MOT ROLLERS ADVICE

Hi all

I had my MOT today. She failed on the suspension arm /: but I’ve ordered both sides and it’ll be back on the road soon.

HOWEVER; bad bit.

I was aware that MOT’s were different for 4x4’s but wasn’t sure on what. I’ve never watched any of my previous MOT’s on previous 2WD cars as it was a drop and wait all day service so I didn’t actually see what tests were undertaken. Someone told me there’s a different test needed for the Freelander but didn’t bother telling me until after my test today what it was.

So most of you will probably know that Freelanders can’t go on a single roller. They need doubles or a road test. Mine went on the single....
Again I didn’t know about this until after. I don’t understand why this ‘mechanic’ decided to tell me after my MOT.
I also assumed the MOT garage knew what they were doing...

Now I am worried about my drive chain. There was no issue getting it home. No noise and I have checked tonight, no leaks.

Should I be worrying as much as I am? What should I do?

thanks

Bump. Please any advice?

Mine went on the single roller for brake test. That was in August and no problems since. Some testers will put them on there. I was a bit concerned but it was too late to say anything.
Next year I'd tell them to do the road test.

c_figliola said:

Bump. Please any advice?

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A Freelander 1 should be road tested with a Tapley gauge on the passenger seat, if its still got it's propshafts connected.

A brake test on a single roller won't do any damage, as the speed is low, but it will give an incorrect brake force reading, as the VCU will add to the brake effort measured by the roller.
My MOT tester always road tested my FL1, but I'm not sure how he'll test my FL2.

Nodge68 said:

A Freelander 1 should be road tested with a Tapley gauge on the passenger seat, if its still got it's propshafts connected.

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slight correction the Tapley meter should be on the passenger floor when doing the road test and not on the seat,

Europa486 said:

slight correction the Tapley meter should be on the passenger floor when doing the road test and not on the seat,

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The tester at my garage used to put it on the seat, maybe he was getting too old to put it on the floor.

Hi. Thanks for the replies. I got my mum to call the garage and see what they said when she asked for a break test on her 4x4. They said if it can go into 2WD They’ll do it on the rollers. If not it has to be road tested.... obviously mine was not so when I go back for my retest I will mention this.

The car drove home yesterday with no problems. No noises. No grease or oil leaking after checking today and last night. Just complete panic and worry.

c_figliola said:

Hi. Thanks for the replies. I got my mum to call the garage and see what they said when she asked for a break test on her 4x4. They said if it can go into 2WD They’ll do it on the rollers. If not it has to be road tested.... obviously mine was not so when I go back for my retest I will mention this.

The car drove home yesterday with no problems. No noises. No grease or oil leaking after checking today and last night. Just complete panic and worry.

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As a general rule mechs like most people are lazy, and are going to take shortcuts etc, but if it is going to cause them agg then they wont.

I tolled the part time mot tester last year not to put my permanent 4 wheel drive on his brake tester unless he wanted to pay for a new transmission ......he looked all sheepish as I new more than him.
Only let my regular guy do it now and I all ways watch

c_figliola said:

Hi. Thanks for the replies. I got my mum to call the garage and see what they said when she asked for a break test on her 4x4. They said if it can go into 2WD They’ll do it on the rollers. If not it has to be road tested.... obviously mine was not so when I go back for my retest I will mention this.

The car drove home yesterday with no problems. No noises. No grease or oil leaking after checking today and last night. Just complete panic and worry.

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In reality doing a roller brake test isn't going to do any more damage than applying the parking brake while moving at 30 MPH. If the rear wheels lock while doing the parking brake test, then the same loads will be on the transmission, as would be if the front wheels are spun on the rollers, and the rear wheels are on the floor.

On a Freelander 1, far more damage is caused by non matching tyres than by a few seconds on lazy tester's brake efficiency roller.

I always go to a small mot tester. Old peeps mainly. FL1 and FL2 both done on the tapley meter across many years. This year is the second year my FL2 was done by a certain person (due to other retiring and short on staff) who preferred to fix cars than mot them, previously. On this occasion he tested the FL2 on the rollers for the first time. I questioned him then warned him. I don't think he got the message about the camera filming it and the milage/location being recorded. Didn't think it would fail or cause damage.

He claimed my auto FL2 stalled then auto restarted. It did but i cant be sure it wasn't him restarting with the button. I was stood by him. It doesn't have stop start. Will check the video footage again. He claimed he did all modern 4x4's on the rollers as the speed isn't high enough to activate the change form 2wd to 4x4. He didn't realise my FL2 applies it briefly when first pulling away, each time. Its worked ok since, doing 800 miles so far.

I wonder if there's a push by the ministry for more roller testing or the mot testers are doing this to protect themselves. On the rollers each brake is tested and has to meet requirements. Tapley meter... poor performance on certain brakes is hidden by the others if they're good. Brake performance is so good on modern vehicles, its not difficult for the tapley to not detect 2 of 4 with poor performance. Especially with disc's all round. Hence why i wonder if rollers are now the preferred method to test individual brake performance.

Would get that if it was on a double roller. It’s the fact it was on a single that worries me as I’ve been tonnes of people saying don’t do it and leaky diffs after etc.
I will mention it to him when I go back for my retest. Would rather not take the risk even if it’s minimal.

c_figliola said:

Would rather not take the risk even if it’s minimal.

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It's ok to minimise risks, but in truth, driving a Freelander with mismatched or incorrectly placed tyres is far more damaging to the drive train.

Good thing my tyres were all new last year however should I move front to back and vice versa? Can you ever make use of the spare ?

The spare is just that, a spare.
Its unlikely to match the tread of the other tyres so is really just an emergency get you back option.
Meaning an irreparable puncture spells a new set of tyres ££££!!!!

c_figliola said:

Good thing my tyres were all new last year however should I move front to back and vice versa?

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I swapped mine front to back every 3k miles, as there's only a small difference is rolling diameter.
If the difference in tread depth is more than 1mm, then it's best to simply run the fronts down, then replace them with identical replacements, which would then go on the back, moving the 1/2 worn rear tyres to the front.

c_figliola said:

Can you ever make use of the spare

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If the spare is odd, then keep it as an emergency spare only.

No worries. Thanks. have been trying to find the bushes online. Which is better. Bearmach or euro spare? Never heard of that one lol

c_figliola said:

No worries. Thanks. have been trying to find the bushes online. Which is better. Bearmach or euro spare? Never heard of that one lol

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I'd be surprised if they were different, so go with the cheapest.