Freelander 1 VCU Dampering Ring coming off.

Evening all.
i am in the second week of owning my freelander 1 td4.
a few days in to driving it the dampering ring had come off on the vcu so i cut it off to stop the banging the was given a second hand complete prop so i have fitted it and today whilst doing some off roading i had the same problem and it came off on the new prop i managed to get it back on and it came off after about 5 miles so put it back on again and so far has lasted atleast 40 miles.

the rubber teeth look to be still ok so i was thinking about taking it off and sticking it back on with something like a polyurethane adhesive.

Has any one done this? has it worked?

Thanks in advance james

Isn't it held on with three bolts?

yes they are held on by three bolts nice to see you MHM

Nope not bolted,
got this pic on the net thepic shows the rubber teeth chewed up and ring removed

2 diff types - both for 2001 to 2006 TD4's. God knows why. Yours is pn LHG100750L

use Tie-wrap around prop - or 2 jubilee clips

I'd be making sure that the VCU was functional before messing around with the damper. You can actually use the car without the damper, but you might experience some propshaft vibration. However a bit of vibration is better that a failing VCU, stuffing up the IRD.

it does work fine and i have allready removed one ring from an old shaft but would like to try prevent the ring off this shaft falling off so dont have to swap the shafts over again

as above...


use Tie-wrap around prop - or 2 jubilee clips

If you are using the Freelander in the same way as your avatar, you'll keep breaking dampers. They aren't designed to hit the ground.

Jaymes90 said:

it does work fine and i have allready removed one ring from an old shaft but would like to try prevent the ring off this shaft falling off so dont have to swap the shafts over again

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What do you mean by "does work" If you mean it is 4wd then you don't know if it works or not. If you mean you did the One Wheel Up test and got a result under a minute then yes it works. And don't even think of asking what that is without searching first!!!!!
As for the ring stick it back on with some good quality sticky stuff and drive on.

the damper is attached with three bolts,i can see 1 of them in the picture...you need to remove the support bearing,unbolt the damper and remove it..or replace it...the rubber teeth are bonded to the outer bit,not glued on!!!it comes as 1 assembly .my freelander never had a damper when i got it and ive never suffered any vibration..well till the support bearings failed.

The damper is a heavy metal outer ring rubber bonded to the inner part which is bolted to the VCU.

Cut the loose part off and bin it.

No, you wont get vibrations. The silicone fluid will naturally balance the VCU as it rotates.
Some VCUs are sold without the damper anyway.

dave21478 said:

The damper is a heavy metal outer ring rubber bonded to the inner part which is bolted to the VCU.

Cut the loose part off and bin it.

No, you wont get vibrations. The silicone fluid will naturally balance the VCU as it rotates.
Some VCUs are sold without the damper anyway.

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Agreed.
V6 Freelanders don't have the damper from the factory anyway so it's not really needed.

Post 9 shows how I stuck the ring back on to the damper. I figure it's there for a reason so as it was easy to fix I did. As for the fluid balancing the VCU I'd be highly dubious about that.
Edit sorry forgot to post the link
https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/looks-like-ive-done-it-again-doh.293904/

Alibro said:

Post 9 shows how I stuck the ring back on to the damper. I figure it's there for a reason so as it was easy to fix I did. As for the fluid balancing the VCU I'd be highly dubious about that.

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In theory the fluid will centrifuge out to the sides, possibly aided by the stirring action of the plates.
I remember running a Freelander in mondo mode for a while. I'd left the front prop and VCU in place, just removing the rear prop. When running it with the front wheels raised, I was surprised how the VCU balanced it's self out after a few minutes spinning. When it first started spinning, it was obviously well out of balance. However after a while it did settle down and spun with much less wobble. This is best described as like a washing machine loads settles out after a while.

Nodge68 said:

In theory the fluid will centrifuge out to the sides, possibly aided by the stirring action of the plates.
I remember running a Freelander in mondo mode for a while. I'd left the front prop and VCU in place, just removing the rear prop. When running it with the front wheels raised, I was surprised how the VCU balanced it's self out after a few minutes spinning. When it first started spinning, it was obviously well out of balance. However after a while it did settle down and spun with much less wobble. This is best described as like a washing machine loads settles out after a while.

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Well as I'm an eggspurt if fluid dynamics I can tell you.........
No that's not right I'm daft as a brush so I can't tell you anything so please ignore my previous comments.

Nodge68 said:

In theory the fluid will centrifuge out to the sides, possibly aided by the stirring action of the plates.
I remember running a Freelander in mondo mode for a while. I'd left the front prop and VCU in place, just removing the rear prop. When running it with the front wheels raised, I was surprised how the VCU balanced it's self out after a few minutes spinning. When it first started spinning, it was obviously well out of balance. However after a while it did settle down and spun with much less wobble. This is best described as like a washing machine loads settles out after a while.

Click to expand...

When I read the previous comments, my thoughts were that that sort of thing would happen - ie at rest the fluid will drop so it will take an amount of time to settle. The damper was probably specified only for that period of time. The science behind whether the damper was needed is as follows:

1/6/1996 : LR Engineer Bill is testing the prototype Freelander : I wonder if that VCU fluid needs a damper, I'll check it. Oh yeh, might not be but I'm sure there's a vibration there, we'll stick a damper on it.
1/6/1998 : LR Engineer Bert is testing the prototype V6 Freelander (its a slow day) : I wonder if we still need that damper, I'll check it. Erm, no I don't think there's a vibration there, I think its just the tyres, we'll get rid.

Have to drive to the midlands this weekend in the wife's Freelander and so went to put the propshaft back on because of the snow, found the VCU damper ring had dropped off. Not forking out for another one and didn't fancy cutting it off (hard to break free from that "there for a reason" faith in the design) so came up with a fix. Time will tell how temporary...

There are three small gaps between the main body of the damper and the plate where the three bolts connect it to the VCU. Just enough space for a heavy duty zip tie to hold the outer ring in place. Not rock steady, but enough to stop it from dropping off and swinging round the propshaft.

I'd be a bit weary - that thing rotates at high RPM when you're at speed. The diff 3.2:1 ratio means its spinning over 3 times faster than the road wheels - you can do the maths.

I'd give the AA a call and see if their patrols carry angle grinders

GrumpyGel said:

I'd be a bit weary - that thing rotates at high RPM when you're at speed. The diff 3.2:1 ratio means its spinning over 3 times faster than the road wheels - you can do the maths.

I'd give the AA a call and see if their patrols carry angle grinders

Click to expand...

Spot on GG.
3290.3 rotations per mile with 27" diameter wheels.
So at 60 Mph the propshafts will be spinning at 3290 Rpm.