing is really down to luck I think. The same failure contributed to the notable Land Rover accident several years ago in which several children lost their lives, so it's definitely something worth keeping an eye on. Of course in the case of your failure unless you happened to be a metallurgist or have x-ray equipment then the weakness in the weld probably wouldn't show up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffR Posted June 18, 2012 Author Share Posted June 18, 2012 Makes you wonder about QC in the landrover factory though....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 a friend had a similar experience a few years ago, the chassis end of the rear right trailing arm pulled through the bush, nearly put his RR on it's side. good to read you are OK, a stiff drink or 2 tonight for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CwazyWabbit Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Glad you survived albeit a bit lighter in the wallet and bowels..... Did the police have anything to say? Just curious really Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BogMonster Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Yes unfortunately as above, hang on or duck as appropriate not much else you can do and then swear a lot and kick the wreckage if you live. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejparrott Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Oh poo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffR Posted June 19, 2012 Author Share Posted June 19, 2012 Glad you survived albeit a bit lighter in the wallet and bowels..... Did the police have anything to say? Just curious really Plod was somewhat unimpressed with the welding! As the vehicle was being recovered, he suggested that should the failure be down to poor maintenance, then prosecution would ensue (which I would be in full agreement with him), however when he inspected the welds at the garage it was obvious that poor maintenance was not an issue. He also suggested I buy a lotto ticket that day... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickeyw Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Hmmmm, glad you're still in one piece Jeff. Nasty business indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CwazyWabbit Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Plod was somewhat unimpressed with the welding! As the vehicle was being recovered, he suggested that should the failure be down to poor maintenance, then prosecution would ensue (which I would be in full agreement with him), however when he inspected the welds at the garage it was obvious that poor maintenance was not an issue. He also suggested I buy a lotto ticket that day... A close call in more ways than one then, even if you know your vehicle inside out there is always that niggling feeling that you could have missed something. Did you buy that ticket? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Glad you're in one piece, very nasty. Problem is the vehicle is not exactly still within warranty period, and possibly not 100% standard either, so failure could be down to many reasons and the MOT can't hope to catch that sort of thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanker Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 and the plod is not qualified to do weld testing ...or are they now?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadler Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 and the plod is not qualified to do weld testing ...or are they now?? although you're of course quite correct...before you head down the bash-the-police road, I don't think that it is unreasonable that a police officer who witnessed the axle detaching itself from the vehicle in front and then crashing into a field should stop and take a passing interest in what happened. It sounds like they looked at the facts and made a sensible judgement that it was an accident. Glad you're ok Jeff, that can not have been a pleasant experience! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffR Posted June 19, 2012 Author Share Posted June 19, 2012 and the plod is not qualified to do weld testing ...or are they now?? If you had seen the bead of rust inside the factory weld it was obvious to a layman that a dodgy weld was at fault. Once the area was cleaned up with awire brush it was also obvious that the tie rod bracket had never been replaced nor tampered with. I cannot and will not, in all honesty fault the coppers judgement. Chatting to him whilst awaiting trecovery, his knowledge of all things automotive was amazing and informative. Had the accident been due to MY dodgey welding on such a safety critical item, then I would have deserved whatever the law threw at me. Period. All in all most of of my experiences of British plod have left me with a long lasting respect for the poor buggers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuck Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Jeff, I don't know how old your LR is but don't you think you should take a few pictures of the defect & resulting damage and inform LR? At least it won't be on your mind if some other poor sod has the same failure but doesn't walk away from it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonr Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Glad it was OK. I'd be outside re-welding the rest of them if it were mine though! Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffR Posted June 20, 2012 Author Share Posted June 20, 2012 Glad it was OK. I'd be outside re-welding the rest of them if it were mine though! Si Guess what I did yesterday..... Jeff, I don't know how old your LR is but don't you think you should take a few pictures of the defect & resulting damage and inform LR? At least it won't be on your mind if some other poor sod has the same failure but doesn't walk away from it. At the princely age of 19 years old some fatigue is outside warranty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cackshifter Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 You mean it's only 19 years old and already the radius arm mount has failed? :huh:Steel things like that should never fail catastrophically. But TBH I don't suppose LR would be interested - old defect in a run-out product etc Might be different if you hadn't survived....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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