landroversforever Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 Hello all, Posted here as anyone could have the answer, not just those in the defender section. My '84 90 has been fitted with a 3 bolt powersteering box to replace the original manual box. I have in the last few days bought a disco drop arm conversion kit to get rid of the sill ball joint for an easily replaceable TRE and a nice strong SUMO bar. Now the disco drop arm doesn't fit the 3-bolt box, and as the box is leaking rather a lot its a good excuse for a new one! Will the pipes from the 3-bolt work with the not-yet-purchased 4-bolt box? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave W Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 No. The 3 bolt uses imperial fittings and most 4 bolt boxes use metric fittings. This also applies to the bolts that go through the chassis although it may not be obvious as they are very close in size so be aware you need to change the bolts as well. You may well have an imperial power steering pump too if they've used all the parts form the same vehicle. For long term ease of getting parts etc... you might want to consider changing everything over to metric. There were some 4 bolt boxes that were imperial and are a straight swap for the 3 bolt box. I believe they were produced during the changeover period between 3 and 4 bolt as a service/repair item. I found out the hard way (in the middle of a challenge) that my 4 bolt box was one of those so none of the 4 bolt boxes people generously offered would fit. BTW there's no reason why the Disco drop arm won't fit the 3 bolt box, I run a Disco drop arm on mine on a 3 bolt box - one day I will get around to changing over to the 4 bolt box in the garage though ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted September 16, 2012 Author Share Posted September 16, 2012 Thanks for the conformation Dave. I was under the impression the disco arm wouldn't fit a 3-bolt. The drop arm I have is: NTC9236-BM (I presume the BM is bearmach?) will that fit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave W Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 Yes, that will fit, that's what I have on mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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