lol - "if they noticed it was missing" - i can just see it - full underbody check, but "didnt notice no prop shaft!"
So guys wots the concensus?
prop on fur MOT and road test or
prop off fur MOT and roller test?
 
Im not disputing what other MOT centres have said or done Im just making peeps in N.Ireland aware that the brake test is done on rollers for the FL in my local MOT centre(s). You can sit in the car with them when its being done and see the graphs on the monitor. This is done for foot brake and hand brake.

I cant speak for other types of 4x4 but have seen others go through the same test.

There are no private garages that do MOT here.
 
Just because the MOT centre is putting the FL on the RBT doesnt mean its right. Plenty of MOT centres make mistakes. We are ll only human after all. I recently had my FL MOTd and they wouldnt put it on the RBT for fear of damaging it because you cant turn off the 4WD.
On a seperate note, I have now removed the prop (Mondo mode) and decided to rename my car a SPORTLANDER. I cant believe the difference in feel. Its nippy and just feel loads more responsive. I will MOT it without the prop but its not due till end of Jan.
 
Just to add to what has been said.I have just taken the rear prop off my 2001 TD4 and it is such a better drive.It took about 30 mins with no probs atall, (why did they ever make it a 4 by 4).I think it will stay like this for a long time, such a nicer drive and feel.:)
 
LR1796 said:
Im not disputing what other MOT centres have said or done Im just making peeps in N.Ireland aware that the brake test is done on rollers for the FL in my local MOT centre(s). You can sit in the car with them when its being done and see the graphs on the monitor. This is done for foot brake and hand brake.

I cant speak for other types of 4x4 but have seen others go through the same test.

There are no private garages that do MOT here.
Click to expand...

Can you get your MOT done in England?? Make a weekend of it??

I had my Freelander MOT'd at the End of March and I was surprised to see it driven out of the MOT bay and road tested. Never ever have they raod tested any of my previous 2WD cars, so that explains the RBT or lack of it :)

She passed with flying colours, not even an advisory and that was with two halves of a section of exhaust jubilee clamped with exhaust paste over a small hole. I also had a section of aerosol can (withe exhaust paste) wrapped round another blowing area!! Proper codge it and bodge it style. I'll get round to replacing it one day (perhaps with a stainless)

Regards

Steve
 
loatmead said:
Just to add to what has been said.I have just taken the rear prop off my 2001 TD4 and it is such a better drive.It took about 30 mins with no probs atall, (why did they ever make it a 4 by 4).I think it will stay like this for a long time, such a nicer drive and feel.:)
Click to expand...

Apologies for asking such a stupid question, but your front prop and VCU are still bolted to the underside of your vehicle??

If so i'm gonna whip my rear prop off now the MOT is passed and see what its like over the summer.

Regards,

Steve.
 
G13SJC said:
Can you get your MOT done in England?? Make a weekend of it??

I had my Freelander MOT'd at the End of March and I was surprised to see it driven out of the MOT bay and road tested. Never ever have they raod tested any of my previous 2WD cars, so that explains the RBT or lack of it :)

She passed with flying colours, not even an advisory and that was with two halves of a section of exhaust jubilee clamped with exhaust paste over a small hole. I also had a section of aerosol can (withe exhaust paste) wrapped round another blowing area!! Proper codge it and bodge it style. I'll get round to replacing it one day (perhaps with a stainless)

Regards

Steve
Click to expand...

Cheers for the suggestion GI3, that was the case two years ago when the Vehicle tesing agencies were on strike. It was a 3 month waiting list, letters of MOT exemption were issued. Many peeps took their cars over to Scotland and England on the ferry.

loatmead said:
Just remove rear prop, dont touch anything else. Will take 30mins or so, you wont look back i promise.
Click to expand...

Thats what we have been doing.... manual prop removal on and off.

But..... what do you do when you want to go off road or when the winter comes. Its no laughing matter when in Mondo mode in the ice and snow.

Thats why the Noble prize is going to the Hippo owner who comes up with a good alternative/mod ;)
 
we aint designed it yet - still waiting fur a suc..... volunteer:D

actually thats not true - we gotta cupple of ideas - but needs to be manuf'd and tested.
 
Hi All,
The switchable 2wd/4wd mod saga continues. I posted a bunch of stuff on a thread late last year (2wd/4wd is it? or something like that) If you look at this thread you can see the details -- basically it was to make up a vacuum driven, solenoid switched, spline/sleeve arrangement purloined from a Ford Raider, destroying an old siezed freelander VCU and using the resulting input and output splined shafts to fit to the front and rear prop shafts in the space left by the absent VCU and harmonic balancer.
My "captive" engineering frabricating shop man has been a bit tardy doing the job. -- First of all expressed concerns about diff windup when it was in locked mode (My Freelander has the old 0.8% differrential differential) Told him it would only be locked on slipping surfaces and that was my risk not his. --followed this with Xmas hols, overseas trip etc etc and has only just resurfaced. Hopefully he'll get it done by next Xmas!!!!

In the meantime the Freelander is frontwheel 2wd, smooth, quiet, no transmission grinding or whining, no crap tyre wear etcetc. Wholehearted recommendation is if you don't need the 4WD facility, drop the prop shafts and VCU and enjoy life (and the drive)

Cheers
Ian Hughes
Tassie
 
hi ya Ian - have yu followed this thread? I found out that on the rear of a Nissan X-Trail there is an electrically operated coupler which attaches to the front of the diff.
 
loatmead said:
Just remove rear prop, dont touch anything else. Will take 30mins or so, you wont look back i promise.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. I have read a lot of the threads and didn't want to remove the whole lot. (ie VCU front prop etc)

I'll have a look this weekend.
 
loatmead said:
Just remove rear prop, dont touch anything else. Will take 30mins or so, you wont look back i promise.
Click to expand...

Sorry loatmead, when you say rear prop, are you referring to the full prop or just the latter part between bearing and rear diff.

I'm all ears if you can separate the UJ whilst under the vehicle ;)

They are difficult enough when out on the bench.
 
The Mad Hat Man said:
hi ya Ian - have yu followed this thread? I found out that on the rear of a Nissan X-Trail there is an electrically operated coupler which attaches to the front of the diff.
Click to expand...
Hi MHM,
Had a look at the description of the X-Trail system ---looks pretty good if one were starting from scratch! -- not sure how it would go being adapted in toto mechanicals/electrics/electronics and all onto a FL.
As luck would have it we have a house guest staying for a couple of days and his vehicle is an X-trail. The Owners Manual gives no technical insight into the 2wd/4wd system, and for some reason he refuses to let me near the vehicle with my oxy torch and angle grinder!!!! He only uses the "auto" mode occasionally and "locked" mode even less, but says both seem to do the job and the vehicle has been rock solid since new three years ago.

Fiendishly clever, those Japanese!! (is it OK and PC to say that these days??)

Cheers
Ian Hughes
tassie
 
i have put links on here to the Nissan system, somewhere - it is the same as on the 360z but in reverse (that is rwd). It is used, almost, like a diff lock. 2wd for normal road use, auto for those "dodgy" days and lock for when yu know you are going to need 4wd. It uses a current based system to determine amount of transfer through with sensors everyware to determine wheel slip, acceleration, temperature and speed. However I think the fl wud be happy with just a simple switch to either lock or unlock the coupler. It is a "stand alone" unit which is bolted on the input shaft of the diff; using the diff casing and oil to lubricate the clutch mechanism. I believe that it would need either a rear plate or a section of the diff casing at the back and a current controller to operate. All easily achievable and it could then be mounted in a similar position as the VCU. Unfortunately I dont have a spare X-T diff and they are rarer than rocking horse doo doo in the UK. You use them alot out in the Antipodes, so you might have more chance of picking one up. I certainly belive that the machining requirements are most likely lessthan those that you are currently embarked on - and the fact that it is electrically driven makes it alot easier to integrate. It might even be possible to integrate the 4wd Controller, if it could be coupled up to the hippoos sensors. This I haven't investigated. If you need more tech info - just shout.

regards
Richard
 
Was back at the MOT centre yesterday testing another vehicle.

I asked about the issue of 4wd going through the Roller Brake test, apparently the rollers spin independently of each other and in opposite directions.
 
sounds like a realy good idea... adapting the electrics wouldn't be that hard
afterall its only a 12volt supply feeding it .30amp max. the FL electrics would easly cope with the extra load.there would be no connections to anything like to amp , or ecu etc etc. a:D feed from the fusebox and battery via a couple of relays and jobs a goodun...
if you can get the wiring diagram id go over it to see if it was viable.
 
not quite as simple as that - because it uses current limiting, not voltage to proportionately lock the clutch. It also has a 4wd ECU which monitors sensors to determine max speed, acceleration, whell slip, etc etc. Having said that - I think a simple on/off system would be more than adequate. I have posted the stuff before, possibly on this thread, but I will look-see what I can find and repost.
 
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