Hi forum, so had my first accident ever, went off the a dirt road, and rolled into a deep ditch. Passenger and me fine, thanks to the well built frame of the landrover. So, two auto body shop looked at my photos and said it was a write off. I have decided to bite off more than I can chew and give it a go myself. The major damage is the forward roof crush, windscreen replacement, hood, and passenger side bumper. Two flats and a snapped,I think what is called the drag arm linkage? It is a long rod that is snapped off and hanging down. The driver side wheel is not connected to steering.
So far, I have checked all battery fluids, fuel lines, fluids etc, all good, turned engine, purrs like a kitten. Removed both right side flats to take in for repair.
Removed all broken bumpers and plastic components. Checked lights, all work except rt fog, and right turn. Amazing I dug the rt head light out of the mud filled ditch, plug it in and it works!
Obviously I want to get the steering working first.

So first question, do I need that special tool lrt-57-036 to get the bolt out, or can I whack it with a hammer...and my secondary question to that is..the manual talks about damaging the srs if this is disconnected and the wheels are aloud to turn. Is this something that has already happened with this linkage broken?
Look forward to the forums help on virgin attempt at giving second life to my rover, as it gave me.

 

The spiral cassette, or cable reel, or clock spring, or rotary coupler, or whatever you want to call it, under the steering wheel has only a limited amount of rotations in either direction before the wires inside are damaged. If the steering wheel did not free spin, you are ok. If it did, they you might need to replace that. It's pretty easy to replace. The part can be pricey, but not compared to other airbag components. I think I put a used one in my D1 (same part as D2 if I recall correctly) and I only paid $35 or so. A new one might be $200, but is more likely to work... sometimes this part failed all by itself.

 

Thanks Jafir, the steering wheel did not free spin. So I will take care to keep the left wheel straight when I figure out best way to remove the bolt then install a new linkage.

 

D2's are pretty cheap. I'd write off and buy another.

 

D2s may be cheap. There are none where
I am, so fixing this one is my only option.
So can anyone in the forum suggest the best way to remove the bolt on the drag arm linkage without that special tool the lrt-57-036?

 

hammer time - see Removing Track Rod and Drag Link - DiscoWeb Message Boards

or $19 http://www.sjdiscounttools.com/ta61900.html

 

Thanks S Buzz