Hippo 2 wheel drive conversion

Just thought i would put up a few words and pictures for anyone else that is thinking about doing this conversion. It can be done in a matter of hours and quite easily if you have the right tools. I will get the exact sizes later.

Tools Needed:
Female Torx sockets
Ratchet
Assorted Spanners
Wife/ Girlfriend with Kettle attachment

OK, we will start at the rear and work towards the front.

I used a set of blocks to get some extra hight.



Remove the 4 nuts that hold the rear prop to the rear Diff, and then work the shaft free...



Then move to the VCU, and loosen the 4 bolts. Do not remove them just yet.



Now, move to the front prop and remove the 6 nuts that hold the front prop to the IRD.



Because you have loosened the bolts on the VCU, you should be able to pull the front prop back and release it from the pinion.



Once the front prop is off, go back to the VCU and remove the 4 bolts. BE CAREFUL WHEN REMOVING THE VCU! IT IS VERY HEAVY!!

You now have a 2 wheel drive Hippo!!

These extra steps are personal preference only...

I also removed the pinion gear and blanked off the IRD.

First, remove the engine guard. This will give you access to the IRD drain plug.

Remove the drain plug and drain the gear oil. Once this is done, you can start to remove the pinion gear.

Remove the 5 bolts holding the pinion on, and then slide the pinion out. It may need a few light taps with a soft hammer...





Refit the drain plug and remove the filler plug. Be careful when removing the filler plug as i think it is made of chocolate!

Now fit the blanking plate. I used gasket maker to seal the plate on..



Refit the 5 bolts, fill the IRD with 75W90. (about 1.2ltrs) And job done.

Hope this helps anyone thinking about this conversion..

Matt

Nice one , never saw a blanking job done . never seen whats in there . I can't see it taking hours . unless your doing it as i am now stop for a smoke and a coffee or two .

Truth be told, it only took me an hour and a half from start to finish, with the odd ciggie in between.

If you blank off the IRD, you will stop the vibration when taking off! You can get the plate from here...

eBay.ie: Freelander IRD Transfer Gearbox Blanking Plate (item 290452025622 end time 06-Aug-10 09:58:05 BST)

First class right up make it a sticky

Cheers Ming...

It really is an easy job if you don't mind a bit of spannering!

Also, i should point out that this mod requires you to inform your insurance company as it may invalidate your insurance if you ever need to claim.

Just done the wifes hippo. It was a piece of **** !! Took just over a hour

How did your insurance companies react to this? were they ok about it?

I was led to beleive that when taking the prop off, not to let either end of the prop down without support. The weight of either prop against the VCU could cause damage to the joint.

Also told to mark the front prop in relation to the pinion, so if it was to go back in, the splines would match up as they were before it was removed.

Steve

Mondo mode . . . . . .so all we need now is sum clever bastid to make it switchable ie flick a switch for four wheel drive or two , any offers op2: :blabla:

@ Steve,

The props don't really weigh enough to damage the UJs to be honest, although, dont let them bend more than 45degrees. Also, no need to mark the props against the pinion/ rear diff as it would make no difference what so ever what way it goes back on.

Matt_TD4 said:

@ Steve,

The props don't really weigh enough to damage the UJs to be honest, although, dont let them bend more than 45degrees. Also, no need to mark the props against the pinion/ rear diff as it would make no difference what so ever what way it goes back on.

Click to expand...

You wanna try the quote stead of all them @'s :doh:

nathan5346 said:

You wanna try the quote stead of all them @'s :doh:

Click to expand...

Post police? :blabla:

Ill ask again....how did your insurance company react when you told them about the change...any increase in policy price?

S.

Sorry Tomo, i missed your post...

My insurance company where ok with it once i had an engineers report. Premium didn't go up at all.

Great info !
I do have a question .
Is the rear prop shaft and bearing all that is left in place on the mondo mod ?
Thanks for your time.

the whole prop assembly should be removed as one assembly to avoid damaging its parts

won't the oil come out of the rear diff.. if the shaft is out ?
please excuse my lack of knowledge on this . lol

you only unbolt it where it connects

do a search or

mark where the props line up,
mark where the vcu bearing supports line up,
disconnect the prop ends from the diffs and support them,
disconnect the vcu bearing supports and lower the assembly as a complete unit.


refit as a reverse of above using markings to put back as before

Thanks for the quick replies.
If I had looked under there recently ,I would have known . LOL

Matt_TD4 said:

Now, move to the front prop and remove the 6 nuts that hold the front prop to the IRD.

Because you have loosened the bolts on the VCU, you should be able to pull the front prop back and release it from the pinion.

Matt

Click to expand...

I've just done this today, well, almost, the six bolts are out (as above) of the front CV housing but it's not coming off. I've put a bit of Plus Gas (other penetrating fluids are available) in the hope that it may fall off over night, but has anyone else done this and needed to use a little more persuasion?