TC Effectiveness

[bikeman]

Hi guys, I have just been talking to a couple of mates about a trip to the Vic high country in March next year. I have a pretty much bog standard 95 soft dash, 4.6 is the only mod. EAS works etc. My question is; how effective is the TC, seeing its on the rear. Just curious as my other RRC's didn't have this.
Thanks,
Phil.

[RaZz0R]

Hi guys, I have just been talking to a couple of mates about a trip to the Vic high country in March next year. I have a pretty much bog standard 95 soft dash, 4.6 is the only mod. EAS works etc. My question is; how effective is the TC, seeing its on the rear. Just curious as my other RRC's didn't have this.
Thanks,
Phil.

No idea personally.. apart from a play in a 93 that had them I think - old school brake pump on the discs; but I have done the trip from Mansfield \ Sheep flat to Dargo right over the high country.
IMO you will want;

Diff protectors
2.5" lift
265\75\16 tires - I would have had issues having smaller and that was a fair few years ago
Bullbar with a winch fitted or be with someone that has it just in case
Duel batteries would also be a good thing for a fridge if you are taking one?

[bikeman]

Thanks Chris,
diff protectors, rated recovery points will be added. There will be a couple of vehicules with winches but in an emergency I have a Tirfor. With working EAS I should be able to raise the car enough when required. Tyres will be near new, 10k, 245 70 16 AT3.
I was just wondering how effective the Traction Control will be as I have never had a car with TC.
Phil.

[RaZz0R]

its hard to explain but dont depend on it ;)

Do you have ABS in that one?

[DieselLSE]

My question is; how effective is the TC, seeing its on the rear.[/I]
Phil.
Hi bikeman,

TC is astonishingly effective. It works particularly well in the type of slippery slopes you get in the Vic high country. It came with my LSE, so I can't comment on how effective it is on a SWB. The TC came as an option with the WABCO ABS.
I can recall two occasions where it proved it's worth.
The first was when I had the relatively new car on loan up near Bright. With four blokes in the car I took it for a run on the tracks and plantation where the previous year I had taken my Series 3 LWB with a McNamara rear diff lock and either bar treads or similar. We came to a steep, muddy slope and I remarked that we wouldn't get as far as the Series 3 as we only had the standard road tyres. Boy! Was I wrong. The Rangie simply walked up it with the TC clicking on when needed and we reached the top with no fuss. The EAS was a revelation, too!
The second occasion was a decade or so later when I was part of a survey team. I had fitted front and rear diff locks but for some reason they weren't working that trip. I had to take a few people along an incredibly slippery river track with some steep sections and to make things worse I had a mysterious misfire under load which seriously limited power. Weather was terrible, too. If it had not been for the TC I doubt I would have made it up some of the hills without winching.
Mind you, on another survey on a plantation near Narbethong, with earlier generation AT tyres (Hancook from memory) I couldn't get up one wet muddy hill with both diff locks engaged as the tyres simply clogged up with mud! Tried runs with TC only, rear lock only and both locks. Got a bit further with both locks, but not much.
Your car with rear only TC and EAS and decent AT tyres will easily go anywhere in the Vic high country (unless you go looking for trouble).
Enjoy your trip.

[Mercguy]

its hard to explain but dont depend on it ;)

Do you have ABS in that one?


I wouldn't go looking for the "double black" runs :D

[bikeman]

Thanks for that Diesel, I will be getting everything checked before we go. I have heard some horror stories about the high country. Chris, it does have ABS, which I think works the TC.
Phil

[DieselLSE]

Thanks for that Diesel, I will be getting everything checked before we go. I have heard some horror stories about the high country. Chris, it does have ABS, which I think works the TC.
Phil
Yes, the TC is part of the WABCO ABS. It is essential that you change the brake fluid every few years. By that I mean a complete flush. There is a set procedure you must follow.
But don't worry about the high country. Expect and plan for the worst (snow, blizzard, relentless rain, heatwave, bushfires, breakdowns). The more you prepare and plan, the less disasters you encounter. For forty or so years I have travelled the high country nearly always with just the one vehicle. I've had a broken axle, eight hours winching (downhill in the snow!), a broken rear diff (but on that occasion I was with another vehicle), days of heavy rain, flooded rivers, bushfires on an opposite ridge and goodness knows what else. But I was prepared for all of that (well, not the bushfire) and most of the time most trips have been uneventful. Just remember that the best way to get a Landrover from A to B is to go as slowly as possible. They will walk up mountains in first low (just leave it in Drive, low range) with the engine revs just on peak torque (not screaming and flat out as you see some buffoons do). Your Rangie will walk over the rockiest tracks nice and gently if you go slow enough for the EAS to do it's thing. Yes, there are the odd occasions when deep soft sand or mud will require a bit of momentum or a steep slippery slope will require a bit of speed, but a spinning wheel is a wheel without traction, so try to keep that to a minimum.
If this is your first trip, try to go with another vehicle and share the recovery gear and spares etc.

[RaZz0R]

Yes, the TC is part of the WABCO ABS. It is essential that you change the brake fluid every few years. By that I mean a complete flush. There is a set procedure you must follow.
But don't worry about the high country. Expect and plan for the worst (snow, blizzard, relentless rain, heatwave, bushfires, breakdowns). The more you prepare and plan, the less disasters you encounter. For forty or so years I have travelled the high country nearly always with just the one vehicle. I've had a broken axle, eight hours winching (downhill in the snow!), a broken rear diff (but on that occasion I was with another vehicle), days of heavy rain, flooded rivers, bushfires on an opposite ridge and goodness knows what else. But I was prepared for all of that (well, not the bushfire) and most of the time most trips have been uneventful. Just remember that the best way to get a Landrover from A to B is to go as slowly as possible. They will walk up mountains in first low (just leave it in Drive, low range) with the engine revs just on peak torque (not screaming and flat out as you see some buffoons do). Your Rangie will walk over the rockiest tracks nice and gently if you go slow enough for the EAS to do it's thing. Yes, there are the odd occasions when deep soft sand or mud will require a bit of momentum or a steep slippery slope will require a bit of speed, but a spinning wheel is a wheel without traction, so try to keep that to a minimum.
If this is your first trip, try to go with another vehicle and share the recovery gear and spares etc.

That is great advise right there! :)

Also be aware that with the ABS when you walk it down steps she will wanna roll and drop down them because the ABS picks up skipping.
I ripped the ABS out and put a Disco booster in place of the ABS pump with a reducer for the rear lines. Wasn't that hard at all and gave really good control for getting down steps on the brakes where you have no engine braking.
But thats another story [bigwhistle]

[Pedro_The_Swift]

Not trying to confuse the issue,, or go offtrack[bighmmm]
The RR's pioneered traction control,, first rears then all 4,, then the D2's got it,, but by then the RR's had far Superior TC software (and still have [biggrin])

My question is,, with TC, the trick on the 4 wheel TC on D2's is to either rev the tits off it and wait , or stop a wheel,,
but if that RR only has it on the rear,, how to activate???

[DieselLSE]

Not trying to confuse the issue,, or go offtrack[bighmmm]
The RR's pioneered traction control,, first rears then all 4,, then the D2's got it,, but by then the RR's had far Superior TC software (and still have [biggrin])

My question is,, with TC, the trick on the 4 wheel TC on D2's is to either rev the tits off it and wait , or stop a wheel,,
but if that RR only has it on the rear,, how to activate???
Good question Pedro.
Because it is part of the ABS, the ABS computer picks up that one rear wheel is spinning more than the other and pulsates the brakes on the slipping wheel to allow the power to be distributed to both wheels evenly. It takes no notice of the front axle. As a driver you only know it's happening because the TC light on the dash lights up when the TC is activated. I've heard of the issue you raise in Defenders with 4 wheel TC and I've heard that it can be a real pain. Perhaps it is the same system as D2s? But I can assure you the rear axle only TC on a Rangie (mine was an LSE and the first model with it as standard) worked brilliantly. Nowhere near as clever as the D4 system, but after a quarter of a century development, what do you expect!

[bikeman]

I just love the information available in this forum.
Diesel, I have time to prepare the car before the trip. I will be doing a complete abs, gear box and diffs service and oil change.
I won't be doing any double black runs, I do that on skis and mountain bike [bigsmile]. I like the idea of the capabilities of a 22 year old vehicle traveling with much younger non LR's. I get quite a bit of s&P# from the other members of the group, all good Aussie banter.

In 1969 I once did a run from Mt Hotham to Bainsdale via Dargo, in winter in a Mini Cooper S. 2 Mini's pushing snow, chains and no 4x4.

Thanks to everyone.
Phil