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Thread: Which overdrive?

  1. #11
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    Are you happy with the Roamerdrive?

    Hi Warb,

    I know that this is an old thread, but was curious about what you think of the Roamerdrive now that you’ve had it for a while?

    Cheers, Shaun

  2. #12
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    Hi Shaun,
    I have Never seen a bad review for Roamerdrive.

    whitehillbilly

  3. #13
    Davo is offline ChatterBox Silver Subscriber
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    Quote Originally Posted by incisor View Post
    someone here complained about toasting one due to excessive heat if my memory serves me rightly...

    your best buying the allow transfer case cover as well to help dissipate the heat.

    i have the cover and will be fitting it to help preserve my toro...
    That would have been me! Mine was great, until we were on a highway on a mid-40s day. The synthetic oil turned black. I got that finned sump later on but it didn't make a whiff of difference with those fat fins on it. That overdrive is a nice design, but I don't think ever properly tested in the heat by someone who has lived up here and who would know what it's like. And after-sales support when this happened to me was so bad it verged into some nasty stuff. For us, it was a huge chunk of money that was wasted.
    At any given point in time, somewhere in the world someone is working on a Land-Rover.

  4. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by yibbidy View Post
    Hi Warb,

    I know that this is an old thread, but was curious about what you think of the Roamerdrive now that you’ve had it for a while?

    Cheers, Shaun
    Sorry for the late reply!

    The fitting was easy, with a couple of caveats. Firstly the unit is "designed" for left hand drive vehicles and has a straight operating lever which in my RHD 86" I had to bend to stop it interfering with the main gear lever. The bend creates an unscrewing force so the locknut needs to be tight to prevent the lever coming loose. Secondly the Roamerdrive comes with a dipstick that replaces the oil level plug in the back of the transfer case. The supplied fittings may well fit a later 'box, but the 86" has a smaller plug. Getting a suitable adapter locally proved tough, but I finally got one from a hydraulics supplier. Unfortunately adapting from a smaller to a larger fitting creates a "reservoir" of oil and care must be taken to ensure the dipstick level is above that reservoir - with the vehicle on a completely flat surface it works OK as the dipstick is above the middle of the hole.

    I fitted this one as a direct replacement for a Fairey, and the hole in the transmission tunnel is exactly the same so no alteration was required.

    I fitted a finned alloy sump plate at the same time as my Roamerdrive. On another vehicle I have the same finned sump that I fitted with the supplied gasket and it leaked oil, so on the 86" I discarded the gasket and used a grey gasket eliminator which seems to have worked well, though I have no idea how easy it will be to removed should the need arise!

    I had a conversation with Ray at Roamerdrive about oil. Without opening other arguments, there are potential issues with the use of GL5 oils in these units (and the transfer box in general) and this applies to all GL5 oils even if they state they are GL4 compliant. Unfortunately it is very hard to find a GL4 oil in Australia, or at least in rural NSW. Ray's recommendation was to avoid synthetic oils, and his choice for Australian conditions is Penrites Mild EP product, which is a traditional GL4 transmission oil. It has a higher viscosity than specified for the Roamerdrive, but for Australian temperatures (and given what is actually available over here) that is his recommendation. Unfortunately (again!) it is not easy to find, comes only in 1L bottles, and is quite expensive...........

    So that covers the fitting and maintenance. I wish I could tell you more about the unit in use, but after a few local trips and shake-down runs I decided to completely rewire the 86" because the original and much abused cotton wiring loom had decayed to the point of risking a fire. That job is not yet complete, so the Roamerdrive hasn't had much use! However it seemed to work well, and was far quieter than the unbearable howl from the Fairey. I was sufficiently happy that I bought another one for another vehicle that I'm also working on.

    Hope that helps!

  5. #15
    Join Date
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    GL4 Oil is very easy to find, even in Country Victoria without needing to special order. In all 3 varieties, Mineral / Semn Synth & Full Synth varieties, I run it in my Iveco ZF Gearbox & the same oil goes in My LandRover TC / Roamerdrive.

    Castrol / Nulon and Penrite all have it & I didn't bother looking any further.

    for example Castrol Syntrans
    Syntrans At 75W-90 | Castrol Australia | Truck & Bus - Manual Transmission Fluid | Castrol™ Australia | Truck & Bus - Motor Oil & Lubricants | Castrol Australia | Products | Castrol Australia | Castrol™ Engine Oil & Lubricants - Castrol™ Australia

    Penrite ProGear
    Penrite Oil | PRO GEAR GL-4 75W-90


    BTW I have hads Faiery and Toro Overdrives both as noisy as a Banshee , Now have a Global Roamerdrive & is the bees knees, silky smooth in operation & no noise difference in or out. Well worth the $2000 I paid for it.

  6. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Warb View Post
    Sorry for the late reply!

    The fitting was easy, with a couple of caveats. Firstly the unit is "designed" for left hand drive vehicles and has a straight operating lever which in my RHD 86" I had to bend to stop it interfering with the main gear lever. The bend creates an unscrewing force so the locknut needs to be tight to prevent the lever coming loose. Secondly the Roamerdrive comes with a dipstick that replaces the oil level plug in the back of the transfer case. The supplied fittings may well fit a later 'box, but the 86" has a smaller plug. Getting a suitable adapter locally proved tough, but I finally got one from a hydraulics supplier. Unfortunately adapting from a smaller to a larger fitting creates a "reservoir" of oil and care must be taken to ensure the dipstick level is above that reservoir - with the vehicle on a completely flat surface it works OK as the dipstick is above the middle of the hole.

    I fitted this one as a direct replacement for a Fairey, and the hole in the transmission tunnel is exactly the same so no alteration was required.

    I fitted a finned alloy sump plate at the same time as my Roamerdrive. On another vehicle I have the same finned sump that I fitted with the supplied gasket and it leaked oil, so on the 86" I discarded the gasket and used a grey gasket eliminator which seems to have worked well, though I have no idea how easy it will be to removed should the need arise!

    I had a conversation with Ray at Roamerdrive about oil. Without opening other arguments, there are potential issues with the use of GL5 oils in these units (and the transfer box in general) and this applies to all GL5 oils even if they state they are GL4 compliant. Unfortunately it is very hard to find a GL4 oil in Australia, or at least in rural NSW. Ray's recommendation was to avoid synthetic oils, and his choice for Australian conditions is Penrites Mild EP product, which is a traditional GL4 transmission oil. It has a higher viscosity than specified for the Roamerdrive, but for Australian temperatures (and given what is actually available over here) that is his recommendation. Unfortunately (again!) it is not easy to find, comes only in 1L bottles, and is quite expensive...........

    So that covers the fitting and maintenance. I wish I could tell you more about the unit in use, but after a few local trips and shake-down runs I decided to completely rewire the 86" because the original and much abused cotton wiring loom had decayed to the point of risking a fire. That job is not yet complete, so the Roamerdrive hasn't had much use! However it seemed to work well, and was far quieter than the unbearable howl from the Fairey. I was sufficiently happy that I bought another one for another vehicle that I'm also working on.

    Hope that helps!
    hi i had a roma drive fitted at mr redcliffe they are the main dealers here for them and i had a temperguege fitted all good
    Russell Rovers
    Series I Parts Specialists
    russellrovers AT gmail.com
    Phone 0428732001

  7. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by goingbush View Post
    GL4 Oil is very easy to find, even in Country Victoria without needing to special order. In all 3 varieties, Mineral / Semn Synth & Full Synth varieties, I run it in my Iveco ZF Gearbox & the same oil goes in My LandRover TC / Roamerdrive.

    Castrol / Nulon and Penrite all have it & I didn't bother looking any further.

    for example Castrol Syntrans
    Syntrans At 75W-90 | Castrol Australia | Truck & Bus - Manual Transmission Fluid | Castrol™ Australia | Truck & Bus - Motor Oil & Lubricants | Castrol Australia | Products | Castrol Australia | Castrol™ Engine Oil & Lubricants - Castrol™ Australia

    Penrite ProGear
    Penrite Oil | PRO GEAR GL-4 75W-90
    Both the oils you mention are synthetic, and Ray at Roamerdrive specifically recommended against synthetic oils. I couldn't find any GL4 non-synthetic oil at any of my local stockists, Penrite don't produce one other than their classic range (Mild EP) and Castrol make VMX-80 but nobody local had stock when I needed it even though SuperCheap list it on their website. Several companies sell GL4 products it in 20L drums to the trade, but that's a lot of oil!

    I discussed this with the manager of my local Repco at the time (who was happy to order in anything I wanted) and his opinion was that most people don't worry about the technicalities and just use GL5 because they think it must be better (5 is bigger than 4 so it must be better!). Equally many people will buy synthetic over mineral (if they are willing to pay the extra) for the same reason, it MUST be better. As a result he doesn't stock the lower turnover "specialist" products because 99% of people are happy to buy something else instead.

    I had the same conversation with a guy at Supercheap. He said "hodor" and waved a can of Alloy Wheel Cleaner at me............

  8. #18
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    Ok, without getting into the why's and wherefore's of buffered GL5's and advice against syn oils, if you really, really must have a full mineral oil, look for an oil with a borate instead of sulphur/phosphorous additive package, even if it states GL5 (which it will)
    They are totally yellow metal safe as there is no sulphur present.
    Caltex/Texaco should have something.

  9. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by rick130 View Post
    Ok, without getting into the why's and wherefore's of buffered GL5's and advice against syn oils, if you really, really must have a full mineral oil, look for an oil with a borate instead of sulphur/phosphorous additive package, even if it states GL5 (which it will)
    They are totally yellow metal safe as there is no sulphur present.
    Caltex/Texaco should have something.
    I based my choice on the advice of the man who makes the overdrive, but for interest (I apologise if you've seen them before):

    https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&r...eg94YMOibGV-Nf

    I also notice on Nulons website, Is an API GL5 gear oil better than a API GL4 gear oil
    - Nulon Products Australia

    In my case to be honest I doubt any of my older vehicles will ever be driven far enough for any of these issues (real or imaginary) to actually cause a problem. Having said that, in many areas I have found that whilst it may be true that "technology" has moved forward, this does not always mean it makes a good combination with older equipment. Modern items are made with modern tolerances and materials to match modern "consumables". Unfortunately sometimes those modern consumables don't work well with the materials and tolerances of older hardware. Few companies want to make tiny quantities of products to suit those old machines, nor carry out extensive testing for a limited market, so there is a commercial pressure to suggest that their new products suit all applications. After all, what's the chance of someone with an old car successfully proving that an oil, rather than 60 years of wear and tear, caused an issue?

  10. #20
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    I fitted a roamerdrive, along with the finned TC cover about six years ago to my Holden powered series 3 shorty, which also runs 3.54 diffs, but only 29" tyres (about 6.50-7.00).
    When I fitted it I modified the gear lever for it so that it comes through the front of the seat box instead of the side of transmission tunnel.
    I sourced a mineral oil for it locally from our Mobil agent, XHP 75W-90.
    Like warb said, oil leaks around the TC cover were an issue, but a better sealant solved that issue.
    I have found it to be very good and have even towed our 700kg camper with overdrive engaged, with no issues at all.
    Very happy with it.

    Cheers, Mick.
    1974 S3 88 Holden 186.
    1971 S2A 88
    1971 S2A 109 6 cyl. tray back.
    1964 S2A 88 "Starfire Four" engine!
    1972 S3 88 x 2
    1959 S2 88 ARN 111-014
    1959 S2 88 ARN 111-556
    1988 Perentie 110 FFR ARN 48-728 steering now KLR PAS!
    REMLR 88
    1969 BSA Bantam B175

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