Free wheeling hubs
- Thread starter Maxwell8
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tottot
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For me they are something to stand on when looking under the bonnet.
jamesmartin
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- louth lincs
pointless, when disengaged the top pin receives no lubrication for little gain
Citizen Kane
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- Hampshire
Removed mine, one of them didn't release and ruined the front diff. Also the bush in the transfer box front output shaft has to work really hard with FWH.
rob1miles
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I have them and they do make a differnce in braking and noise but not much and I run them engaged at least 25% of the time to ensure the pins get oil. Mine came with the vehicle and I'm happy witrh them, would I buy new? Probably not as they make jobs like wheel bearing adjustment double the work.
Wheel bearing adjustment. Explain. Thanks. M8
Bobsticle
De Villes Advocaat
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I have them but don’t use them. Mainly because one is bust. The return spring disengages from the sprocket so won’t reset.
I don’t do enough mileage to make enough difference so they will stay in 4x4 mode.
They can be a pain to get off anorl. I have to smash a torx bit into the allen key slot coz they are knacked.
I don’t do enough mileage to make enough difference so they will stay in 4x4 mode.
They can be a pain to get off anorl. I have to smash a torx bit into the allen key slot coz they are knacked.
Thor1950
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got them and love them. never had a problem with them. Had had them on many pickups over the last 2-3 decades.
Citizen Kane
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- Hampshire
Cant see how FWH can influence the performance of the brakes, how does this work?
rob1miles
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1 - Wheel brearing adjustment - you have to take the FWH off and its a fiddle and messy. I have Warn hubs and the gasket is fragile and they always seem to leak once they have been disturbed. They have a ring of Allen screws that are very hard to get off.
2 - Brakes, when you brake with normal hubs you are stopping the wheels (and the vehicle) and the front prop, halfshafts and front diff, with the FWH hubs free you are only stopping the wheels (and the vehicle). The prop is running at 3.8 (or so) times the wheel speed and so its has a lot more intertia. I'll look up the formula but I know its at least the square of the ratio. Would not be noticable on a normal stop but on a hard stop it would make a differnce. I also think this makes a difference to the steering.
2 - Brakes, when you brake with normal hubs you are stopping the wheels (and the vehicle) and the front prop, halfshafts and front diff, with the FWH hubs free you are only stopping the wheels (and the vehicle). The prop is running at 3.8 (or so) times the wheel speed and so its has a lot more intertia. I'll look up the formula but I know its at least the square of the ratio. Would not be noticable on a normal stop but on a hard stop it would make a differnce. I also think this makes a difference to the steering.
300bhp/ton
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IMO no.
It seems many are prone to leaking. And just become another thing to service and look after. Plus it means you have to get out to use 4wd.
In therory they should offer some fuel savings. But we are talking a pretty small percentage. If you are doing lots of road miles then maybe. But I would guess for the average Series these days you are talking less than £10 per year fuel saving.
Very mixed views coming in here. Why would Land Rover have offered them as an optional extra if they didn't work effectively? I've had mine as fitted and had no problems. My previous landy which didn't have them I had to replace the front propshaft cos it's always turning.
Bobsticle
De Villes Advocaat
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Money.
jamesmartin
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theres no load on it so it would likely have needed replacing if it spent as long not turning
300bhp/ton
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Not sure that makes sense to me. Surely your prop was worn anyway. Let’s face it any Land Rover newer than a Series runs 4wd all the time. And none suffer premature prop wear.
And while you claim not to have had any issues with your freewheel hubs. What real world benefits have you really had from them.
Turboman
Mab An Gov
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Freewheel hubs are OK, but you are supposed to engage them occasionally anyway to oil the upper swivel bushes, even if you never use 4wd.
And in my experience the fuel savings are minimal. And propshaft wear is almost always caused by failure to grease regularly.
Riggwelter
Active Member
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I got a new AVM pair from LR Parts (24 spline, but LR Parts also do 10 spline) in 2016. They do their job nicely, which is to be expected with that price tag! I do notice the difference when driving on hard surfaces; less vibrations, less road noise and less muscle work needed when taking corners. So far, they do not leak, they haven't caused me any grief, and I usually engage them for a couple of kilometres or so, every 100 km's, to make sure the lubrication works as planned. I have not noticed any difference when it comes to braking, with or without FWH's fitted. As for saving fuel... nah. Old Smoky is thirsty by default.
