Apologies if this is a repeat of any existing topic but I have just joined the site and not been through all the earlier subjects. I have a new RR Sport TDV8 (March 07) and retrofitted 22" alloys 600 miles ago. The car has a total of 3200 miles on the clock so far. A clunking noise from the front saw the vehicle returned to the dealer for repair. They have noted that the steering rack is damaged(?) as a direct result of fitting non-standard wheels - "the size and profile have put too much strain (no off-roading!) on the rack". The dealer contacted LRUK and have been advised that a warranty repair will not be authorised given the non-OME parts fitted! Anyone else had similar experience? Neil

Welcome on board and sorry to hear about your issue!

This is not unsurprising as any manufacturer will do all they can to avoid paying for repairs however I cannot imagine that fitting 22" wheels would do this but I may be wrong.

Overfinch know LR's/RR's inside out and yet happily supply parts/cars with 22" wheels fitted. I'm sure they would know if this was the case and not open themselves up to potential legal action but again I may be wrong..... Runner up - 2009 Best Avatar Award
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Is the RRS not meant to be one of the most capable off road vehicles in the world?
I can see that LR will use this angle to get out of repairs but surely the RRS can take one hell of a pounding off road so wheels that are a little bit bigger (2") should not hurt.
Also what about all of the FFRR out there that are running on big bling wheels? do they have new steering racks fitted every couple of months at the owners expense?

Put the standard wheels back on and try another garage

If they say "it had 22" wheels" etc say, yes but you have replaced the rack and gone back to 19" or 20" but still get the problem...

It seems odd that a TDv8 has this problem because those of us that remember back to the very early days of RRS will recall that LR upgraded the steering rack on cars running 19" wheels to the same one as S/C due to a spate of failures when folks put 20" Stormers onto their TDv6's. I cannot imagine that you have an "old Style" rack on such a recent car but it might be worth asking the dealer if yours is the uprated rack that was fitted to some cars as a warranty item 2 years ago. My own RRS still has the original rack as far as I know, I have never fitted bigger wheels to it. 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
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You're right Tim. Surely the TDV8 is fitted with the upgraded steering rack you mentioned, if not a later one! Malaysia Boleh!
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There is no way that the 22" wheels have caused the rack to fail. This vehicle is designed to cope with steering forces off-road, such as against the side of gullys, against the side of rocks and turning in sand and mud! Even steering with one front wheel not touching the ground.

This is just the dealer being over zealous and not filling in the warranty claim in your favour. Take it to another dealer who can see sense and reason. Gone - 2008 TDV8, Stornoway Grey, ebony, zabrano trim, TV, Tasmods, mudflaps.

From his location I don't think Neil has ANY choice of dealer, there is one dealer at Perth (Stratsones), one at Aberdeen (Town and Country) and 1 dealer (Macrae and Dick) covered the rest of the north of Scotland from Inverness. Perth and Inverness are both long way from Aberdeen. (2hours drive approx) 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

I have a non-Dynamic Pack car fitted with 20" Stormers.

Car now has over 19k on the clock (15k of those with Stormers) and 5k of those miles on some very 'Challenging' road surfaces you-know-where.

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06 RRS TDV6 HSE, Java/Ebony, PTI, Running Boards, Privacy, S/C Grille/Vents, Stormers, Tasmods - GONE - (

Neil, I know this post was a while ago but I have just joined and thought it worth replying to you.

I have just bought a RR Sport. I would NEVER use the Umm- Main Aberdeen Dealer! My family have owned many RR's and the dealer we are talking about has a serious reputation for trying to dupe customers. We had an Ex Royal (Balmoral Castle) rangee and because of some probs with it my Dad ended up talking to a very senior chap in Land Rover who actually asked him to do a bit of digging at this dealer and gave him some specific questions to ask and feed back to him. Lets just say, these guys are very lucky still to have the dealership. Land Rover treat them with a great deal of suspiscion. Another incident was when my fathers 2 1/2 year old RR, which has no wheel mods or ever been of roaded, was diagnosed with a front suspension problem and steering rack problem - They had the car a week and told dad the parts had been fitted under warranty and he could collect the car in a couple of days after it was road tested. The following day a very sheepish call came from the dealer to say LR had turned down the warranty claim and "as if by magic" suddenly it was actually only some bush needed fixing!! All very Interesting considering they had said they had already fitted all the parts! Me thinks they are trying to rip LR off on warranty jobs before cars 3 year warranty expires.

On a happier note I got Great service from Frank Ogg & Son in Elgin and bought my Sport from them. If you give them a weeks notice they will send a driver down with a replacement car and take your car away for servicing and then deliver it back to you - They cover pretty much all of Aberdeenshire - Pretty damn good if you ask me! The sales guy at Oggs says he dreads the day the Aberdeen dealership changes hands because he gets so much custom from people that have just had enough of them, so, their poor performance actually boosts his business! LOL  2013 Discovery HSE Luxury - 3.0 SDV6 - Santorini Black
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Interesting, my RR sport TDV8 2008 MOD with 3,600 miles developed a clunking noise on the near side and a knock which can be felt through the steering wheel if the car is turned sharply to either side. The car is fitted with the standard Stormer wheels and I have recently had the car back into the dealers who have told me the problem is with the ARC and so far there is no fix for the fault. One of the technicians who road tested the car with me said that particular dealership had had around 5 other reports of the same problem and apparently only TDV8's have the problem.
The LR dealer has told me to live with it as it is a charcteristic of the V8!! Not what I want to hear.
Not convinced your 22'' wheels have caused the problem here I think you may need to find an honest dealer before you shell out on any new steering gear.

Bigfoot - there is a big thread in the Technical sections of the forums about you problem - here
http://www.rrsport.co.uk/forum/topic7227.html

LR know about it, many dealers are fully aware of it but until such time as LR sort it out (they are "working on it" as far as we can assertain) we are all being told that it is a characteristic of the car................... there are two different issues regarding the suspension - the one above and another that not all cars seem to suffer from and that is the DR / ARM system which either hisses or suffers something similar to "water hammer" 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

Tim in Scotland wrote:

...LR upgraded the steering rack on cars running 19" wheels to the same one as S/C due to a spate of failures when folks put 20" Stormers onto their TDv6's.