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Seahorse
25th June 2009, 07:47 AM
Anyone converted their Freelander to 2WD drive only mode. ie removed Prop Shaft/Viscous Coupling/blanked off the IRD etc.

If so, what are the +/-'s. eg Improved fuel economy, reduced rear tyre wear etc.

What are the legal ramifications. Can the vehicle still be registered..??

whyatts
25th June 2009, 08:46 AM
why are you looking to convert the vehilce to 2x4?

Junosi
25th June 2009, 09:41 AM
Mines 2x4 and will be until I find a reasonably priced replacement VCU. Apparently its better on both fuel and tyre wear - but can't compare personally as mines never been 4wd while I've owned it. Drives fine anyways.

Legal ramifications - it won't pass Vic Roadworthy in 2x4 (can't comment on other states). The drive shaft and VCU etc must be present to legally pass. Had to put mine back on briefly to get mine roadworthied - and I spoke to a few roadworthy places before taking it in. My VCU is locked solid, but still passed fine. As for removing it afterwards, well I doubt thats strictly allowed given that the vehicle is technically unroadworthy then. Also not sure about insurance implications also. Way around it would be to get an engineer cert stating that its fine in 2x4, unsure what that would cost but probably a lot cheaper than a genuine replacement VCU still

Personally I'm 100% sure that the vehicle is safer in 2x4 mode with no VCU and shaft etc than it is in 4wd with a buggered VCU and having wheel binding happen.

Clark

HangOver
25th June 2009, 09:54 AM
probably for running costs?

PM k1000o, (Camilo) he has an "accidental 2x4 he might be able to give you some pointers and might even buy ay parts from you if you dont need them.

101RRS
25th June 2009, 10:16 AM
When I did my VC and IRD a few years back I removed the rear drive etc and drove it around for a few months while waiting for parts. I cannot talk about petrol cars but the diesel drove fine but tended to spin the front wheels and as a result traction control comes on a lot.

I do not know why such a freelander would be considered unroadworthy - the freelander is a front wheel drive car until front wheel spin is detected so with no rear drive gear it is still front wheel drive. I doubt there is any rule that says it must be there - suspect more a roadworthy nazi wanting to exercise power - sure it would be challangable if needed.

Garry

Junosi
25th June 2009, 11:03 AM
I do not know why such a freelander would be considered unroadworthy - the freelander is a front wheel drive car until front wheel spin is detected so with no rear drive gear it is still front wheel drive. I doubt there is any rule that says it must be there - suspect more a roadworthy nazi wanting to exercise power - sure it would be challangable if needed.

Garry

I agree - it *shouldnt* be considered unroadworthy at all, I consider it safer than a locked VCU, but sadly there is such a rule in Vic at least that makes it so. It basically states that anything non-trivial that was there when the vehicle was made must be present and working (its more complex than that but thats the guts of it). If you've removed part of the driveline then you've modified the vehicle and have to get it approved technically. Roadworthies have become MUCH more stringent in Vic over the last year or so - my local roadworthy guy reckons he has to provide Vicroads with photos of the undercarriage etc now (haven't verified that). Local guy is usually very helpful with previous roadworthies and lets other things slide a little but the drive shaft etc was a must have item. Checked with a couple of other roadworthy issuers around town also.

I hate the Victoria roadworthy system personally, I've had very little problems with both NSW and Queensland checks by comparison. I was trying to avoid having to put my seized VCU back on just for the purposes of roadworthy - only to remove it again once I got home, seemed like a pointless excercise to me. Apparently the tightening of Vic roadworthies is mainly to try and crack down on *rebirths* - accident vehicles that are poorly repaired and put back on the road. Of course if you manage to find an issuer that will pass it with no driveshaft then I'd make him my new roadworthy guy in a flash :D

Clark

Seahorse
25th June 2009, 02:48 PM
Spoke about it with my local mechanic today and asked how he would feel if I turned up without the driveline in place for my next rego inspection. He didn't bat an eyelid. Reckons there are quite a few landrovers getting around with rear drive shafts removed. He couldn't see a problem with removing it.

This was only his "opinion" and I reckon I could be in trouble if I turned up for a rego inspection and he was away on holidays..!!

Other questions I have are. Will the ABS continue to function OK. I assume it would..??

What about hill decent control..?? (I realise that I would no longer have the benefit of the rear wheel drive)..

The local Landrover mechanic did a practical test on my viscous coupling the other day for me and pronounced it to be OK!!. Basically all he did was park it on a slightly inclined driveway and pulled on full lock and let it roll backwards. If it rolls under its own weight it's OK. Looking through the door into his workshop there was a full Freelander driveline laying on the workshop floor. So I reckon he does a quite a few of them.

Junosi
25th June 2009, 03:01 PM
Can't think of any reason why ABS, traction control or HDC shouldn't work. That stuff runs off of wheel sensors - and they're unaltered. I'd test the VCU myself just to be sure - using Garry's method of jack one wheel up etc. Rolling it doesn't sound very scientific ;)

My local guy also said he sees a lot of freelanders with no drive shafts too - even the rep at Melb Landrover made comment about it when mine was in there on testbook - he'd heard *wink wink* about Freelanders having them removed although couldn't officially recommend it - guess he was trying to sell me a new driveline at the time

Utemad
25th June 2009, 03:13 PM
The local Landrover mechanic did a practical test on my viscous coupling the other day for me and pronounced it to be OK!!. Basically all he did was park it on a slightly inclined driveway and pulled on full lock and let it roll backwards. If it rolls under its own weight it's OK. Looking through the door into his workshop there was a full Freelander driveline laying on the workshop floor. So I reckon he does a quite a few of them.

No ideas on FL stuff but I can say that my Disco1 will not roll anywhere on full lock when trying to roll out of my downhill driveway in reverse with the clutch in while in 4wd high lock.

I know this as last weekend I did it by accident. I even got out to see what was in the way as the bloody thing wouldn't budge. It would reverse under power ok but once the clutch was pushed in it would stop like the brakes were applied.

I soon realised I had bumped it into 4wd high lock when I was fiddling earlier.

So I'd say that is a pretty good test.

Seahorse
25th June 2009, 04:15 PM
OK...So no major Downsides apart from...

Legalities..(Where would one stand in the event of a "serious" accident etc)
Loss of 4x4 functionality and possible traction issues etc during certain road conditions.
Front tyre squeal (mentioned in one of the previous posts)

Potential Upsides

No longer worried about VCU and IRD Failure$
Increased Fuel economy
Improved rear tyre wear

Junosi
25th June 2009, 04:32 PM
Agreed

mjm295
26th June 2009, 11:14 PM
Mine is currently in 2wd - it drives fine, apart from the knackered bearing the the IRD.