VCU Longevity when used mainly off-road

Hey!

Me again, finally got my exhaust will fit that this weekend, I also found a used prop of facebook so we will see how that goes but it was nice and cheap, the plan is to fit the new prop test it, if it is good, then while running this one work on reconning my current one which has been cooked after towing a 2 tonne car for 150 miles in RWD by accident... My bad, but with the gearbox replaced now after shredding it to bits I can work on fitting the new exhaust and brand-new second hand prop.

Anyway! The Juice of this topic, I hear VCU's lasting between 40k and 120k but really not sure on use case, because I assume that is for just general day to day road driving, however, I got this car to use it as a cheap offroad car, so just a thought whether the use case of off roading / greenlaning / overlanding whatever you call it, would that put more stress on the VCU going up more hills and over rocks or less as it is always quite slow and steady so it shouldn't overheat as much, don't even get me started on the rivers acting as passive cooling Just wondering trying to get an idea of how long they would last roughly between changes (Will recon both myself eventually so I can just keep swapping them out)

Appreciate all the thoughts!

As you say, most offroad stuff is relatively low speed which won't harm.

A lot is on or near lock though and a lot where traction may have been lost which will eventually harm. A lot is in low gear and plenty of gas I'd have thought that would mean high torque which might also cause eventual harm.

I'd say the life expectancy would be significantly reduced, but you'd have to do a lot of miles (really) off road. A lot of green lanes won';t make the VCU do any more work than a normal road.

^ what he said.

If you are predominately laning in it and not using as a ‘daily’, I doubt you’ll get the miles on it.

Just remember where things sit under the car if you get to rutted areas or rocks!

Plenty of info on here about how to keep a watch on the VCU condition using the ‘one wheel up test’. Just do that if you have concerns - it’ll give you a good indication.

GrumpyGel said:

I'd say the life expectancy would be significantly reduced

Click to expand...

i've heard the opposite .. the more often it's used , the better for it.
maybe that's a rumour .. though there was some physics info included .. i forget the specifics.
...

HD3, would you post a link or more info about slow use = longer VCU life? Something to search for. The ideea is too positive to ignore.
Thank you,

Stefan

The Pilgrim said:

HD3, would you post a link or more info about slow use = longer VCU life? Something to search for. The ideea is too positive to ignore.
Thank you,

Stefan

Click to expand...

sorry cannot do, as that idea came from a discussion somewhere .. maybe a decade ago.
might have been a post here on LZ .. i do remember asking an LR mechanic / techie about it ..
i might have seen it on another webpage re. freelander 1's [not a forum site]
i'll have a look at saved bookmarks etc.
....
it's got something to do with the type of fluid used in the vcu

i confess i removed the prop/vcu on mine , as i don't need it.
one less thing to worry about.
i.e. the prospect that it can destroy the ird 'n rear diff.
.

The fluid is a silicon oil, very thick, 100000cst. I reconditioned mine and bought 200ml of that from England on ...bay. Used a bit over half, but it is working.
So, I'm interested.

Stefan

Test the vcu regular to see if it's starting to seize up, with the OWUT One Wheel Up Test. Designed to allow diy monitoring.

A vcu that is harder working fails sooner. But its heavily linked to a number of facters like ambiant temp. If yer in dubai it will fail sooner than in scotland.