Weird vibration

[J!m]

Nope, you got it.

So when the hub is disengaged (freewheeling) the upper pin and u-joint do not get proper oiling (even more so if the oil is low, or leaking out), so the bearings, u-joint and pin can go dry and run the high risk of rust forming through condensation.

[fruitpunch]

I couldn't agree move with Jim post. Free Wheeling hubs = bad idea, you save may be a few $$$ on gas but when you get stranded in the middle of no where without the correct parts to fix something, so useless what's the point. I guess the same holds true for the O/D unless you might be in a country like the Central African Republic where gas price is like 15 bucks a gallon and you think saving 10% makes sense. Might be true for a Carb V8 but I think the low tech approach is the way to go.

[n6zt]

I have the Roverdrive in my Dormobile; I have also seen the developmental work and serious testing that Ray has put into that unit. It is SO robust; much more so than most mechanical parts on a Rover. I believe that anyone would be satisfied with the reliability of this unit.

[landi41]

It's more than an opinion when based on hard data.

J!m

Your Expeditions your choice of equipment

I stand by what i said..... lock out hubs breaking in use is more uncommon than common and i've been on a few expeditions as well, with a number of lock out hub equiped Series Land Rovers, some with lock outs on all 4 axels, (for towing purposes) as i said previously i've only seen one fail and it was a Warn.......

I would suggest that any number of lock out hub equiped Series trucks need the hubs serviced ie: taken apart, cleaned and lubricated......the first hint of when this should be done is when you see someone getting out the vice grips to engage or dis-engage them........

anyway i've got bigger problems than broken lock out hubs these days...I've got a Discovery..

[Tim Smith]

We went through two transmissions, two diffs and two locking hubs on the trip (on top of a bent front axle tube and two sets of rear springs and about a thousnad 'minor' failures).

Oh my goodness!
Where was that expedition Jim? I can't imagine going through all that in one trip.

[J!m]

North Africa.

[Tim Smith]

North Africa.

Out of curiosity, what did you do for parts when said disasters strike? Bring your own, buy locally, ship them in?

Or should this be a new thread...

[TeriAnn]

If it were me, the first thing I would do is get the tyres rebalanced and check the front end freeplay & tie rod ends while the car is on the lift.

Second thing I would suspect is U joints, third would be propshaft splines.

Land Rover used off the shelf Spicer prop shaft ends, so any good propshaft shop will have a replacement part. The end Rover used cames in three spline lengths & Rover used the shortest one. You can upgrade your shafts if you have made any mods for increased articulation just by having a longer spline end installed.

PS the free-wheel hubs only starve the front upper steering pin and u-joints of oil. Make sure you engage the hubs regularly to move that oil around.

I do not condone the use of free-wheel hubs, as they are a weak link prone to breakage and do not offer any substantial increase in fuel economy on a series truck.

While I agree that freewheel hubs should be locked around town to keep the juices flowing, I have noticed increased power and fuel economy with them unlocked on the open highway. When you are out there climbing the West side of the Rockys the power difference is very noticable.

I haven't been on the trail with anyone who had freewheel hub failure. Not to say it doesn't happen, just that I haven't seen it. I had to trouble shoot my Selectros on the trail in Moab once but the problem was me not putting a hub back together properly after replacing an inner oil seal.

[Luke]

Re: FW hubs - Seems to me you really need to take a view on what you're using the vehicle for. If you're crossing Africa then I quite understand wanting to stick to the KISS principle. But if the vehicle spends it's life footling about somewhere like Connecticut, like mine does, with an AAA card tucked into the dash then I really don't see any issue at all. Like TeriAnn, I keep them locked most of the time but find there is a very noticable difference on long highway journeys and hills when you have a big old bus like a 109. Well worth having for my own set of circumstances.

Cheers
Luke

[Clive]

Just to thank you all for very useful advice - finally got it resolved - it was worn drive shaft splines! No longer a problem!