Front wheel drive only.

[Hoodoo Brown]

Has anyone converted their Freelander on a temp or permanent basis to front wheel drive only.
With the excessive cost of an IRD, viscous coupling, shaft bearings and rear differential, it would have to be worth considering.I know 4wd would not be available.
What other issues can you lot foresee ???

I'm still smarting with a quote of $A3000 list for a viscous coupling.
I'm getting one from the UK for 360 pounds plus freight of 120= $A960

Great car with ridiculous parts pricing.

256,000 km still running plus parts. :D:D:D

[landy63]

Not a problem doing away with vcu etc , just remove all from ird to the rear diff. The benifit of the so called 4x4 is not worth the expence of replacing rear drive parts. Actualy makes vehicle a little bit better peformance wise.

Remember to mark the bearing location on the under body in case you want to refit vcu/bearings back at a latter date.

[101RRS]

A few years back I had a VC failure which in turn caused the IRD failed. It took me a few months to source and fit new parts and I ran my car with the propellor shafts and VC removed but with the dodgy IRD still in. Everything worked fine.

When he IRD fails it is the crown and opinion gears that takes the drive to the rear that fails - if the car is stopped immediately the shrapnel does not take out the the drive to the front wheels. So if the oil and shrapnel is removed and new oil put in, the IRD will still work OK as long as there is no load on the damaged rear drive bits. Removing the propellor shaft removes this load.

I was able to source bits from a 25,000km TD4 which was far cheaper than new bits. The advantage for my car was the later IRD no longer has the problems of the earlier ones and final drive is higher with more relaxed driving on the road - the downside is first is not as low as it used to be.

If your VC has failed - have you damaged your IRD?

Garry

[beforethevision]

I had VC probs, and the whole lot was WAY less than that. I remember my local mechanic charging around 800$ for everything Between the IRD and Diff, INCLUDING labour. Those bits have to be cheap somewhere, maybe try BMI. Front wheel drive is an ok idea, but i dont see the point in owning it if its permanently front wheel drive.

Cheers!

[marky_cam]

I have a Freelander, it's been in front wheel drive for over 2 years now, I only put the prop/viscous back on when towing a caravan. As I'm in the UK, it has passed 2 yearly vehicle inspections without a problem. The only thing is the vehicle can be a bit lively when the roads are wet, the wheel sometimes spin.
You can get on eblag a plate to replace the IRD output shaft, removing the shaft case, this stops the crown wheel damaging the output shaft any more than it has already