vcu bearings lifetime

Hello all

After half a year of trouble free motoring and thinking how reliable these hippos are after all (too complacent by far I know) I am now trying to daignose a vibration that appears after about 50mph and gets steadily worse until about 70 then gets better again after that.

I replaced the vcu and bearings 10000 km ago - how long are the bearings supposed to last? It was a Bell recon unit complete with bearings - I am sure they should still be fine?

I have looked t the trheads and I think tyres/pressures are the first thing to look at. Tyres replaced 15k km ago - look OK but perhaps the rolling circumference at rear is degraded enough to cause this?

I replaced the diff frotn mount 10k ago - but perhaps the other mounts may be worn and causing this?

UJ 's on propshafts - driveshafts etc - where do I look first?

Finally - maybe it is the IRD - How to check?

I suspect I may just have to replace/check each of the above in turn until problem resolved. But is there a 'most likely ' scenario?

Thanks everyone!

Gareth

i had a similar problem last year. I had my clutch replaced but the guy who refitted it only put cable ties around the boots where the driveshafts meet the box and so all the grease leaked out and they were dry and wobbling away at speed.

Thanks . Another thing to put on my checklist!

My vcu bearings are still original at 88k......less about 10k that my prop was off whilst trying to find the source of a eventually found rear diff carrier bearing fault.
I would expect anything supplied by bell to be as good as the originals.
You say you had new tyres 15k ago.....was this all 4 and of same make and size?.....if only 2 were replaced the newest must always go on the rear.
As you are able to drive through the vibration I would suspect something out of balance and my first call would be to check the balancing on the wheels and then move on from there.

Siezed prop uj? Where can you feel the vibration? How harsh is the vibration?

Thanks everyone. I thought the Bells bearings would probably last longer than this so I need to look elsewhere. The tyres were all changed together and the same make so probably wear is even but I will check closely. Yes my feeling is something is out of balance too, but where to start. Driving through a vibration seems to point to something not so sinister.

OK where is it - it seems to come from underneath and possibly towards the rear of driver/passenger seats but of course vibrations travel. How harsh is it? The wife who hasn't got a clue about cars and who doesnt pick up car noises like I do, noticed it so whilst not juddering it is clearly noticable. When I noticed it? Now this is strange - because I noticed something posisbly amiss after Christmas driving back from Toulouse (300km) but then it seemed normal the next day. This time, on the way to Toulouse, it was fine - I had forgotten about my previous potential problem. But on the way back, the vibrations became apparent again? So perhaps I have got something jamming somewhere - a UJ??? Or hippo has an issue with journeys back from Toulouse?

Any further ideas?
Thanks! Just trying to identify the first things to check out.

Gareth

Hi
Have checked your wheel weights are still in place and come off as it sounds like wheel balance to me.

A wheel weight you can feel through the steering wheel if it's front. If you think its rear then temporarily swap the tyres around front to back and see if you can feel it then.

One of my prop UJ's is a little stiff. Makes a little vibration that can be felt in the bottom of my back mostly. An unbalanced prop will eat prop bearings and it's not beyond the realms of possibility that all the rain we have been having has given you a dry joint.

First check swap wheels round to see if the vibration moves
Second check remove the prop and see if the noise goes away. You will need some external tourque spanners/sockets if you haven't got them already.

Thnks guys - more things to explore. Thankfully I don't have the rain here (south of France) that I am hearing about back in the Uk - sounds truly dreadful. But it is worth checking the joints all the same. Wheels are my number one check it seems. I will report back after the weekend.

Best to get GKN ones, mine I got froma company that bells recomended but they lasted me a year now they are as noisy as anything! So I've just purchased some from foundry 4x4! Prop gkn! Hoping to fit them soon

Dangermike said:

Best to get GKN ones, mine I got froma company that bells recomended but they lasted me a year now they are as noisy as anything! So I've just purchased some from foundry 4x4! Prop gkn! Hoping to fit them soon

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Hmm. OK - will bear that in mind if I can't find the problem elsewhere.

Thanks

Gareth

gareth123 said:

Thnks guys - more things to explore. Thankfully I don't have the rain here (south of France) that I am hearing about back in the Uk - sounds truly dreadful. But it is worth checking the joints all the same. Wheels are my number one check it seems. I will report back after the weekend.

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You're lucky, Corsica, Var and a lot of the west coast has been battered by storms and exceptionally heavy rain, Finisterre & Morbihan have been very badly hit. Do you not watch French news? The BBC is useless, French TV has been doing daily updates on the UK situation, unless there is an element of spectacle like a boulder rolling down a mountain, or death in a train crash, it escapes the notice of the BBC.
We have had a metre of water round our house in the Vienne.

Datatek said:

You're lucky, Corsica, Var and a lot of the west coast has been battered by storms and exceptionally heavy rain, Finisterre & Morbihan have been very badly hit. Do you not watch French news? The BBC is useless, French TV has been doing daily updates on the UK situation, unless there is an element of spectacle like a boulder rolling down a mountain, or death in a train crash, it escapes the notice of the BBC.
We have had a metre of water round our house in the Vienne.

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Hello

Good to have a fellow Landy person not too far away ... My comment about the rain and UJ's was literally about the climate around me - and no - no rain to cause any damage (but stupidly warm temeratures when last year at this time it was snowing -also unusual). I agree Franch news is pretty good for overall coverage - but lately TF1 seems to have stopped completely covering anything beyond France except for sport?? Which channel do you watch your news on? I am keen to break away from TF1 news as it sems to be getting very blinkered.

Hope you manage to keep dry.

Gareth

Hello everyone

Ok I was able to have a crawl around today underneath as the sun was shining!

The rear two diff mountings are probably due for replacement and I will get those done in the next few weeks. Probably not the cause of the vibratons though. The UJs on the prop are all solid but i do have some concerns about the rear support bearing on the VCU. It moves and I can hear it knocking when I pull the prop. The front suport bearing moves - with the rubber, I guess, but there is no knocking. Is the rear one knackered after just a year? I am feeling the vibarations from underneath me and I think this may be the cause? The bearings came with a VCU from Bells and I am surprised.

I also tried to change the front wheels with the spare to check on wheel balance issues but the spare is pretty crappy with flat spots so it was an impossible test.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

Gareth