Hi, trying to do up my first Land rover, a Wreg l series Freelander. The one thing that's worrying me now is the droning rumbling noise from underneath. It starts at very low speeds ,doesn't get get much louder as speed increases but its always there, I wouldn't say its a whine. There are no clunks or bangs when I accelerate or slow down. When I decelerate it seems to change to more of a burbling noise as speeds get very low. I'm hoping it's the vcu bearings. From my description is this likely or is it more like an IRD issue. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

It sounds to me that you've run over whammers and he's got caught on some sticky out bit of the underneath of your car.
You could try scraping him off with a stick, like you would do with a shoe sole that had trod in dog poo.

If you have oft road or rough tread tyres they will give a rumble.
VCU bearings will give a whine/rumble if they have failed. Normally the one at the front fails first.
Take the vcu/props oft and see if the noise goes.
The ird and/or the reaf diff can whine sometimes.

Hi, its got wrangler hpp's at the back and what look like cheap Chinese,vans tyres at the front, the wranglers although worn have the largest diameter.

I'll try to get the prop off and check the diff and ird oil level as well.

luxinterior67 said:

Hi, its got wrangler hpp's at the back and what look like cheap Chinese,vans tyres at the front, the wranglers although worn have the largest diameter.

I'll try to get the prop off and check the diff and ird oil level as well.

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Those differing tyres could be your problem.

The Freelander 1 needs the same make/model/size tyres on all wheels. If not then you'll probably have tyres which have a differing circumference, which is a problem. The FL1 isn't a traditional 4x4. Instead they put a viscous coupling unit vcu in between the prop shafts. It's job is to allow differing prop speeds front/rear but only up to a certain point when it goes from resistive to active (seizes) until the prop speeds start to become closer to each other speed wise and the vcu changes back to resistive.

Having different tyres means yer can have different circumferences and tread pattern. This adds to the stress in the transmission and can cause transmission wind up. The result can be worn teeth on the gears inside the rear diff and the ird (intermediate reduction drive - essentially a fixed ratio transfer box which takes power from the gearbox and passes it to the front wheels via a diff, and also to the back wheels via the pinion gear on the rear of the ird). I would think this is what has happened to you due to tyres. You may be lucky and find it's only the vcu bearings at fault. this is assuming you still have a vcu and props fitted as some owners take the oft as a quick fix for problems.

If I were you I'd get the tyres changed. You will need the same make/model/size on all wheels. If you can't do this right now then remove the props and vcu. You will need to tell yer insurance if yer do this, which you should. This will remove any additional stress from yer transmission. The FL1 can cope with some stress but too much and some thing will break.