Just an Idea

[SolihullBeast]

I have recently changed both my transfer and main gearbox and have been able to see how all the Hi/Lo and difflock linkages work, clever set up, but I found it difficult to set correctly, however it is now all done and dusted and works ok. But I have driven a lot of vehicles where hi/lo and difflock are a nightmare to engage either because they are not set correctly or there is mud/cables fouling the link setup, and in some circumstances causing it to jump out of hi/lo/diff, which got me thinking, whether it would be possible to do away with the gearstick and operate both hi/lo and difflock electronically, thorough a electronic ram system on the existing levers, each lever has three positions IIRC(hi,neutral,lo) (diff engaged, neutral, disengaged) would it be possible to do this? has anyone heard of a similar thing? I realise this may be a ridiculous idea, and some will consider it making a mountain out of a molehill, however I am attracted towards the Idea at engaging difflock/hi/lo at the flick of a switch! Just a thought!

Criticism and opinions are welcome(I'm thick skinned!)

Sam

[Matt Neale]

That's more or less what Land Rover (and many other companies) have already done for years - have a look at a P38 Range Rover auto (which came out in 1994/5) - it uses an "H" pattern shifter to select both the ratios in the main and transfer box.

All current generation Land Rover products (bar the Defender) with a transfer box use electronic selection.

Personally though, I don't like the idea of adding an extra layer of electronics and actuators - give me a mechanical linkage every time.

Matt

[PaulMc]

There's an Australian kit to install a solenoid actuated centre difflock into Discovery IIs, that were fitted with the difflock mechanism in the transfer box, but no linkage from the factory -

http://www.amv.com.au/SeriesIIDifflock.htm

.

[pete3000]

There's an Australian kit to install a solenoid actuated centre difflock into Discovery IIs, that were fitted with the difflock mechanism in the transfer box, but no linkage from the factory

Cough! RR rear window wiper motor........relays.......cam.....limit switches

how much are they?

[SolihullBeast]

Is there a kit like that available in the UK, or a way of making one? looks like the business! although I not one for filling land rover with electronic devices the often fail upon invasion by water and mud, this does look good.

[steve_a]

I believe the general opinion here and experience is that they fail too quickly, as all the gubbins are exposed to mud, water, salt, sand, dust, roo heads etc.

You'd be better looking at some kind of air locker type system IMHO, which has all the moving stuff inside and no issues with electric guff where it is exposed.

[Bowie69]

My preferred solution would be a couple of cables with levers tbh, but having said that, I don't get much trouble with the regular setup

[landroversforever]

Air solenoids would be my preferred method. That being said, my normal set-up works fine *touch wood!*

[FridgeFreezer]

What could be simpler & more reliable than the existing lever?

If things are difficult to engage etc. with the lever then how do you think an air/electric/gerbil actuated setup will fare? It'll either jam, break, or worse not jam or break but b*gger the gearbox itself.

[landrover598]

Air solenoids would be my preferred method. That being said, my normal set-up works fine *touch wood!*

Like this ?

It's been on my list of to do mods, but the lever setup works fine, so never bothered to change it

[Superpants]

Pneumatics are fairly simple if you only want to run between one end stop and the other. If you want it to stop half way in the neutral position, it brings a whole range of challenges.

The simplest way to solve it is to use a three position pneumatic ram. This was how we solved a similar problem on a new off-road vehicle transfer box. I can't for the life of me remember who made the ram though- i'll post it when the memory is working better!

[SolihullBeast]

Sound like pneumatics are the preferred option, I realise that for the most part the linkages are the simplest and preferred option, but I really fancy trying to get something like that working in the future, my vehicle doesn't see a lot of dust/mud/grime (I save that for my lucky 110!) so I am not concerned about that. Has anyone ever seen a pneumatic HI/LO shifter? I know that a lot of people will see the idea as pointless, and I can't really justify any mechanical advantage to the ram system, other than the fact that I think it would be very cool to be able to engage difflock on the flick of a button(man of simple pleasures!), so it is purely cosmetic!

Sam

[calle-fas]

Equipe has a product that does this. BCP0068

Their website is seriously annoying tho.