A few weeks ago I had my front differential replaced by the Landrover dealer because it was leaking, when I got it back I noticed a new clunk on the accel/decel transition. It wasn't too bad and when I contacted the dealer to get it back in they told me they were very busy and couldn't take a look that day but possibly later in the week. I wasn't too concerned, the clunk wasn't that bad....
Until yesterday after leaving the Overland expo in Prescott AZ we decided to take the Senator Highway to Crown King grab a drink and see the sights (Crown King is an old west style VERY small town) and continue on back to Phoenix. On the way there the clunk was getting progressively worse and we thought it might be a good idea to make a visual inspection to see if we could figure it out. It didn't take much inspecting to see that the entire front diff was loose and rocking up & down about 4"!! The three plated silverish bolts were almost ready to fall out, it took about three turns to remove one of em. With no wrench to tighten them, I screwed them back in only finger tight... didn't really matter though because whatever those bolts attach to was moving too. There must be other brackets or mounts to locate the diff but with no tools I couldn't pull the skid plate down to inspect further. It moved enough to pull the breather hose off, and presumably introduce dirt to the inside of the housing.
The Senator Highway is a maintained dirt road that that could easily be traversed with any stock 4x4 and most 2wd trucks. Probably not by a tow truck though, so we called LR roadside assistance and had a flatbed dispatched to Crown King. It ended up being pretty good timing, we got there in time to grab a couple drinks before he arrived and loaded the LR3 on the bed. It was an extremely long ride back because the dirt road between CK and the highway has fairly heavy washboarding and tow trucks aren't known for their smooth ride! When all was said & done the tow company charged me $228 to get the LR back to the dealer. Long day.
So, my question is what should I expect the dealer to do for me considering they were negligent in properly installing the diff and certainly endangered myself and my passengers. Who knows what would have happened if the thing would have completely let go on the highway! Could have been catastrophic.
Photos and video to follow shortly...
Until yesterday after leaving the Overland expo in Prescott AZ we decided to take the Senator Highway to Crown King grab a drink and see the sights (Crown King is an old west style VERY small town) and continue on back to Phoenix. On the way there the clunk was getting progressively worse and we thought it might be a good idea to make a visual inspection to see if we could figure it out. It didn't take much inspecting to see that the entire front diff was loose and rocking up & down about 4"!! The three plated silverish bolts were almost ready to fall out, it took about three turns to remove one of em. With no wrench to tighten them, I screwed them back in only finger tight... didn't really matter though because whatever those bolts attach to was moving too. There must be other brackets or mounts to locate the diff but with no tools I couldn't pull the skid plate down to inspect further. It moved enough to pull the breather hose off, and presumably introduce dirt to the inside of the housing.
The Senator Highway is a maintained dirt road that that could easily be traversed with any stock 4x4 and most 2wd trucks. Probably not by a tow truck though, so we called LR roadside assistance and had a flatbed dispatched to Crown King. It ended up being pretty good timing, we got there in time to grab a couple drinks before he arrived and loaded the LR3 on the bed. It was an extremely long ride back because the dirt road between CK and the highway has fairly heavy washboarding and tow trucks aren't known for their smooth ride! When all was said & done the tow company charged me $228 to get the LR back to the dealer. Long day.
So, my question is what should I expect the dealer to do for me considering they were negligent in properly installing the diff and certainly endangered myself and my passengers. Who knows what would have happened if the thing would have completely let go on the highway! Could have been catastrophic.
Photos and video to follow shortly...
I think it will make it when its either dry or I have some better tires. I was seriously impressed though, I wouldn't have thought it would do as well as it did! The tires & wheels did suffer a bit... oh well, its not a Ferrari.
