Alternative to the fluid coupling (VCU)

This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.
likimstip said:
Yes, a Freelander would benefit from having a centre differential like its bigger brothers, but it doesn't have one. The fluid coupling is a cheaper, less suitable compromise. It has its faults, as we see. The Tegralok unit makes the drive work just like a Discovery one as soon as the Discovery in in diff lock mode. In both cases the axles are forced to turn at the same speed, which on dry tarmac will wind up the transmission as you said. It isn't a good plan to drive a Discovery on dry tarmac while in diff lock mode, and similarly it isn't wise to have the Tegralock engaged on dry tarmac either. In both cases the driver's decisions are important. You are right to say the extra lever increases driver workload. So does a manual gearbox, and some people choose an automatic instead. Horses for courses. Thanks
Click to expand...
I wonder if you'd given any thought of how a Range Rover Classic, p38a or early L322 work.... I think a viscous unit in a FL more akin to these could be a better solution than something selectable.
 
Nodge68 said:
with none of the advantages having a working VCU gives.
Click to expand...
But if it meant you could disengage the rear wheels surely it would reduce wear to the VCU. Also would it not mean that by running in 2 wheel there would be a slight saving on petrol. I'd need convincing that, apart from the cost, it would not be a great solution.
 
helijohn said:
But if it meant you could disengage the rear wheels surely it would reduce wear to the VCU.
Click to expand...
It would, because the VCU would be on a shelf in the garage!
helijohn said:
I'd need convincing that, apart from the cost, it would not be a great solution.
Click to expand...
The OP, or someone, said that the VCU does not kick in quick enough when maneuvering the caravan - so that's a convincing argument... for maneuvering caravans in a straight line. I don't think I've seen anything else in the 5 pages though.
 
GrumpyGel said:
It would, because the VCU would be on a shelf in the garage!

The OP, or someone, said that the VCU does not kick in quick enough when manoeuvring the caravan - so that's a convincing argument... for manoeuvring caravans in a straight line. I don't think I've seen anything else in the 5 pages though.
Click to expand...
I agree that this is mostly the case. It is simply a 'pie in the sky' - ill thought out and totally ridiculous 'solution' to a problem that simply does not exist.
The OP and designer obviously (to me at least) - had A. little if any knowledge of how a VCU works, and B. Had a non correctly functioning VCU . and C. was totally wasting his time and effort .
D. it WILL damage or destroy your drive train.
A well meaning (supposedly) OP with a total lack of understanding along with a knackered vcu.
The VCU will 'kick in'- a few revs possibly but certainly NOT a quarter or half a turn - ) - but WILL certainly 'kick in' and do the goodies.
The VCU will definitely apply increased torque at any time there is slippage 'tween front and rear, however the torque is progressive until hump mode is achieved - this may well take many turns of the front drive but certainly not a full slippage.

All in all - bottom line - waste of engineering skills and time

Nice idea - poorly thought out.:(
 
Interesting fred. I like the idea of the tegralok. It provides the driver the choice of 2wd or 4wd. If the driver doesn't need the auto sensing and activation of the vcu to provide 4wd then the tegralok is a solution. If yer think about it most peeps know if they want 4wd when they go oft road, drive across a field or down a muddy track, as opposed to only needing 2wd on tarmac roads. The option of selecting between the 2 is ok if yer want to do it yerself. It won't stop wheel spin when pulling away on wet roads when in 2wd, like the vcu auto sensing solution does (and connects drive to the rear momentarily) but that's life*. Well done.

*The wet road wheel spin option was fitted as standard on the higher power v6 model.
 
Hi all,
I'm getting quite a lot of emails from folk wanting to either buy a Tegralok (I'm not thinking to manufacture them), or plans and photos for them to build their own. The geographical spread of correspondents is interesting. Modest interest from UK owners, but strong interest from people in Italy, Germany, New Zealand and Ghana to list the main ones. No idea why that should be, but it is a bit intriguing.
I've decided to take a raft of photos of the thing in bits and assembled, make some drawings of the constructed items, provide the machining data, and list the suppliers of the bought-in parts that I found - there will be other suppliers of course, and maybe much cheaper. A prototype (leap in the dark!) is always expensive because you are distracted from doing strong market research by having to solve all the engineering problems along the way.
My Tegralok is coming up to 9000 miles now. The bits that I didn't paint are changing colour to that familiar brown (I'm shocked!) but otherwise it hasn't changed.
In a few days the info pack should be ready, if I can figure out how to make the file size small enough. My email is buried somewhere in the YouTube comments for anybody that wants to ignore the negative comments on this forum and have a go for themselves.
Best regards,
Likim Stip
 
Totally cool, Tegralok! Using my FL 1 td4 for hunting purpose in the montains. Soil is mainly rocks and sometimes mud. 4 wd is not required most the time; front WD would be sufficient. Then there a matter of economics: how much for the device and its installation? Plus some good sense: please rotate the grease zerks 90 degrees to locate them on a side wall. The current way exposes them to be ripped off by the first higher obstacle on the trail. Hope to see it soon on the market.
 
Ten out of Ten for actually doing it, it is just a pity that the front and rear diffs are of a different ratio that means the dog clutch used won't sufficiently protect the rest of the transmission from winding itself up, thus meaning you cannot use it on wintry roads where the hippo excels. As said elsewhere adding a gearbox to correct the ratio differences, or an LSD or a wet clutch or ironically enough a viscous, and this would be a great device that I would buy.
 
I've been thinking.. which is always risky.
But for the Tegralok to be beneficial (and ignoring financial benefits / defecits) we have to establish the following:-
1. Is the existing 4wd so inadequate that it cannot do it's job adequatley and efficiently off road?
2. Is there a substantial benefit to running the car in 2wd for extended periods when 4wd is not required?
3. When off road is there a benefit to being able to switch between the two?

My take...

1. No...
Evidence (not my own) suggest that the existing system is more than capable. Indeed many owners regularly do some serious off roading on the existing set up without problems. So being able to 'lock' the font to rear seems unneccesary. With little benefit to be had.

2. This seems to be a subject of great debate. Some say yes, some say no. The fuel consumption benefits seem to be negligible if any. So that leaves wear and tear. Is there any savings to be had in that area? Personally I doubt it.

3. I have no experience of serious off road so can't comment. Although what little trainng and experience I have suggests no.

So.....
Yes the Tegralok is a BRILLIANT piece of engineering. I love it!
But..is it a solution looking for a problem? Probably...
 
Last edited:
Flying Scotsman! said:
I've been thinking.. which always risky.
But for the Tegralok to be beneficial (and ignoring financial benefits / defecits) we have to establish the following:-
1. Is the existing 4wd so inadequate that it cannot do it's job adequatley and efficiently off road?
2. Is there a substantial benefit to running the car in 2wd for extended periods when 4wd is not required?
3. When off road is there a benefit to being able to switch between the two?

My take...

1. No...
Evidence (not my own) suggest that the existing system is more than capable. Indeed many owners regularly do some serious off roading on the existing set up without problems. So being able to 'lock' the font to rear seems unneccesary. With little benefit to be had.

2. This seems to be a subject of great debate. Some say yes, some say no. The fuel consumption benefits seem to be negligible if any. So that leaves wear and tear. Is there any savings to be had in that area? Personally I doubt it.

3. I have no experience of serious off raod so can't comment. Although what little trainng and experience I have suggets no.

So.....
Yes the Tegralok is a BRILLIANT piece of engineering. I love it!
But..is it a solution looking for a problem? Probably...
Click to expand...

I agree with this^^^^.

I actually think the FL1 VCU gives slightly improved off road traction, simply because there is an amount of "slip" in the system. When using a locked transfer box 4X4 off road. The tyres are forced to skip and break traction, particularly when turning corners, due to wind up. The VCU doesn't create wind up, so no skipping takes place and traction is maintained.

So cleaver as this system is. It tries to solve a problem that doesn't actually exist, potentially harming the FL1's off road ability in the process
 
Last edited:
I've run my Freelander in 4WD for 3 years and 2WD for 4 years.

In 3 years of 4WD I've blown the transmission once resulting in a very expensive bill and car off the road for an extended time. In 4 years of 2WD this hasn't happened. Knowing what I know now, it shouldn't happen again in 4WD - but definitely won't happen in 2WD.

In 3 years of 4WD I never checked the tyre pressures or VCU condition, but obviously should have regularly. In 4 years of 2WD I have checked the tyre pressures and VCU condition once (VCU was like Tegralok in 4WD!)

In 3 years of 4WD I would happily drive down the beach to not catch any fish. In 4 years of 2WD I have unhappily trudged down the beach to not catch any fish.

In 3 years of 4WD the car was precise and sure footed in all road conditions. In 4 years of 2WD the car has been precise and sure footed in all road conditions.

In 3 years of 4WD I had no Landie buddies local to go exploring the remote wilderness of the South Island, so never got stuck in hard to get to places. In 4 years of 2WD I now have lots of Landie buddies to go exploring with... and get stuck in hard to get to places :)

Just some of my experiences.
 
The benefit tegralok has it that it's proactive (select 4x4 before the event) and not reactive (need to spins wheels to activate) like the vcu. Also tegralok removes stress in the 4x4 transmission when open if yer vcu's not in good health. Electric diff's can be proactive (select 4x4 in advance if yer going oft road) or proactive (engage when wheels spin like the vcu). Personally I don't think there's anything wrong with the vcu setup in the FL1. I've watched it lock up and it's quicker than most peeps eggspect. Good enough to do the job needed when it's needed. I still find tekralok an interesting device and it's good to see someone has had a go to see what it's like and if it's possible. Anyone want to have a go at fitting tracks anorl?
 
Stumbling across this thread a couple of years after it was posted. (Googled Tegralok having found the video on a terrifying fall through a youtube rabbit hole) Really just wanted to congratulate the designer on his home brew engineering, whilst the product seems to have been mostly an exercise in curiosity, I found it interesting and impressive. Thanks
 
I've just come across this via youtube.

Is this commercially available, if so who from.

My thoughts are if you vcu dies, it might be worth considering.

If anyone has any details of where one could be purchased and/or an idea of cost I'd be interested to know.

Fitting not a problem as I'd do it myself.

Thanks

Alex
 
Alex1000 said:
I've just come across this via youtube.

Is this commercially available, if so who from.

My thoughts are if you vcu dies, it might be worth considering.

If anyone has any details of where one could be purchased and/or an idea of cost I'd be interested to know.

Fitting not a problem as I'd do it myself.

Thanks

Alex
Click to expand...
I think the general consensus here was "What's the point"
A VCU refurb is only a couple of hundred quid and DIY fix is under £30.
 
To me, ability to select 2 or 4 wheel drive when you want it.

The vcu diy fix, could you elaboeate or point me in right direction.

My frrelander doesnt have this issue yet, but im looking at what if plan for when it need replaced.

Im in the mind to pick up a 3 door thats vcu's knackered. And mess around with it techlok or such like, as a bit off fun.

But the ratio difference front to rear my only drawback.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

MaxTheDog1
Freelander 1 Another VCU Fred.
Replies
14
Views
2K
The Pilgrim
T
TomW1UK
VCU Refurbished - Minor Vibrations
Replies
7
Views
1K
Nodge68
Nodge68
K
Is my VCU due to be changed?
Replies
8
Views
955
Kneebee
K
0
Disco 2 5 ACE DTCs Logged and leaking fluid in the rear
Replies
4
Views
2K
sierrafery
sierrafery
P
Freelander 2 (LR2) Loosing coolent
Replies
19
Views
3K
oldjoe
O
Back
Top