Range Rover’s Steering Can Snap Off. Land Rover’s Fix Is a Brace.

FARS data from 2014 to 2023 ranks the Range Rover Sport among the safest SUVs in America: 0.16 occupant deaths per 100 million miles traveled, less than half the class median of 0.41.^[3] In 73 percent of its fatal crash involvements, a ratio common across heavy SUVs, the person killed was outside the vehicle. That safety comes from 5,300 pounds of curb weight, not from the engineering quality of a cast aluminum steering knuckle that fractures in service.^[1]

When that knuckle cracks at the upper clevis joint, the upper suspension arm detaches and the driver of a $95,000-to-$185,000 vehicle loses directional control.^[1] NHTSA opened a preliminary evaluation in June 2025 after receiving 12 owner complaints.^[2] On April 24, 2026, it upgraded the investigation to an Engineering Analysis, its highest tier, because it found “much of the information” JLR provided “contradictory.”^[1][4]

JLR’s recall 25V514, filed August 2025, covers only certain 2014 and all 2015 to 2017 vehicles. Cracked knuckles get replaced with “a new knuckle of a substantially similar design.” Uncracked knuckles get a metal brace designed to “prevent the component from completely separating should a fracture develop.”^[1] The brace does not prevent the fracture; it just keeps the wheel attached while the fracture completes.

Recall coverage spans four model years, but the defect spans nine.^[2] Recent owner complaints describe fractures on 2020 and 2021 Range Rover L405 vehicles, built years after the recall cutoff.^[1] NHTSA expanded the investigation to 2018 through 2022, bringing total affected population to 331,559 vehicles. All share steering knuckles manufactured by SuperAlloy Industrial of Taiwan under at least twenty different part numbers.^[1]

Counterargument and limits: Zero fatalities or injuries are attributed to knuckle fractures so far, and JLR acted before anyone died. FARS captures fatal crashes only; 26 deaths over a decade is below the threshold for statistically robust per-model conclusions, and estimated VMT introduces roughly ±15 percent uncertainty. None of that explains why 2020 models share the failure mode with 2014s, or why the replacement knuckle uses “substantially similar” geometry.

What to do: Own a 2014 to 2022 Range Rover or Range Rover Sport? Check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls for recall 25V514. Model years 2018 to 2022 are not yet covered, but NHTSA’s expanded investigation may change that. Any clunking or looseness in the front suspension warrants an immediate inspection, because your knuckle may already be cracked.