discomikey Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 my gearbox is about to give up. ive just found about 2 cm cubed of gear/bearing in the drain plug of my box. so i need a replacement gearbox. pretty straight forward. except my setting off with 3.5t uphill in 1st being a bit high and sometimes have to drop to low box problem. got me sitting here thinking something i thought id never think. is it time to fit a 5 speed box to Brian? it would definately cure my gearing problem whilst still keeping my 70+ cruising speed which i dont want to loose. plus the fact i cant find a series 3 gearbox for the right money. so do i go 5 speed? and if so will my rear prop be too short? and can i get away without removing the gearbox crossmember as my chassis is galved? and if so, will permanent 4wd wreck my front axle uj's? and obviously i would put a disco xfer box on a defender LT77 (or shortest 5speed box available) i know it would shorten my rear prop by about 4", is that too much. but then, with the TDI, 5 speed box and soon to be disk braked front axle... it may aswell be a defender which is not what i want it to be really. Brian is a series. now its your turn to persuade me either to stick to 4speed and overdrive, and find another way of sorting the towing problem without majorly reducing cruising speed. or persuade me to stick a 5speed in. help :S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gremlin Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Well mine has undergone the transformation and its more of a 110 under the skin with a series body and axles. Usually it is the sort of evolution that comes with a tdi, well thats what happened to mine, it all started with the engine. If you are going 5 speed, just convert the lt 230 to selectable 4wd, that way the front axle can stay as is, not that ujs are bad on full time 4wd, it just need getting used to the jerky steering at full lock. As for the propshaft, the whole 5 speed will move the drive flange back by 4 inches, so you need a shorter rear prop and a much longer front. Now the front prop might be a problem, as usually you will need to scallop the under engine x member. Now have a galvy chassis will not help your quest. So you will have to choose, hack the chassis in some way or another, or just bite the bullit and repair your series box. As to your gearing problem, its going to be spendy but you need to get a set of new KAM cw&p'S to sort it unless you revert back to 4.7's G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuck Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Couldn't you keep Brian original & buy a Disco or something cheap for the donkey work? Surely he's deserved putting his "feet" up at his age? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discomikey Posted April 13, 2012 Author Share Posted April 13, 2012 Right... heres what ive decided. after thinking all of this new gearbox stuff, i had a think about what it was doing. my diagnosion is that the layshaft bearings have gone to pot. as it is noisey in 1 2 and 3. specially when putting some torque through. but 4 is a direct through drive where the layshaft doesent take load at all. so im gona pop it out and replace the bearings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discomikey Posted April 13, 2012 Author Share Posted April 13, 2012 well 4 hours after i started messing about with it ive got the box out and apart. the rear layshaft bearing is toast. everything else is in VGC though, a bit wierd as i cant see why it went, unless it just couldnt cope with a TDI. all the rest of the bearings are perfect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmerboy_y2k Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 except my setting off with 3.5t uphill in 1st being a bit high and sometimes have to drop to low box problem. got me sitting here thinking something i thought id never think. is it time to fit a 5 speed box to Brian? Isn't the towing capacity for S2/3 SWB 2t not 3.5t? That might be why your breaking gearboxes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzar Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 Same Gearbox as the 109, which is rated for 4 tonnes towing. Stick with the 4 speed, and series diffs or learn to change from low to high box when moving? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmerboy_y2k Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 Same Gearbox as the 109, which is rated for 4 tonnes towing. Stick with the 4 speed, and series diffs or learn to change from low to high box when moving? Every 109 I've seen has said 2 ton on the VIN plate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzar Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 Post rationalisation 109 is rated for a 6710 kg train weight, 1,000 kg front axle, 1710 back axle, thus trailer is 4,000kg. I'll bang up a photo of the BL rating plate on the bulkhead, as soon as the current batch of photos on the phone have finished uploading (I've just modified my britpart outriggers to have square crushplates instead of the little crushtubes that come as standard). G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzar Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 Picture of rating plate - 1981 109. Your Honour! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 The towing limit is more a reflection of braking capability than tractive. My standard SIII transmission has survived the Tdi without any apparent harm, and that has double the torque of a 10J diesel. Series transmissions are much tougher than they're given credit for; drive with good technique and replace their oil every 10,000 miles and they'll last perfectly well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discomikey Posted April 14, 2012 Author Share Posted April 14, 2012 id agree with above statement. my series has had in a TDI for nearly 3 years. doing everything from 80 70mph motorway cruises to towing up to the limit on the road and over on the farm. its towed arctic wagons up slippy hills, pulled silage trailer (only empty) pulled all sorts of stuff up to 4 tons on the back of a trailer. and only now ever gave me any trouble. and at that its only bearings that have given up. bearings that were never designed to take 3x the power than a standard 2.25 enigne. its only ever the brakes which sort of let it down for towing. and not because they arent very good. keep them adjusted and it stops as quick as any 90 would. but its the fact that i can go to leek and back with a trailer loaded (43 miles round trip) and its fresh out of front shoe liner as there are some quite steep decents on the route i take, and no amount of engine braking would do alone. so after 34 years of use. 3 of them behind an engine thats "too big" and all gears are perfect all synchros are perfect both visually and performance wise i reckon its not too weak to tow 3.5 tons of cattle from one end of the farm to the other. or even tow an arctic up the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
secondjeremy Posted April 15, 2012 Share Posted April 15, 2012 Just because you can do something doesn't make it a good idea. Sounds to me you should discuss the viability of the whole thing with someone who's an expert in cross country vehicle design. Some colleges run courses in the subject. http://www.harper-adams.ac.uk/undergraduate/201016/eng/off-road-vehicle-design Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discomikey Posted April 15, 2012 Author Share Posted April 15, 2012 someone taking the mickey?? im at Harper studying that course.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
secondjeremy Posted April 15, 2012 Share Posted April 15, 2012 So - shouldn't we be asking you those questions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddy Posted April 15, 2012 Share Posted April 15, 2012 you got a trailer license mikey? whats law like round you on that kind of stuff? Will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discomikey Posted April 15, 2012 Author Share Posted April 15, 2012 i do have a trailer liscence. VOSA are often up at Bakewell market to catch the farmers out. my truck doesent exactly blend in to the rest either haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddy Posted April 15, 2012 Share Posted April 15, 2012 did you just do b+e or c+e? Looking at doing mine but trying to weigh up costs. Will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Hancock Posted April 15, 2012 Share Posted April 15, 2012 4 tons yes, but that is with coupled air or vacuum brakes not over run brakes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discomikey Posted April 18, 2012 Author Share Posted April 18, 2012 i did B+E. cost about £500 all in all. dad payed for it through the business though in return for me towing for him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejparrott Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 Need to do my b+e.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtyninety Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 Just because you can do something doesn't make it a good idea. Sounds to me you should discuss the viability of the whole thing with someone who's an expert in cross country vehicle design. Some colleges run courses in the subject. http://www.harper-adams.ac.uk/undergraduate/201016/eng/off-road-vehicle-design So - shouldn't we be asking you those questions? I agree, shouldn't we be asking you these questions? I was talking to harry marriot about you lastnight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discomikey Posted April 19, 2012 Author Share Posted April 19, 2012 you were were you.. how is he? and if you dont mind me asking who are you in real life haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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