- JLR is recalling 121,509 examples of its Range Rover and Range Rover Sport.
- The suspension knuckles can crack, potentially causing the arms to detach.
- Models affected by the faulty parts were all built between 2014 and 2017.
In the world of car suspension there’s literally a lot riding on the knuckle, a big hunk of metal that unites the suspension components, from the steering and suspension arms to the hub to which the wheel is bolted. If it fails, particularly on a 5,500 lbs (2,500 kg) SUV, the result could have Copart and lawyers rubbing their hands with glee, which is why Land Rover has just announced a major recall.
The British luxury brand is recalling 66,789 examples of its Range Rover Sport and 54,720 of its flagship Range Rover due to a fault with their suspension knuckles, or uprights, as they’re also known. Although there’s not much that can go wrong with a big hunk of metal, it can crack, and if the crack gets bad enough, one of the suspension arms might detach, causing a crash.
Related: Thousands Of Range Rovers May Have A Safety Flaw Lurking Behind The Dashboard
That’s the scenario JLR uncovered, though it claims it isn’t so far aware of any crashes or injuries resulting from failures in the Taiwan-manufactured knuckles. The faulty parts are fitted to Range Rovers and Range Sports built between 2014 and 2017, meaning they’re previous-generation designs.
Owners of the 121,509 affected vehicles will be asked to take their SUVs to a dealer who will inspect both front knuckles and add retaining brackets to those which show no sign of cracking. If cracks are found, or the dealer can’t get hold of a bracket, an entirely new knuckle will be fitted.
As is often the case with these recalls, this isn’t a problem that’s only just been discovered. We reported last November that JLR was recalling 2014-16 Range Rovers for the same problem related to knuckles from the same supplier – SuperAlloy Industrial. But the automaker had already recalled vehicles for the issue in 2022 in Canada and the UK, reasoning that salt used on the roads in winter in those countries increased the failure rate.
And in July of this year America’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened a probe into Range Rover Sport steering knuckle failures after receiving a dozen Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQs) detailing the issue.