So I did a VCU test and ?

VCU test as described on the Landyzone Forum
1.2m lever with a 4.6kg weight ( 5L oil can ).
Timed between 45 degrees and the horizontal.
Test gave about 55 seconds ?
The car/VCU has done 75,000 miles, with no symptoms of tyre wear or real difficulty on full lock.
VCU is always cool / slightly warm to touch after driving ?
The car is a automatic 2000 TD4 .

Car will feel slightly tight in reverse at full lock but will go round on full lock on idle in automatic with no need to touch accelerator ?

Test was done at a temp of 12 degrees so VCU was stone cold if this makes a difference ?

Will try and test with a heavier weight tomorrow 8kg or 10kg ?

That's stiffer than my VCU. Personally I'd budget for a recon unit soon

A lot of people go on the mileage which is not right my old td4 auto had about 173 000 on the clock for the vcu went .if you keep good tyres and keep it looked after like oils and fluids a car can last much longer

So your td4 did 173,000 miles on original VCU ? what broke in the end ?

Going to test some more weights sunday , Also try to find a better weight as oil bottle would touch side of car sometimes which would slow it down ?

Was a hard job getting the socket to stay in place while you hold the wood & weights and move up again .

I did the same test on my VCU when I got my car - looked like the original VCU and the car had done 131k. Got 56 seconds, based on what others had posted in the forum I spent £200 with Bell engineering and got a re-con unit. Haven't done the test since but would be expecting a time i.r.o 34-38 seconds, the car does feel noticeably lighter on slow tight corners. I'm pretty sure it would have been okay for a while yet with careful selection of tyres, but given the car had done 131k already the IRD and diff are well past half way through their life and more fragile so I wanted to preserve them. I don't think there is any disadvantage getting a recon unit rather then a new one as the only part that wears is the sticky juice in it....

I got 160.000 miles out of my vcu and like teddywood said its all about looking after the truck and keeping the tyres of roughly the same rolling diameter ! Mine went tight on full lock

Ok so tested vcu again today .
vcu was stone cold @ 9 c which must make it stiffer then a test in the summer @23 c which is what hippo has in his tests on youtube ?

I made up a better test rig and spaced it out so weight would not rub on door on way down !
So 1.2 m bar with 5kg @45 degrees to level with sill took 38 seconds .
6kg took 29 seconds .
45 degrees was from front bottom corner of back door window to level with sill at this point the bottle sits on floor !

Zip ties broke on the 7kg test but was moving fast

This is the youtube video I,m comparing mine with ?
Freelander vcu viscous coupling test (freshly fitted genuine unit) - YouTube

They test a new genuine VCU 1.2 m & 5kg from front door handle to sill and it gives a time of 34 seconds .
Tested mine from that point and got 36 seconds so not far off and wonder how warm it was when they tested it ?

New VCU & bearings fitted drive is improved fells lighter on the steering :crazy_driver: