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New Gearbox. Ashcrofts I assume?


Exmoor Beast

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I am in the market for a new gearbox for the P38a :(

I have an R380 sat in our Discovery wreck that we are breaking but the input shafts are different apparently and besides its all buried under a boat and other miscellaneous 'stuff' so its not easy to get at shortterm and Lucy wants her car back.

So, having drawn a complete blank with the breakers nationwide I have had a quick look at getting a recon box. Ashcrofts have an enviable reutation and they also seem to be the cheapest! There are lots of others who seem to have 'hidden' extras.

So the question is do I go to Ashcrofts or are there others you folk have direct experience of who are better?

Will.

ps. anyone got a workshop and some spare time to help me fit it ;)

well worth a try wasn't it :o

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So the question is do I go to Ashcrofts or are there others you folk have direct experience of who are better?

Will.

ps. anyone got a workshop and some spare time to help me fit it ;)

well worth a try wasn't it :o

Will i don't think you could go wrong with them, Our local Club buys a lot of the Series transfer cases from them, great product and service.

I'll be over on the next Air Canuck flight.............get the cakes and tea ready and don't forget to invite redmonsta :) :)

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Will

Did D4x4 not notice a problem with the box, when they did the clutch the other week ??? :(

No they didn't, but in fairness I didn't notice a thing until it went. Driving down the M5 late at night towing a big box trailer we decided to stop for coffee at Sedgemoor services and as I dropped out of 5th gear I lost all drive. No noise prior to it going or anything. finally found 4th. As there weren't any nasty noises I reckoned it may be a remote linkage problem (D4x4 modified it a bit when they did the clutch) so we carried on back. about 20 miles from home it started to get noisey but it was 2am by then so rather than stop we carried on. it sounds awful now unless you dip the clutch.

The V8 is obviously a goodun towing all the way back to Lynton with only 4th!

Plan A is get the box out then call Ashcrofts.

Will :)

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I had my ZF4HP22 replaced by Ashcroft's after it being so highly recommended. Replaced in a day and I was given a courtesy car to go shopping in whilst it was being done. I’ve not done many miles but not had any problems. the way I look at it is as long as I make sure it's got oil, It's going to be the last thing to break. The only downside is the fitting is not actually at the Ashcroft unit, so I did not get to see all the new shiny things which probably saved my wallet on a big spend day.

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Will,

Theres loads of Gearbox places that are cheaper than Ashcrofts

The only problem is do you want loads of "Re" from the new unit or loads of "Con" ?

Frankly for my money I'd pay Ashcrofts prices for their work and reputation so I got a Recon worth fitting and then forgetting about

Nige

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Hi,

Ashcrofts are excellent for their gearbox work, BUT when I had them replace the gearbox in my S1 Disco I was less than impressed with the service from their service centre who remove / fit the units.

It was a while ago now admittedly, but prior to the work being done I had removed the large lover cover and PTO cover on the transfer case to investigate the problem I had (turned out to be the old chestnut - transfer input gear / mainshaft wear), and as I didn't have new gaskets I used a cornflake packet. Normally I'd never do that - but I knew it would be going in to Ashcrofts within a couple of weeks so thought I'd be OK.

On taking it the service centre I mentoned this - and was told all gaskets would be replaced with new items.

Got the car back and within a week it developed a leak from the transfer case - from the PTO cover AND the big cover on the bottom. I live an hour's drive from Luton - so ended up fixing it myself. Guess what - the same cornflake packet gaskets were still fitted with the addition of bathroom sized quantities of silicone. I was not impressed!

About six months later the box then developed a leak from inside the bellhousing - which was fixed under warranty without any difficulty. I mentioned about the gasket thing - and the service centre owner (called Dale I think) swore blind that what I'd observed was not possible. Well I wasn't making it up, and I'd not been smoking anything either!

Dave.

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Thanks Tony

I have booked it in with Devon4x4 and am ordering a new box from Ashcrofts.

Simplest option I think.

Lucy really doesn't like the P38a so its getting swaped for a Discovery again when its fixed. Nice car for someone. Engine replaced less than 50,000 miles ago, new ashcroft r380....should go on for years.

Thats the RR sorted,

Mini nearly MOT'd

110 part sorted...

Series 3 next!

I think our car situation is getting out of hand...

Will :)

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I had my ZF4HP22 replaced by Ashcroft's after it being so highly recommended. Replaced in a day and I was given a courtesy car to go shopping in whilst it was being done. I’ve not done many miles but not had any problems. the way I look at it is as long as I make sure it's got oil, It's going to be the last thing to break. The only downside is the fitting is not actually at the Ashcroft unit, so I did not get to see all the new shiny things which probably saved my wallet on a big spend day.

Same with the NAS, recon auto and transfer box, lent me a Vauxhall ***** or was it a Ford **** came back the next day it was all fixed. That was probably 4 years ago and apart from changing oils never looked at either box. Thoroughly recommend the service at Ashcrofts and damn good price!

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I had a box for my 200tdi disco from a company begining with the letter L that regularly puts 1/2 page adverts in the 4x4 mags.

They were only £20 cheaper than ashcroft and were 3/4 an hour drive from my house enabling me to save on paying out a refundable core surchage.

The reason for change was bearing failure I presume as the only gear I could select and use was fourth.

I did aproximately 6000 mile with the recon box and the box developed a fault, 2nd gear made a bid for freedom.

They were very reluctant to rectify the fault and I would never recomend them :angry:

The box was eventually fixed but with the bare minimum of parts and the syncro for 2nd gear is now poor!!

I have recently spoke to the previous owner of this disco and have found out that the box I replaced was not very old and had been reconed by the same company.

I have dealt with ashcroft regarding non standard transfer boxes and they have been very helpfull, when I had queries I had quick replies with pictorial explinations.

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