reconditioned IRD and VCU?

Just driven back from Swindon in our TD4, via Oxford, Buckingham and Milton keynes to Cambridge. Oxford a34 and m40 bit of a nightmare due to amount of traffic, m40 worse after our turn off for Buckingham, this road had not been touched by gritters, and it was just broken up packed snow, surprisingly how grippy it is. Milton Keynes, home of the roundabout, no-one wanted to use the white side of the road, so we did, no queues for roundabouts in that lane. For some reason some drivers got real snotty because I used that lane. I wasn't going mad or stupid just driving steadily and safely with no sudden lane changes or braking, but I was still getting horns sounded and lights flashed at us. Not my problem they did not have a Land Rover !!

Folks,

Happy New Year to you all.

I visited this conmans website today and he has a message in big red letters all over his products page, "UNITS NO LONGER AVAILABLE FOR REFUNDS AND COMPLAINTS PLEASE GET IN CONTACT WITH FULL DETAILS?"

Hopefully the heat you are all generating for him is getting too much. Keep up the good work.

Regards, Neil.

DD3 said:

New VCU from Ashcroft is great - This is now how it should feel (i believe) i.e. light drag on full lock but otherwise can t tell its there. Just in time for our latest dump of the white stuff and the FL is coping really well.

Click to expand...

did you fit I yourself? I've changed propshafts on a defender before-any tips I should know when changing it?

n.b bell engineering are £150 cheaper than Ashcroft-anyone know any reason why? taaap

Does it not pay off just to replace with a new part....?

Anguslives! said:

Does it not pay off just to replace with a new part....?

Click to expand...

Recon VCU is as good as new and will last just as long, only difference is the price.

austen said:

Recon VCU is as good as new and will last just as long, only difference is the price.

Click to expand...

Not that you have a vested interest in saying that Austen. :nospamhere:

The Mad Hat Man said:

Not that you have a vested interest in saying that Austen. :nospamhere:

Click to expand...

Obviously i do, but they are. We have done over 600 of them now and only ever had 2 returned, and these were only because it was blamed for other faults not related to the VCU.

Hi,

I would just like to chip in here and second that comment from Austen. I had a recon VCU earlier this month and the service from Bell Engineering is excellent - and very reasonably priced too. Only trouble is...now my IRD is rumbling like crazy so it looks like Austen is going to get more of my custom!!

Cheers,
Martin

(I have no association with Bell Engineering by the way...)

I wasnt having a pop, Austen. By all accounts you do a good product and good service. I was just pointing out that you arent exactly unbiased and peeps should be aware of your credentials.

Any more news on the "suspect" VCU's?

The Mad Hat Man said:

I wasnt having a pop, Austen. By all accounts you do a good product and good service. I was just pointing out that you arent exactly unbiased and peeps should be aware of your credentials.

Any more news on the "suspect" VCU's?

Click to expand...

no offence taken

Not had time to polish up the cut out section to see if it was welded up or not.

I can understand the price is a big factor "but" isn't the bad press of VCU's partly down to ungraded repairs by some outfits?

No!
Its a poor system which does not appear to fail progressively. Is not able to be tested as to its "suitability" (We are trying to work on that if you want to help)and invariably (but not always) fails in such a way as to damage other parts of the drive train.

Anguslives! said:

I can understand the price is a big factor "but" isn't the bad press of VCU's partly down to ungraded repairs by some outfits?

Click to expand...

What do you mean by that? faulty repairs, dodgy VCU's or just bad advice???

VCU's fail due to general wear, but the lifespan can be reduced dramatically by running mismatched tyres, worn tyres or running low tyre pressures. Matching of the rolling radius is the biggest thing to get right, do it right and the VCU life can be massively increased, hence why we can see a VCU with 100k on it work perfectly ok, then the next day see a VCU with 30k miles on it being completely fecked

Yes things fail due to design and not being used correctly within the guidelines set out, I was asking about cowboys doing some work on the units but not having the know-how but to add to that owners play a big part in the fault also.

Therefore is it better to get new units or serviced. Answer this question honestly?

Anguslives! said:

Therefore is it better to get new units or serviced. Answer this question honestly?

Click to expand...

I already have, buy a properly reconditioned vcu and it is as good as a new one. The thread regarding the dodgy VCU's has been deleted, so i wont start that again

So what the price of one of your units comp to a new unit???

Anguslives! said:

So what the price of one of your units comp to a new unit???

Click to expand...

£200 for ours, £370-800 for original depending on where you buy them or what deals are knocking about

Well it's good to know for the future.

Anguslives! said:

Well it's good to know for the future.

Click to expand...

VCU is a perfectly good way of distributing drive. Simple, no fancy electronics and terrain control gismos. Replaced mine from Ashcroft and very satisfied. Angus, like your can do attitude.

Got my vcu from FREELANDER SPARES UK
They are an exellent company and know freelanders inside out and are very helpfull on the phone.Alot of there mechanics worked for Land Rover and very helpfull.