andde · Jan 18, 2022

Hi, i'm an owner of a black freelander facelift from 2005, TD4 with 3 door.
It's my second car, i'm using it to go "overlanding" for my work or hobbies.

The car is good, but i need to change VCU and bearings... speaking of, what's the deal with "britpart" ? i saw some bad words about it... is products from this brand that bad ??
Thanks for your sharing

Nodge68 · Jan 18, 2022

First off, please edit the thread title to something more useful to anyone else looking for the same question. Having thousands of threads starting with the vehicle model isn't very helpful, and many potential answers a missed, simply because the treat title is irrelevant or nondescript.

As for the VCU.
Avoid BritPart bearings, as those are rubbish. Genuine or OE bearings are the best way to go.

The VCU is only made by GKN, so although it's in a BritPart box, it'll be a GKN inside.

andde · Jan 18, 2022

Nodge68 said:
First off, please edit the thread title to something more useful to anyone else looking for the same question. Having thousands of threads starting with the vehicle model isn't very helpful, and many potential answers a missed, simply because the treat title is irrelevant or nondescript.

As for the VCU.
Avoid BritPart bearings, as those are rubbish. Genuine or OE bearings are the best way to go.

The VCU is only made by GKN, so although it's in a BritPart box, it'll be a GKN inside.

Thanks for the answer Nodge68.
Sorry for the thread title, but i thought it'll be a more general build of my Free than a thread for a specific problem. Is that ok or do i have to create a thread for each "problem" ?

Nodge68 · Jan 18, 2022

andde said:
Thanks for the answer Nodge68.
Sorry for the thread title, but i thought it'll be a more general build of my Free than a thread for a specific problem. Is that ok or do i have to create a thread for each "problem" ?

It's always best to search for a specific question you may have, as it's likely been asked before.

However if a search comes up with nothing relevant, then ask a specific question in the form of a new thread.
It's always best to include vehicle details in that thread, so members with special knowledge of that issue in that vehicle may respond to it.

The FL1 VCU has been covered in extensive detail and even has several dedicated threads about it, how to test it, and what to do if its faulty. You'll find these "pinned" at the top of the Freelander section.

andde · Jan 18, 2022

Nodge68 said:
It's always best to search for a specific question you may have, as it's likely been asked before.

However if a search comes up with nothing relevant, then ask a specific question in the form of a new thread.
It's always best to include vehicle details in that thread, so members with special knowledge of that issue in that vehicle may respond to it.

The FL1 VCU has been covered in extensive detail and even has several dedicated threads about it, how to test it, and what to do if its faulty. You'll find these "pinned" at the top of the Freelander section.

Thank you for your explanation.
I think i may have post it in the wrong section... that thread must be in "Members vehicles/Projects".
Can a moderator switch it to that section, or close that thread ?

Nodge68 · Jan 18, 2022

andde said:
I think i may have post it in the wrong section... that thread must be in "Members vehicles/Projects".

The members vehicles/projects section is there to basically showcase your vehicle. We're proud of our LRs, so like to show them off.

However the projects section isn't designed to ask general vehicle questions, which is where the Freelander section comes in.

andde said:
Can a moderator switch it to that section, or close that thread ?

You can ask a moderator to move the question to this section, which they'll normally do in 24 hours or so.

andde · Jan 18, 2022

Nodge68 said:
The members vehicles/projects section is there to basically showcase your vehicle. We're proud of our LRs, so like to show them off.
However the projects section isn't designed to ask general vehicle questions, which is where the Freelander section comes in.

You can ask a moderator to move the question to this section, which they'll normally do in 24 hours or so.

Yes i get it now, i will show off my black duck Freelander in the LR community in members vehicles projects, and will search for my problem, or, ask if i need more specific stuff in Freelander section

Thank you a lot Nodge68 for your time.

I will ask a moderator to delete this

Nodge68 · Jan 18, 2022

andde said:
I will ask a moderator to delete this

You could edit it to remove any specific question.
However it looks fine to me, just update the thread with new generic information / improvements as time progresses.

GrumpyGel · Jan 18, 2022

Lots/Most people go for a recon VCU rather than new.

Lots of recons are not very good and either useless or dangerous to fit to the car.

You need a reputable one, like one from Bell Engineering. They can supply it with new bearings fitted.

Nice car, in a nice setting

4Bee4Bee · Jan 19, 2022

GrumpyGel said:
Lots/Most people go for a recon VCU rather than new.

Lots of recons are not very good and either useless or dangerous to fit to the car.

You need a reputable one, like one from Bell Engineering. They can supply it with new bearings fitted.

Nice car, in a nice setting

+1 on all these points.
I've used Bell a couple of times and have been impressed.

andde · Jan 19, 2022

GrumpyGel said:
Lots/Most people go for a recon VCU rather than new.

Lots of recons are not very good and either useless or dangerous to fit to the car.

You need a reputable one, like one from Bell Engineering. They can supply it with new bearings fitted.

Nice car, in a nice setting

4Bee4Bee said:
+1 on all these points.
I've used Bell a couple of times and have been impressed.

Wait, i thought reconditioned unit aren't the one to go with. All i read is buy new one, like GKN ?
The price is very different, are Bell Engineering one really good ?

Nodge68 · Jan 19, 2022

andde said:
Wait, i thought reconditioned unit aren't the one to go with. All i read is buy new one, like GKN ?

There are plenty of bad reconditioned VCUs about. So a new one will be guaranteed better than a dad reconditioned unit.

However Bell Engineering do good quality reconditioned VCUs, and are the only reconditioned VCUs we'd recommend.

4Bee4Bee · Jan 20, 2022

When I needed to replace my VCU a few years ago, I considered a brand new VCU vs a reconditioned one. If money had been no object I would have of course purchased a brand new one. But I read good things about the ones refurbished by Bell Engineering, so with it being about a third of the cost of the new GKN, I decided to save some money. 35,000 miles later it is still working good. I did also read bad things about some other 'reconditioned' VCUs, so made sure I avoided those.

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