Bell recon & prop bearings fitted .

I have had my TD4 for 11 years & 75,000 miles

Having looked under the landy I found the prop bearings were sagging slightly & you could move the VCU about 5 to 6 mm up & down , The rubber looked perished ( and when removed bearings were rough )
So good excuse to fit recon VCU while it's apart , Ordered one from bell's for £200 + £15 p&p ( includes collection of old vcu ) and was given site to order the bearings from ( £49 the pair delivered ) .
I followed hippo's thread and the job was not to bad , All came apart and back together ok .
First impressions is steering feels less tight on full lock

Old VCU will be collected Monday & I have asked if it can be tested on there jig to see how good/bad it was ?

Sounds like a good bit of maintenance/preventetive maintenance. Probably 2/300 quid well spent!

It's hard to describe but it is very noticeable the difference a new VCU makes to driving the Freelander - even if the old one was just a little tight rather than totally solid. Much light when doing low speed manoeuvres, a bit more sprightly.

FYI If you ask them Bell will fit new bearings & housings to your recon VCU for a modest charge - I think it's only about £30. Can't recommend them enough - they're very helpful an great value.

Bell,s did not have any bearings in stock so he told me were to get them from - http://www.shop4autoparts.net/Freelander/Axle/Propshafts/toq000040-centre-brg-free-visc.html

proper job and well done

Update

Old VCU was collected Monday & today had a call from ken at bell's , He had received & tested my old VCU already
The result was that my old VCU was ok but very slightly tight and would have been ok for maybe another 10,000 miles .
I don't think the prop bearings would have lasted that long anyway & there's no point putting an old 13 years / 75,000 mile VCU back on :crazy:
So I am more then happy with the recon unit & the fact my old one has not been causing any excess strain on the other transmission parts .

Sounds like a good result like you said not worth put old with new :thumbsup:

Good job and well done. I did the same last year and it made a big difference to the feel when parking - and also much smother at high speeds with new bearings. If you keep on top of these beasts they can be tamed and by now I think everyone knows the main weaknesses so we know what to expect!

Agreed,
My 2006 TD4 with 91k felt much smoother and 'looser' with new VC and bearings. I am lucky to live 20 mins away from Ken, both he and his wife very helpful

Hi, thought i'd chime in - i decided to order a new VCU last week, the current one felt a bit tight for a while now - not surprising since it's the original unit and has been on the car for 156000miles (although it still seemed to be working ok, thought it would be better to do it now).

I also ordered a unit from Bell, along with the support bearings they recommended from another company - all i can say is, that all the praise Bell gets on here is definitely on the mark - they are very friendly and helpful.

Will put the new unit on this weekend and can't wait to see the difference. After reading about mondo mode on here i finally got an excuse to try it when removing the prop last weekend, so far so wheel spin - must say i prefer the car as 4x4.

Only thing is i think i might have my flingers on the wrong way round :-D

Good to hear all these positive posts about the service from Bell as i will be using them very soon as i took my props and VCU off the other week as i thought it had started to feel a bit tight on parking.Boy what a difference so think my vcu probably well on its way out.The car has 120 000 on it and i think its still the original as no evidence to say otherwise.