regular thumping rear transmission when cornering.

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lenny1234

Active Member
Posts
315
Location
East Anglia
Been trying to resolve various issues on a new pre-owned but not pre- loved Freelander TD4 auto. ~100k on the clock, 2004 vintage

Sigh. Well it was cheap :rolleyes:

Down to one bad, and one that can wait.

The bad one, because I am not sure what it is, is a regular thumping that occurs when cornering hard at slow speed. It is not a hard knock, more the 'rubber hammer' sound, and its totally regular at a given road speed. There is no discernible sign of stiffness or drag - sounds like a bush gone. Neither does there seem to be any major vibration through the transmission.


Such service history has it has shows VCU bearings done a short time ago.

If anyone can point me in the direction of things to check I'd be grateful.

My thinking so far is that when the VCU starts to drag its putting torque on a mounting and that is thumping back into place, but it might be something else entirely. It seems to occur more when the car has done a few miles.
 
It sounds like the front diff mount - had a simlilar problem on mine and that cured it. Easy fix and you will find a 'how to' on here somewhere. They are great vehicles and I love mine but have had to get my hands dirty and learn to be a mechanic ....
 
Do you mean the front mounting of the rear diff?

Or the rear mounting of the front diff?:hysterically_laughi

I guess that's a 'check underneath for obvious wear' job, yes?
 
Do you mean the front mounting of the rear diff?

Or the rear mounting of the front diff?:hysterically_laughi

I guess that's a 'check underneath for obvious wear' job, yes?

Rear diff, front mounting. If you grab the prop near the diff and move it around side to side up and down and see lots of play at the front of the diff, that's the problem. Of course there should be some give (cos thats the idea of a rubber mounting). You can put a big lever in there to check.
 
OK. I finally took advantage of a fine day to wriggle underneath.

Rear diff front mounting is fine.

VCU rear bearing is off centre and rubber looks weak
VCU front bearing is so bad I could wiggle it by hand and reproduce the thumping noise.

The question is, these are supposed to have been done before, so is the failure simply a rubbish part fitted, or a VCU that's dead or dying?

I dont want to replace VCU if I dont have to
 
Changed all my rear diff mountings also front lower tie rod and I am still getting the thumping noise, I am having the VCU support bearings ( TOQ000040 changed Saturday with the hope that is going to solve it, if not then I need to look towards the rear diff, or IRD & VCU which was only replaced around 14 months ago.

Will be checking the chassis tomorrow if I have time :(
 
Changed all my rear diff mountings also front lower tie rod and I am still getting the thumping noise, I am having the VCU support bearings ( TOQ000040 changed Saturday with the hope that is going to solve it, if not then I need to look towards the rear diff, or IRD & VCU which was only replaced around 14 months ago.

Will be checking the chassis tomorrow if I have time :(

Yeah. It seems these are all a fairly weak point - these rubber bushed bearings.

My guess is the VCU puts quite a strain on the rubbers - even when working as it should.
 
I've heard others complaining about some makes of bearing lasting no more than a few months so will be sourcing mine from Bells along with the VCU when I get around to it.
 
Well I finally got the dealer who supplied the car to fix this. Another propshaft wit a bad bearing was refitted with a new bearing and swapped out and the problem has gone.

Interestingly my prop shaft bearing not only had weak rubber, but also a worn ball race.

The mechanics - who were great blokes - said that they seldom changed VCUs, but they changed these bearings all the time.

FWIW...
 
Holy thread revival batman.

This sounds like my issue, and I can see the VCU bearings are sagging on mine.

Time for some new ones :)
 
Same on my L-series. Had a grinding sound and knocking sound on low speed for a couple of weeks now. Got the car up on ramps today and the whole rear vcu bearing have collapsed.
 
Had the same with my vcu bearings car was knocking like hell more so on full lock (forward motion not reversing)changed the propshaft bearings either side of vcu and everything was good!But that was 11 months ago and because i only bought basic bearings they are getting replaced again in the morning as the bearings themselves have gone now the mount s them selves are fine.So always buy the best ones you can afford.
 
Had exactly the same thing on my 2006 TD4 auto, seemed to be worse turning right rather than left. A new pair of VCU bearings sorted it completely. Just get the best ones you can. Will save you money and hasstle in the end.
 
Yes. Its a classic 'old freelander' fault. The VCU bearings and the rubber mounts go after about 100k miles.

Then the stiffness in the VCU itself causes the universal to wind up on corners and then teh propshaft starts thumping around.

Opinions are divided as to whether this means the VCU is also shot.
 
The VCU on my Freelander is fine no issues at all and fast approaching 100k.So in my opinion if ain't broke don't fix it!You will soon know if you are having problems with the VCU plenty of info on here.But some say best to replace after a certain amount of mileage i disagree like i said 100k on mine no problems at all runs like a dream..
 
The VCU on my Freelander is fine no issues at all and fast approaching 100k.So in my opinion if ain't broke don't fix it!You will soon know if you are having problems with the VCU plenty of info on here.But some say best to replace after a certain amount of mileage i disagree like i said 100k on mine no problems at all runs like a dream..

Have you tried the 'one wheel up test'? My K series ran fine when I bought it but the VCU was seized solid at 105k miles. It even reversed in a tight circle no problem.
When I tried the test I couldn't turn the wheel at all.
 
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