- Joined
- Feb 17, 2006
- Messages
- 18,133
- Car(s)
- '12 MX-5 PRHT, '02 Freelander, '90 Disco 1 Bobtail
Welcome, one and all, to the saga that is - Quick Release II - Slower Release. Are you sitting comfortably?
You may remember that in 2017 I fitted a cheapy quick release kit to the bobtail and that later the MOT guys told me to remove it, there was too much slack in the fitting. I knew before getting it that I really wanted an Optimill quick release boss but the price just made my eyes water a bit too much. Like the Slickshift kit above, I've decided to just get on with these long-awaited upgrades before they become too difficult to find or something else demands my monies. So I bought the Discovery quick release kit.
I bought the boss kit from a third party as it came with free delivery rather than the £10 delivery I would have to pay on top of the £190 purchase price from Optimill themselves. Mistake. It took a week and a half to get here, no doubt because the seller had to buy it in from Optimill. How this all works is way over my head because surely someone is losing profit somewhere but anyway, it was here. I had checked the splines on the steering column and confirmed that the matched the boss, the number of splines isn't actually listed on the Optimill site but 36 seems to be standard for a Discovery. So I tried to fit it. It didn't fit.
A bit of measuring showed that the splined shaft was way too big to go in the hole, despite it having the correct number of splines. Right. Apparently the 200tdi Discovery 1 has a different shaft to that of later D1 and D2 models. Informed the seller who got in touch with Optimill and their less than enthusiastic response was that I needed a 36 spline Defender boss. Had they mentioned this on the site I would've been much better off. The seller arranged for a swap and last Tuesday I was in possession of a 36 spline Defender quick release boss. I immediately made all the measurements I could to ensure it would fit, they came up good and it went onto the column nicely.
Despite that hassle I think I've done quite well. Not only is this boss shallower than the Discovery one (it's actually shallower than the one I had before and makes it easier to reach the stalks) but it's cheaper, so I got a partial refund. As I said, it fitted, but the story doesn't end there. The nut I had on the column original was 27mm AF, a very large nut considering the small thread diameter which we will come to shortly. This nut was fine with my old boss but the recessed part of the new boss is barely bigger than outer diameter of this nut, so there was no way to tighten it. I needed a new nut.
New nut? Easy, right? Look up the part or try the existing nut with bolts to find the thread. Brought the nut inside and it threaded onto an M14 bolt. Nice, that's a standard LR part so I'll order one. It arrives and doesn't thread onto the column, clearly binding up. At this point I'm very confused! The other size I can see is 1/2" UNF, which doesn't seem quite right but as my dad was passing by Ye Olde hardware shop that sells nuts and bolts individually, I sent him in with the old nut to grab a 1/2" version.
Matey tests the old nut and confirms that it isn't 1/2" UNF, so I get my thread gauges out and the column actually comes out to 9/16-18, or 9/16 UNF. To Matey's surprise, the old nut threads perfectly onto a 9/16 UNF bolt. I apparently have the first M14 and 9/16 UNF combination nut he's ever seen. I now understand what has happened here, I replaced the steering column in 2019 with one from another Disco 200tdi and it seems that my original column was metric while this replacement is imperial. The nut was close enough that it made itself fit with little effort and became the holy grail of combination nuts. It wasn't loose and wobbly when fitted to either thread, really quite impressive. Anyway. My dad picked up a 9/16 UNF plain nut for me, 50p.
So fast forward to this morning and I have all the right parts. I saved the lock washer that came with the genuine LR (and rather expensive) M14 nut and with my new UNF nut I was ready. You've read the story so let's get into the pictures.
The column looking forlorn without a wheel. That's 9/16 UNF by the way, I knew that all along.
The two parts of the boss joined together. This boss has holes to fit an included roll pin to engage the self-cancelling collar on the stalk cluster thingy. Discovery one didn't have this but it was the least of my troubles. The two sprung locking pins are shown.
The base of the boss slid onto the shaft, it actually fits. The three pins are additional locating pins so you can't put the wheel on upside-down. Top pin should be central, which it is. There was a bit of confusion as the steering lock is slightly off-centre.
You can see the roll pin engaging the plastic ring for the self-cancelling. It's only just engaging but it pulls up when the nut is tightened. I took the broken cowling off a long time ago, it just got in the way.
Nut on and tight, with the lock washer biting in to the aluminium. I dunno if it's necessary as I didn't have one before but it's the standard part.
Wheel on. I didn't have any black machine screws, the ones I had used previously had heads that were really too small and the ones that come with the Optimill kit are countersunk screws so I just went with this button head screws I had. They're silver but whatever, the wheel isn't even real Sparco I don't think...
After a test drive to confirm the straight ahead position is right, the cap goes on. Mostly straight. As the horn button is on the stalk there's no need for messing around with wiring and this never had an airbag so that's not a factor either.
Very happy with the result, I no longer have to take a screwdriver with me to fit the wheel every time I want to drive it but still have the theft deterrent of no steering wheel.
I'd really like to fit a Defender transfer box next...
You may remember that in 2017 I fitted a cheapy quick release kit to the bobtail and that later the MOT guys told me to remove it, there was too much slack in the fitting. I knew before getting it that I really wanted an Optimill quick release boss but the price just made my eyes water a bit too much. Like the Slickshift kit above, I've decided to just get on with these long-awaited upgrades before they become too difficult to find or something else demands my monies. So I bought the Discovery quick release kit.
I bought the boss kit from a third party as it came with free delivery rather than the £10 delivery I would have to pay on top of the £190 purchase price from Optimill themselves. Mistake. It took a week and a half to get here, no doubt because the seller had to buy it in from Optimill. How this all works is way over my head because surely someone is losing profit somewhere but anyway, it was here. I had checked the splines on the steering column and confirmed that the matched the boss, the number of splines isn't actually listed on the Optimill site but 36 seems to be standard for a Discovery. So I tried to fit it. It didn't fit.
A bit of measuring showed that the splined shaft was way too big to go in the hole, despite it having the correct number of splines. Right. Apparently the 200tdi Discovery 1 has a different shaft to that of later D1 and D2 models. Informed the seller who got in touch with Optimill and their less than enthusiastic response was that I needed a 36 spline Defender boss. Had they mentioned this on the site I would've been much better off. The seller arranged for a swap and last Tuesday I was in possession of a 36 spline Defender quick release boss. I immediately made all the measurements I could to ensure it would fit, they came up good and it went onto the column nicely.
Despite that hassle I think I've done quite well. Not only is this boss shallower than the Discovery one (it's actually shallower than the one I had before and makes it easier to reach the stalks) but it's cheaper, so I got a partial refund. As I said, it fitted, but the story doesn't end there. The nut I had on the column original was 27mm AF, a very large nut considering the small thread diameter which we will come to shortly. This nut was fine with my old boss but the recessed part of the new boss is barely bigger than outer diameter of this nut, so there was no way to tighten it. I needed a new nut.
New nut? Easy, right? Look up the part or try the existing nut with bolts to find the thread. Brought the nut inside and it threaded onto an M14 bolt. Nice, that's a standard LR part so I'll order one. It arrives and doesn't thread onto the column, clearly binding up. At this point I'm very confused! The other size I can see is 1/2" UNF, which doesn't seem quite right but as my dad was passing by Ye Olde hardware shop that sells nuts and bolts individually, I sent him in with the old nut to grab a 1/2" version.
Matey tests the old nut and confirms that it isn't 1/2" UNF, so I get my thread gauges out and the column actually comes out to 9/16-18, or 9/16 UNF. To Matey's surprise, the old nut threads perfectly onto a 9/16 UNF bolt. I apparently have the first M14 and 9/16 UNF combination nut he's ever seen. I now understand what has happened here, I replaced the steering column in 2019 with one from another Disco 200tdi and it seems that my original column was metric while this replacement is imperial. The nut was close enough that it made itself fit with little effort and became the holy grail of combination nuts. It wasn't loose and wobbly when fitted to either thread, really quite impressive. Anyway. My dad picked up a 9/16 UNF plain nut for me, 50p.
So fast forward to this morning and I have all the right parts. I saved the lock washer that came with the genuine LR (and rather expensive) M14 nut and with my new UNF nut I was ready. You've read the story so let's get into the pictures.
The column looking forlorn without a wheel. That's 9/16 UNF by the way, I knew that all along.
The two parts of the boss joined together. This boss has holes to fit an included roll pin to engage the self-cancelling collar on the stalk cluster thingy. Discovery one didn't have this but it was the least of my troubles. The two sprung locking pins are shown.
The base of the boss slid onto the shaft, it actually fits. The three pins are additional locating pins so you can't put the wheel on upside-down. Top pin should be central, which it is. There was a bit of confusion as the steering lock is slightly off-centre.
You can see the roll pin engaging the plastic ring for the self-cancelling. It's only just engaging but it pulls up when the nut is tightened. I took the broken cowling off a long time ago, it just got in the way.
Nut on and tight, with the lock washer biting in to the aluminium. I dunno if it's necessary as I didn't have one before but it's the standard part.
Wheel on. I didn't have any black machine screws, the ones I had used previously had heads that were really too small and the ones that come with the Optimill kit are countersunk screws so I just went with this button head screws I had. They're silver but whatever, the wheel isn't even real Sparco I don't think...
After a test drive to confirm the straight ahead position is right, the cap goes on. Mostly straight. As the horn button is on the stalk there's no need for messing around with wiring and this never had an airbag so that's not a factor either.
Very happy with the result, I no longer have to take a screwdriver with me to fit the wheel every time I want to drive it but still have the theft deterrent of no steering wheel.
I'd really like to fit a Defender transfer box next...
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