istruggle2gate11 Posted September 10, 2005 Share Posted September 10, 2005 Hi all, Finally converted the series 1 v8 to LT77s, with the gearbox a Borg Warner viscous tranfer box, anyway, its fitted, rather nicely if I do say so myself but.... Phoned up Ashcroft Transmissions as I had been told they sell a ratio lowering kit, not made anymore and he asked me why I wanted one.... Went on to explain that my main interest is trialling, my local club has a lot of suzuki's in them, and it may possibly give me a better turning circle to match the Suzuki's and also that they have a "cushion" effect on transmissions stresses, Mr. Ashcroft then told me it will be no good for trialling as I will need the wheels spinning fast to gain traction lock up. BUGGER! But then I reasoned, all the auto boys do really well, and a well educated (in landy terms!) friend told me that its nonsense, he reckons that it will be A1. Along with some others. Just wondered if anybody had experience of this? Thanks Rog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webbsite Posted September 11, 2005 Share Posted September 11, 2005 Hi, If you need a ratio lowering kit (chain & gears) for a BW transfer case you should call Paul at Tomcat Motorsport. He had some at Billing and it changed the overall ratio from 1.2 to 1.4 but affected both High and Low ratios. He was asking 450 pounds for the set. I use a LT230 with a ZF Auto on my traka offroader so you do have the choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bishbosh Posted September 11, 2005 Share Posted September 11, 2005 I have a viscous centre diff and rather than needing spped to lock up, it is pretty locked up to start with - with a wheel off the ground it takes a lot of effort to turn it. I have been stuck (who me ) with the car in gear and no forward motion or throttle and a wheel on each axle is turning. Land Rover wouldn't have fitted them if they didn't work! I reckon they are great - no need to remember to lock the centre diff and no risk of it jumping out of diff lock either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BogMonster Posted September 11, 2005 Share Posted September 11, 2005 I don't know "how much" wheelspin is required to stiffen up the drive to both axles but as Bish says not very much, certainly much less than ETC requires before it wakes up! I had a Freelander for a while and although the car had obvious limitations off road, one thing that wasn't a problem was the drive to the back wheels. The Freelander viscous works on a slightly different principle but it is much the same thing inside, a couple of paddle things in a bucket of lumpy custard which doesn't like being stirred, but the combination of this and cross-axle ETC was something I couldn't fault, you could do ridiculous full throttle hill starts on steep icy roads and the thing would just take off where most vehicles would be sliding all over the place! The one thing I hated about it was what it did to gravel driveways. The drag from the viscous coupling and the different speeds of front and rear wheels in a tight turn tends to "push" the front wheels wide when cornering on loose surfaces, and over a period of a week or so it would heap up all the gravel on the outside of the driveway which was incredibly annoying Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
istruggle2gate11 Posted September 11, 2005 Author Share Posted September 11, 2005 Thanks guys, confidence is returning! Rog (was going to test run today, but the clutch master decided to give up!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Wightman Posted September 11, 2005 Share Posted September 11, 2005 Now you've been lulled into a false sense of security……….. The Borge Warner transfer box basically has a locked diff with a bit of slip. On the road it works fine allowing the front and rear axles to drive at slightly different speeds but with some resistance. Off road you have an ‘almost locked diff’ which works OK at speed but will slip if you try to ‘trickle’ through an obstacle. The viscous units do have a tendency to fail and when they do they fail locked, ever driven on the road with the middle diff locked? £300 exchange replacement! Given the choice I would have manual centre diff lock. Sorry………….. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
istruggle2gate11 Posted September 11, 2005 Author Share Posted September 11, 2005 NO! Paul NO! Not what I wanted to hear but I appreciate your reply, thanks. On the positive side, if its slipping due to an obstacle, perhaps it might stop me breaking things? Depends on what the BW box and my idea of an obstacle is! Worst case for me now is that I fit a LT230 if it fails, its only props and one gearbox mount I suppose. Rog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonr Posted September 11, 2005 Share Posted September 11, 2005 They work fine, trickling or otherwise - until the viscose unit fails (as mine did). Then it becomes nasty to drive on the road and you have a good deal less steering if the ground is slippy. It does not have any cushoning effect - or at least nothing I could detect. Swap it for an LT230 is my advice! Ashcroft seemed happy to take mine as exchange for a 230, and I've never looked back (if I did, my rear tub might be more rear tub shaped! ;-) Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted September 11, 2005 Share Posted September 11, 2005 and I've never looked back (if I did, my rear tub might be more rear tub shaped! ;-) you need some of those rubber buffer thingy's then same as Les B. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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