There's the slight wobble between 50-60 mph, and my garage said it will need replacing next year. They're quoting me about £1k, which I thought was reasonable. I was wondering if that's about par for the course in the UK also, or whether I should get it done in the UK next time I'm over - things normally being more expensive here in Switzerland.

Having had a look round the forum it seems par for the course - anyone else have the same experience?

It's a 2003 TD6 by the way.

Have you checked the front lower ball joints? Do you have any clunking when you go over bumps etc? I had a slight wobble that turned out to be these, even though everything I read pointed to the steering rack. 

the obvious thing would be wheel balancing , if thats ok then is your steering slightly heavy when reducing speed for a corner or roundabout, if it is, it could be the servotronic valve which regulates the dampening of the power steering... ... - .- -.




Y. O. L. O.
.

Inner track rod arms are another item that should be checked before fitting a new rack

Guys, I'm not saying there's a wobble, so it must be the rack. The garage has detected play in the rack.

in your first post you did say there was a wobble....


i'm not surprised the garage has detected a play in the rack, £1k is a lot of money!!!!... ... - .- -.




Y. O. L. O.
.

Until you have noticed some sort of symptom, or they can show you the "play" then don't believe them. 

scarey wrote:

in your first post you did say there was a wobble....


i'm not surprised the garage has detected a play in the rack, £1k is a lot of money!!!!...

the easiest way would be to email a few dealers here and ask for a quote ,but, as with everything going up in price , the rack price 'might' go up nearer the time you want it replaced.. ... - .- -.




Y. O. L. O.
.

Just had a rack fitted on my 2005 TD6 recently. From memory a factory refurb is circa £550+vat exchange, a brand new genuine is circa £1050+vat. Then you've got fitting - my indy charged for 4 hours I think - they partially dismantle rack by removing track rod ends and wheedling in place. Dealer book time is longer I've heard - about double that. From memory I paid about £250 for fitting with new fluid and Vat. Brand new rack comes with new servotronic valve and track rod ends. I dropped lucky and managed to locate one in local LR dealer's part dept that they'd had in stock for ages and had wrote down in books. Parts guy did me a good deal at £250 but jibbed at warranting it though. Hope this helps.

JIMMYM wrote:

Just had a rack fitted on my 2005 TD6 recently. From memory a factory refurb is circa £550+vat exchange, a brand new genuine is circa £1050+vat. Then you've got fitting - my indy charged for 4 hours I think - they partially dismantle rack by removing track rod ends and wheedling in place. Dealer book time is longer I've heard - about double that. From memory I paid about £250 for fitting with new fluid and Vat. Brand new rack comes with new servotronic valve and track rod ends. I dropped lucky and managed to locate one in local LR dealer's part dept that they'd had in stock for ages and had wrote down in books. Parts guy did me a good deal at £250 but jibbed at warranting it though. Hope this helps.

Kurt,

I replaced the rack as power assistance kept dropping off at low speed and parking and I needed arms like Stallone to park. That's been cured with new rack - but still got 60-70 mph slight flutter on steering wheel with new rack despite having front wheels rebalanced and zeroed. Have read somewhere that it's supposed to be an inherent design flaw in L322s - could be to do with harmonics of driveshafts etc at certain frequencies.
There's a LR bulletin that's like War and Peace dedicated to balancing the front wheels obviously to try and minimise vibration. Can't see LR going to all that trouble if they hadn't recognised there's a problem.
Just worth considering before lashing out a grand on a new rack unless you're 100% certain it's goosed.

It's not only the L322 that suffers from front wheel shimmy, the Classic and the P38 are renowned for it along with older Land Rovers

JIMMYM wrote:

Kurt,

I replaced the rack as power assistance kept dropping off at low speed and parking and I needed arms like Stallone to park. That's been cured with new rack - but still got 60-70 mph slight flutter on steering wheel with new rack despite having front wheels rebalanced and zeroed. Have read somewhere that it's supposed to be an inherent design flaw in L322s - could be to do with harmonics of driveshafts etc at certain frequencies.
There's a LR bulletin that's like War and Peace dedicated to balancing the front wheels obviously to try and minimise vibration. Can't see LR going to all that trouble if they hadn't recognised there's a problem.
Just worth considering before lashing out a grand on a new rack unless you're 100% certain it's goosed.

"If" (and you need to prove it) the rack's goosed, there are a gazillion places in the UK who refurbish them. I have had loads done with various rally cars over the years. So many that I ended up doing a few myself which is not as hard as it sounds as long as you have a decent bench vice and a good selection of hand tools.

Obviously if you're going to fit yourself you need a good trolley jack and a ball joint splitter as a minimum. Beyond this it's nostly spanners, pliers, small screwdrivers and a set of feeler gauges.

Either way, it will be a whole heap cheaper than a grand.
just one from a quick google
http://www.kellybraysteering.co.uk/