Front wheel slipping on full lock - VCU?

rossgoderz · Jan 16, 2016

Hi all,
I initially thought my VCU was too tight as there is a fair amount of resistance on the full lock reverse (it can do it on tick over but you've got to give it a while with the clutch half up, but once up will go fine). I then did the wheel up test and it seemed to look the same speed/difficulty-wise as the YouTube videos. Now I'm not so sure again, as when I came to turn round when out on the roads, I did so in one full right lock sweep however right at the end before straightening out I felt the OSF/right side wheel slip on the ground as if it was the release of lots of wound up force? Any help ASAP is greatly appreciated!

Ross

Nodge68 · Jan 16, 2016

How many miles on the VCU? If more than 70,000 then it's probably gone tight. This overloads the IRD and rear diff. Eventually something will go bang. Freelander wheels should not skip when the VCU is working correctly.

redwood · Jan 16, 2016

Mine was doing this in reverse, although the test was 32 seconds it still felt to tight for my liking

rossgoderz · Jan 16, 2016

Thanks for the replies

Well the car is on 98k and there's no record of it ever being changed so I assume it's original. When coasting forwards on full lock (at low speed) there's also the feeling of slight braking, which I know to be a sign of a dead vcu, however my trouble is I have nothing to gauge how a good vcu affects the car Vs. a bad one..

GrumpyGel · Jan 16, 2016

People do still report that they feel a braking effect after fitting replacement new GKN VCUs or recons - so that in itself may not be an indicator that the VCU should be replaced, but if you are getting wheels scuffing on tarmac, I think that's a sign something is up. Scuffing on gravel and other loose surfaces is to be expected - but not tarmac.

rossgoderz · Jan 16, 2016

Yeah that's exactly what I thought, there's no way it should do something like that, although it was only the once..

Has anyone got anything to comment about the Bell Engineering reconditioned VCU, and their bearings?

guineafowl21 · Jan 16, 2016

rossgoderz said:
Yeah that's exactly what I thought, there's no way it should do something like that, although it was only the once..

Has anyone got anything to comment about the Bell Engineering reconditioned VCU, and their bearings?

Yes - bought one last summer. £262 including VAT, collection and delivery and new decent bearings. I think the bearings are made by Fag. Needless to say - Britpart/Allmakes bearings are a false economy.

teddywood1 · Jan 16, 2016

on my old freelander I got to 170,000 before any signs of the vcu playing up

hd3 · Jan 16, 2016

Has anyone got anything to comment about the Bell Engineering reconditioned VCU, and their bearings?

https://www.landyzone.co.uk/search/458397/?q=Bell+Engineering&o=relevance&c[node]=9

( top right of page be a site / forum " search " )

rossgoderz · Jan 16, 2016

Yeah I guess it comes down to so many factors, but what I've written about seems like a much less subtle symptom to me than even general tightness

I've emailed bell engineering as it's Saturday afternoon so I wouldn't expect them to pick up the phone. Would anyone particularly advise against driving it in the current state at all? As the coming Friday consists of a hundred mile round trip.

tyrefitter · Jan 16, 2016

what year is the car as i believe the face lift are better than the pre facelift .

htr · Jan 17, 2016

The one wheel up test is an indicator of VCU stiffness. I recently replaced mine with a new one. The time now for a 1.2m bar with 8kg on the end to move from 45º to horizontal is less than 30 seconds - 20 to 25 seconds. My original one took nearly 2 minutes.

I still feel a stiffness on lock, forward or reverse but my wheels do not unduly scuff on grass / gravel... If fact I don't think the scuff at all.

Unusual tyre wear is another indicator of a dodgy VCU.

tyrefitter · Jan 17, 2016

i would imagine that to a certain extent the stiffness felt on reversing could depend on what sort of tyre type is fitted as mud/at tyres will drag more that normal road tyres because of the rolling resistance .

Alibro · Jan 17, 2016

If it hasn't been replaced at 98,000 miles I would change or recon it. Mine was taking around 2 minutes before I reconned it at a similar mileage. Haven't driven it since so don't know what the new time will be but expecting around 20 secs.
We all accept a timing belt needs replaced at a certain mileage or age whichever comes first, and I think we should apply the same logic to VCU's.

rossgoderz · Jan 17, 2016

It's a 55 plate, so a latter facelift.
I have done the one wheel up test, although I didn't time it, I wouldn't imagine it would take 2 minutes based on how it felt when I was pushing it round. It was actually just about possible to turn the wheel just by grabbing the tire itself without using a bar..

They're also normal (brand new) Road tires btw

Thanks again for all the replies as well

Alibro · Jan 17, 2016

My wifes Freelander was so stiff doing the one wheel up test I couldn't turn it at all so if you can turn the wheel by hand I wouldn't be unduly concerned. Do the test properly and time it and you will have proper data to go by.

Front wheel slipping on full lock - VCU?

rossgoderz

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Nodge68

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redwood

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