I was talking to a guy in the trade recently about Freelanders and he came out with an interesting "fact" (if you can believe this) that there are quite a few early FL2s going around with the prop shaft removed rather than have a diff or haldex problem sorted. This got me thinking about the time when I traded in my last Freelander 1 and the salesman asked specifically if it was still 4 wheel drive as quite a lot of FL1s had been converted rather than fix the IRD problem. Any views? 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE

This is well known on FL1s, hides IRD or VCU wear I believe. Not heard of it on 2s SD4 HSE Lux
Yeti 170 DSG L&K
Freelander 1 Td4 Overlander

Past: Freelander Metropolis, D3, D3, D2, Series 3, Series 3, Freelander 1 (still have this one bought new, the Monte Carlo blue kid)

I ran my first FL1 on FWD for about 6 months while I tried to source a new VCU..... saved fuel and boy was it quick did eat through the tread on the front tyres though

not heard of it being done on the FL2 though, not even sure if it would work due to the mechanical and electronic set up.

Its probably an ill informed dealer just assuming the FL1 and FL2 are very similar underneath, just different component names.

I have also never heard or a 2WD FL2 apart from the ED4's

I have driven many early and late FL1s 1.8 and the Td4 with the prop removed and I never really noticed any mpg advantage! The cars handle terribly and even on the 5 door model if driven hard around corners or dips you could feel the rear of the car actually lifting up. On dry and even wets roads wheel spin was common and in the rain the car was not very stable if driving over a manhole cover! The only reason people removed the vcu and prop was to avoid damage on the IRD which IIRC costs £1,600 from JLR and that is for a refurbed unit. The VCU is under £600 and the prop bearings £80 for the pair.

On shagged cars worth £3,000 or below then it made sense to keep the cars on the road by removing it. MY14 Kahn Converted Dynamic - Fuji White Ebony/Pimento Interior
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LRNUT - agreed the handling was shocking, very twitchy on corners but scared a few people in a straight line away from the light
I never saw the point of removing the VCU and prop to save money, but never being able to even go down a mildly muddy track in it, kind of defeated the object of a Land Rover. I even found one company selling 'empty' VCU units, just an empty casing, so that from the outside it still looked as though the AWD system was intact but nothing was connected!!

The factory FWD FL2 are apparently still pretty capable on tracks etc.

[I even found one company selling 'empty' VCU units, just an empty casing, so that from the outside it still looked as though the AWD system was intact but nothing was connected!!]

Wasnt LR was it? I wonder how many folk have bought one thus set up thinking they have a 4x4 though, then saying how rubbish FLs are off road??
Good idea for removing to DPF and Cat too just have the casing and rig the electrics so it looks like its got one, no more clogged filters

It's bellend engineering  MY14 Kahn Converted Dynamic - Fuji White Ebony/Pimento Interior
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I don't think removing the prop on a FL2 would get rid of diff whine - unless you go the whole hog and remove the centre section of the rear drive shafts as well!  John
07 HSE Narvick Black
Land Rover Series One
Triumph Rocket 111 (sadly gone!)

LR NUT wrote:

It's bellend engineering

I was being diplomatic