So the Freelander tranmission is C##p, or is it???

This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.
Darmain

Darmain

Well-Known Member
Posts
2,366
Location
Chippenham, Wiltshire
Right, I've had it to the teeth of these "burn it", "its crap" and most of all "its not a real 4x4" comments.

This weather is yet again proving why we drive the cars we drive.

Now try this one for size. I'm likely to get blasted but I don't care.

The other day I'm out driving the Hippo and I'm going up this little back lane which leads up a fairly steep hill. Its a second gear job. Now theres always water flowing down the side of the road here, must be a spring nearby I guess. Its not flowing now ciz its all froxen and halfway up the hill the water came out into the road and this resulted in what must be 50 ft of ice covering only the left hand side of the road.

So as I trundle towards it I have a fair bit of torque going down to the road and I'm going to suffer a serious loss of traction on the left hand only. Interesting times afoot.

Now this is my thinking. If this were a defender then when the front wheel hits the ice then there is gonna be a lot of slip on that wheel. It will probably keep going but not very effectively, until the rear wheel gets on the ice. Now both front and rear diffs are unable to load up so we come to a halt..... Right, so what tools do I have to fix this? Low box, well that doesn't do anything in this situation. Wait, centre diff lock.... Which will just get both left hand wheels spinning together. Am I right in thinking here that the only way to get out of this is axle lockers, which I don't believe are factory fit (Assumption).

So what did the Hippo do? When I hit the ice, the TC light came on, there was a lot of clicking from the traction control and brake modulator, there was a little vibration. BUT, it didn't stop, it didn't slow and, hands off the wheel, it didn't even drift. It just carried on and cleared the ice.

I'm sorry but I am not sold on this idea of the short comings of the Freelander on account, I can't find any!!

Suspect its time to duck now.
 
Darmain said:
Right, I've had it to the teeth of these "burn it", "its crap" and most of all "its not a real 4x4" comments.

This weather is yet again proving why we drive the cars we drive.

Now try this one for size. I'm likely to get blasted but I don't care.

The other day I'm out driving the Hippo and I'm going up this little back lane which leads up a fairly steep hill. Its a second gear job. Now theres always water flowing down the side of the road here, must be a spring nearby I guess. Its not flowing now ciz its all froxen and halfway up the hill the water came out into the road and this resulted in what must be 50 ft of ice covering only the left hand side of the road.

So as I trundle towards it I have a fair bit of torque going down to the road and I'm going to suffer a serious loss of traction on the left hand only. Interesting times afoot.

Now this is my thinking. If this were a defender then when the front wheel hits the ice then there is gonna be a lot of slip on that wheel. It will probably keep going but not very effectively, until the rear wheel gets on the ice. Now both front and rear diffs are unable to load up so we come to a halt..... Right, so what tools do I have to fix this? Low box, well that doesn't do anything in this situation. Wait, centre diff lock.... Which will just get both left hand wheels spinning together. Am I right in thinking here that the only way to get out of this is axle lockers, which I don't believe are factory fit (Assumption).

So what did the Hippo do? When I hit the ice, the TC light came on, there was a lot of clicking from the traction control and brake modulator, there was a little vibration. BUT, it didn't stop, it didn't slow and, hands off the wheel, it didn't even drift. It just carried on and cleared the ice.

I'm sorry but I am not sold on this idea of the short comings of the Freelander on account, I can't find any!!

Suspect its time to duck now.
Click to expand...
Burn it :D
 
Darmain said:
Right, I've had it to the teeth of these "burn it", "its crap" and most of all "its not a real 4x4" comments.

This weather is yet again proving why we drive the cars we drive.

Now try this one for size. I'm likely to get blasted but I don't care.

The other day I'm out driving the Hippo and I'm going up this little back lane which leads up a fairly steep hill. Its a second gear job. Now theres always water flowing down the side of the road here, must be a spring nearby I guess. Its not flowing now ciz its all froxen and halfway up the hill the water came out into the road and this resulted in what must be 50 ft of ice covering only the left hand side of the road.

So as I trundle towards it I have a fair bit of torque going down to the road and I'm going to suffer a serious loss of traction on the left hand only. Interesting times afoot.

Now this is my thinking. If this were a defender then when the front wheel hits the ice then there is gonna be a lot of slip on that wheel. It will probably keep going but not very effectively, until the rear wheel gets on the ice. Now both front and rear diffs are unable to load up so we come to a halt..... Right, so what tools do I have to fix this? Low box, well that doesn't do anything in this situation. Wait, centre diff lock.... Which will just get both left hand wheels spinning together. Am I right in thinking here that the only way to get out of this is axle lockers, which I don't believe are factory fit (Assumption).

So what did the Hippo do? When I hit the ice, the TC light came on, there was a lot of clicking from the traction control and brake modulator, there was a little vibration. BUT, it didn't stop, it didn't slow and, hands off the wheel, it didn't even drift. It just carried on and cleared the ice.

I'm sorry but I am not sold on this idea of the short comings of the Freelander on account, I can't find any!!

Suspect its time to duck now.
Click to expand...
it's crap:D
 
Ah ha, the immortal words of young Nathan. Now, what do we drive, oh a Discovery!! Now I understand the discovery uses the same transmisson principle of the Defender....

Burn it you say, but what should we really be burning???
 
yu are rite - the traction control is good, but the Hippoo would have been a lot better if, instead of that goddamn VCU, it had a similar system to the slitties, whereby the drive can be 2wd, auto or locked 4wd.
 
Darmain said:
Ah ha, the immortal words of young Nathan. Now, what do we drive, oh a Discovery!! Now I understand the discovery uses the same transmisson principle of the Defender....

Burn it you say, but what should we really be burning???
Click to expand...
Generally speaking? the pretend 4x4 :D:D
 
An interesting thought MHM and one that has had much debate. It leads to a question. How do the Slitties transmission work, I assume they are transverse engined like the FL1? Another question is how would this compare to, say the Subaru Impreza 4x4. I have no knowledge of these cars but I would have though a VCU would be much lighter than a centre transfer box. Maybe not.
 
yeh but the slitties would have spun backwards through a hedge by the time you hit the ice and remembered to press the button or whatever you have to do,took my freebie out in snow yeterday for the frst time and was well impresed didnt have to do anything just kept going,and i have a 300 tdi defender aswell so not biased
 
the X-Trail (the only slitty that I am familiar with) has the following system - basically its an electronic VCU fixed to the nose of the diff.

1724d1173567880-rear-sub-frame-removal-4wd2.jpg


1725d1173567880-rear-sub-frame-removal-4wd-clutch.jpg


1726d1173567880-rear-sub-frame-removal-diff.jpg


you might like to peruse these posts - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4
 
thrasher said:
yeh but the slitties would have spun backwards through a hedge by the time you hit the ice and remembered to press the button or whatever you have to do,took my freebie out in snow yeterday for the frst time and was well impresed didnt have to do anything just kept going,and i have a 300 tdi defender aswell so not biased
Click to expand...

dont be silly - if yu have it in auto - it works like any traction control system. and, like a deepender, if yu know yu are getting into the slippy stuff - just hit the "lock" button first. :rolleyes:
Another good thing about it - if yu leave it in "locked" - it unlocks itself above about 30 mph - so yu cant screw yo transmission. :p
 
Darmain said:
Right, I've had it to the teeth of these "burn it", "its crap" and most of all "its not a real 4x4" comments.

This weather is yet again proving why we drive the cars we drive.

Now try this one for size. I'm likely to get blasted but I don't care.

The other day I'm out driving the Hippo and I'm going up this little back lane which leads up a fairly steep hill. Its a second gear job. Now theres always water flowing down the side of the road here, must be a spring nearby I guess. Its not flowing now ciz its all froxen and halfway up the hill the water came out into the road and this resulted in what must be 50 ft of ice covering only the left hand side of the road.

So as I trundle towards it I have a fair bit of torque going down to the road and I'm going to suffer a serious loss of traction on the left hand only. Interesting times afoot.

Now this is my thinking. If this were a defender then when the front wheel hits the ice then there is gonna be a lot of slip on that wheel. It will probably keep going but not very effectively, until the rear wheel gets on the ice. Now both front and rear diffs are unable to load up so we come to a halt..... Right, so what tools do I have to fix this? Low box, well that doesn't do anything in this situation. Wait, centre diff lock.... Which will just get both left hand wheels spinning together. Am I right in thinking here that the only way to get out of this is axle lockers, which I don't believe are factory fit (Assumption).

So what did the Hippo do? When I hit the ice, the TC light came on, there was a lot of clicking from the traction control and brake modulator, there was a little vibration. BUT, it didn't stop, it didn't slow and, hands off the wheel, it didn't even drift. It just carried on and cleared the ice.

I'm sorry but I am not sold on this idea of the short comings of the Freelander on account, I can't find any!!

Suspect its time to duck now.
Click to expand...

Good for you. It's about time someone owning a Freelander stood up and shouted a bit. It just shows what it can do.
 
Thanks for the that MHM. I remember someone was suggesting the possibility of fitting a wet clutch coupling to the FH1. Doubt it would be practical to find one with the right ratio diff.

The VCU approach does work. So long as you maintain your car, keep an eye on it and check it regularly. Tonight I stopped at the garage and checked the tyre pressures as the car was bogged down and I seemed to be using a lot of fuel. Turned out I was two pounds down on one rear tyre. Put that right and its a different car. Yes its a pain that such a thing affects it so badly but I still think it is good at what it does.

I was asked the other day what would I buy when the Hippo eventually dies and to be honest, I'm still pondering the question. I don't what to go back to two wheel drive thats for sure but the larger Landies are too big for my needs and that includes the FL2.

Come on Landrover, we need another small model!!
 
Well now, its funny you say that but the wifes car is getting a bit long in the tooth and due to her guiding work she quite likes the idea of a small 4x4 on account she got the Picasso stuck in a field last summer. I was thinking about a Suzuki.... That's done it!! :bolt:
 
Darmain said:
Thanks for the that MHM. I remember someone was suggesting the possibility of fitting a wet clutch coupling to the FH1. Doubt it would be practical to find one with the right ratio diff.

The VCU approach does work. So long as you maintain your car, keep an eye on it and check it regularly. Tonight I stopped at the garage and checked the tyre pressures as the car was bogged down and I seemed to be using a lot of fuel. Turned out I was two pounds down on one rear tyre. Put that right and its a different car. Yes its a pain that such a thing affects it so badly but I still think it is good at what it does.

I was asked the other day what would I buy when the Hippo eventually dies and to be honest, I'm still pondering the question. I don't what to go back to two wheel drive thats for sure but the larger Landies are too big for my needs and that includes the FL2.

Come on Landrover, we need another small model!!
Click to expand...

My FL1 has been fantastic on the snow and ice (again). Keeps me and the wife feelin safe and that is what we need, want and value in the vehicle - However, I do have to have an FL2, why? perfect size, not massive tho and love looks. Can anyone explain how the 4x4 works on them please?
 
Darmain said:
Right, I've had it to the teeth of these "burn it", "its crap" and most of all "its not a real 4x4" comments.

This weather is yet again proving why we drive the cars we drive.

Now try this one for size. I'm likely to get blasted but I don't care.

The other day I'm out driving the Hippo and I'm going up this little back lane which leads up a fairly steep hill. Its a second gear job. Now theres always water flowing down the side of the road here, must be a spring nearby I guess. Its not flowing now ciz its all froxen and halfway up the hill the water came out into the road and this resulted in what must be 50 ft of ice covering only the left hand side of the road.

So as I trundle towards it I have a fair bit of torque going down to the road and I'm going to suffer a serious loss of traction on the left hand only. Interesting times afoot.

Now this is my thinking. If this were a defender then when the front wheel hits the ice then there is gonna be a lot of slip on that wheel. It will probably keep going but not very effectively, until the rear wheel gets on the ice. Now both front and rear diffs are unable to load up so we come to a halt..... Right, so what tools do I have to fix this? Low box, well that doesn't do anything in this situation. Wait, centre diff lock.... Which will just get both left hand wheels spinning together. Am I right in thinking here that the only way to get out of this is axle lockers, which I don't believe are factory fit (Assumption).

So what did the Hippo do? When I hit the ice, the TC light came on, there was a lot of clicking from the traction control and brake modulator, there was a little vibration. BUT, it didn't stop, it didn't slow and, hands off the wheel, it didn't even drift. It just carried on and cleared the ice.

I'm sorry but I am not sold on this idea of the short comings of the Freelander on account, I can't find any!!

Suspect its time to duck now.
Click to expand...


In an honourable society a man telling the truth shouldn't have to duck, so now it's time for the those less scrupulous than yourself to stand up & congratulate you for your honesty.:D
 
DD3 said:
My FL1 has been fantastic on the snow and ice (again). Keeps me and the wife feelin safe and that is what we need, want and value in the vehicle - However, I do have to have an FL2, why? perfect size, not massive tho and love looks. Can anyone explain how the 4x4 works on them please?
Click to expand...

Very similar to the explanation given about the slitties, electrically operated hydraulic coupling just before the rear diff. Works well in snow, mud and sand. The advantage being the terrain response, modifying the engine, gearbox (auto), and transmission to suit.
Must admit to having had a great deal of fun the last few days, owning a 4x4 in general is like owning a soft top in the UK, you only get to use it a few weeks a year in anger - but it put a great big smile on your face when you do.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

H
Freelander 2 2013 door locking
Replies
3
Views
427
Freddie17
Freddie17
Lex Myster
Freelander 2 (LR2) Why is a breather hose so much money?
Replies
5
Views
336
Lex Myster
Lex Myster
PaulN
Freelander TD4 Juddering at 60mph and 2500rpm?
Replies
7
Views
640
PaulN
PaulN
C
Newbie Freelander 2 with a vibration and rubbing noise
Replies
7
Views
376
chubbygordito
C
malcolm_durant
2000 Freelander 1: pre-MoT SRS light malarky
Replies
3
Views
280
malcolm_durant
malcolm_durant
Back
Top