duncanpage4

duncanpage4

Active Member
I read in my Land Rover monthly mag that they recommend you remove your prop shaft 8 months of the year if the car is only used on the road.
Does anyone here do this & have they still noticed the VCU deteriorates or not?
I understood that it was lack of use that makes the VCU seize?
 
1 - its not lack of use that makes them fail, its poor knowledge about how to maintain the drivetrain, and possibly a limited lifespan of the unit.

2 - An enthusiasts magazine should know better than to advise bodgery rather than proper maintenance.


Keep everything working, and keep the tyres within spec and the VCU will present no problems throughout its normal life.
Even taking the hopelessly pessimistic view and replacing it every 5 years regardless only adds a few quid to the monthly running cost and that is vastly outweighed by the benefits of having the 4x4 system working as it should.

IMO taking the prop off for summer is idiocy.....do muddy fields never occur in summertime? The whole point of owning a 4x4 is its abilities on and off the road. Sure, you may spend the vast majority of your time on the road, but what about that one time you want to go to a picnic area off road somewhere, or you go to a festival or other event where parking is in a grassy field - you are going to look pretty silly with your Landrover stuck alongside Ford Mondeos.
Even just driving on wet tarmac shows the problems of front wheel drive. When my VCU was off while I waited for the exchange unit to be delivered, it would easily spin the front wheels trying to pull onto a roundabout in a hurry.

Keep it working as it should.
 
Me and JC600 had this argument with some guy when we were out biking on Sunday, he was part of the "the VCU always fail at 70k" brigade, shut him up when I told him mine was currently on 86k....although that was met with a response of "well it'll soon go wrong"

He's one of the, I saw it written in a magazine or on the internet so it must be true types, removes the prop on his and so on

Although he did tell us how he had 2 HGF's on his L series within 2 weeks after he changed it...tells me something about the workmanship of the guy there ;)
 
You often see Freelanders on e-bay which have had the rear props removed "for fuel economy reasons". I've never tried it with mine but looking at it logically I think 99% of the time this is BS to disguise serious faults with the drivetrain.

When driving with the rear prop removed, the rear wheels, driveshafts and diff aren't motionless in fresh air, they are still being turned by engine power and it takes the same energy to do this regardless of whether they are being turned through the diff or by the car moving along.

That said I've never tried it so if anyone has.......?
 
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Tannaton said:
You often see Freelanders on e-bay which have had the rear props removed "for fuel economy reasons". I've never tried it with mine but looking it is logically I think 99% of the time this is BS to disguise serious faults with the drivetrain.

When driving with the rear prop removed, the rear wheels aren't suspended in fresh air, they are still being turned by engine power and it takes the same energy to do this regardless of whether they are being turned through the diff or by the car moving along.

That said I've never tried it so if anyone has.......?
Click to expand...

This was done on here a while ago, and the difference was less than 1mpg...and that was on a V6!!

There was a guy on Ebay recently who claimed it gave an extra 200 miles per tank, altho when he did that he was probably on the back of a recovery truck
 
I think the only fuel saving I'll get is because my VCU is seizing up.
I'm not so worried about the fuel costs, I just don't want to keep replacing the VCU, but if its just a case of looking after the tyre wear, keeping pressures the same & regular servicing then it shouldn't be a problem for me.

On another note, is there any argument for spending more money & buying a new VCU or just getting a reconditioned one from Bell?
 
dave21478 said:
1 - its not lack of use that makes them fail, its poor knowledge about how to maintain the drivetrain, and possibly a limited lifespan of the unit.

2 - an enthusiasts magazine should know better than to advise bodgery rather than proper maintenance.


Keep everything working, and keep the tyres within spec and the vcu will present no problems throughout its normal life.
Even taking the hopelessly pessimistic view and replacing it every 5 years regardless only adds a few quid to the monthly running cost and that is vastly outweighed by the benefits of having the 4x4 system working as it should.

Imo taking the prop off for summer is idiocy.....do muddy fields never occur in summertime? The whole point of owning a 4x4 is its abilities on and off the road. Sure, you may spend the vast majority of your time on the road, but what about that one time you want to go to a picnic area off road somewhere, or you go to a festival or other event where parking is in a grassy field - you are going to look pretty silly with your landrover stuck alongside ford mondeos.
Even just driving on wet tarmac shows the problems of front wheel drive. When my vcu was off while i waited for the exchange unit to be delivered, it would easily spin the front wheels trying to pull onto a roundabout in a hurry.

Keep it working as it should.
Click to expand...

+1
 
I do remove my props for summer so must be verging in idiocy!!
I do this for 2 reasons.
1 I'm tight and don't like the idea of shortening the VCU life if it's not being used.
2 Running the car in Mondo mode half the year allows me to swap the tyres front to rear/ rear to front without worrying about trashing the VCU. This evens up tyre tread wear ready for when the props are refitted.
There is a small fuel saving but not much, less than 0.2 of a MPG and that is on my V6!!
 
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Mines on 88k now.....I check it weekly in the local supermarket car park using the full lock test.....although I did have it stored in my garage fo about 8k of that whilst I tracked down a strange knocking noise which ended up being my rear diff carrier bearings.
 
Don't see the point, the vehicle was built and designed to run in 4 wheel drive. So to me that is how it should be. :)
 
duncanpage4 said:
I read in my Land Rover monthly mag that they recommend you remove your prop shaft 8 months of the year if the car is only used on the road.
Does anyone here do this & have they still noticed the VCU deteriorates or not?
I understood that it was lack of use that makes the VCU seize?
Click to expand...


Probably as the first and one of the founder members of Mondo mode* since 2001

My prop is absolutely fine.

I find it increases fuel economy by some 20-25% and saves wear and tear on tyres and drivetrain (early diff ratio)
Some say they don't notice a fuel saving, but there is a tendency to put one's foot down as the hippo goes like stink in 2wd.

It's a different machine in 2wd, less traction and the front end gallops like a pony.

For insurance purposes, my hippo is only run in Mondo mode on private roads ;)

When purchasing a second hand hippo always test drive with the propshaft fitted

* note is was Mad Hat Man who first coined the phrase Mondo mode, who believed Mondo ran his Metallic grey FL in 2wd, when in fact Mondo never even had the prop off and vehicle stood motionless in the yard. The name Mondo mode has stuck ever since!
 
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Agree as above that thats the way the vehicle was designed and thats the way it should be run. Slippery situations could be encountered at any time. Also im sure insurance companies would take a pretty dim view of removing the rear prop shaft of a 4wd vehicle....especially if toh dont tell them. Even if you change the vcu for a new one every 70k miles, on average thats quite a few years use and the cost spread over that number of years doesnt amount to mucb I tbe grand scheme of things.
 
my old freelander td4 auto gs did around 173,000 on original vcu ect before it caused any problem but when it did it did it big style messing up the auto box as well , can you imagine the insurance company when you keep telling them you have taken the prop off and then when you have put it back on, also it does not drive the same with it off.
 
I haven't found any real difference between my summer 2WD MPG and winter 4WD MPG. I use my Freelander for the same commute every day. I suspect weather in winter does affect the MPG slightly as there are more things turned on. My summer MPG is 20.15 MPG on average. My winter MPG drops to 19.95 MPG. The prop is on in winter and off in summer.
 
Mine had the prop removed when I got it due to ird issues. However comparing it to the way one with a prop on drives. There is no comparison, I hate the way 2wd scrabbles for grip. 4wd feels so much more composed.
 
ZDomZ said:
Mine had the prop removed when I got it due to ird issues. However comparing it to the way one with a prop on drives. There is no comparison, I hate the way 2wd scrabbles for grip. 4wd feels so much more composed.
Click to expand...

This I agree. I would say in 2WD I have to drive more carefully, especially when pulling out of a junction when wet or lots of wheel spin occurs. I haven't noticed any difference in performance between Mondo and 4X4 running.
 
Ahhhh haaaaa...... :idea:

That why 2wd/mundo mode is more economical - you can't drive like a tw..... I mean pull out of junctions so quick!
 
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