Club 80-90 Forums

OK so the time has come for me to replace my VC. I dont like the standard VC setup because its too susceptible to wear and damage during norm,al driving, which is what I spend most of my time doing. For this reason I want to get a shaft decoupler. Firstly, what are peoples opinions on this? Now I know a lot of people will say that VW decided not to go with this idea in the first instance, but thats because they later decided to go with a VC instead. What I want is the best of both worlds. Busman does a shaft decoupler for reasonable money (as opposed to bernd jaeger whos looking for mad money) but he also does a sports viscous coupling, which is a more aggressive VC, giving better traction off road but still allowing some speed difference between the front and rear. This seems to be just the job for me, cause then on changing terrain I can leave the 4wd on without ruining my tyres and drivetrain, then when it comes to manouevring and taking sharp bends and generally driving normally I can leave the 4wd off. So is this a good idea? What are the pitfalls of such a system and has anyone else done this?

sack the vc,fit a decoupler and solid shaft,best thing to do,no more rotating tyre fiasco,buying 5 tyres at once cafuffle and worrying about whats going on,ive got vans with vc's and decoupler and decoupler wins hands down,their good in sand also,the only people who whinge about how your not using the syncro systym properly and how you should keep the vc are people who havnt tried a decoupler,cj.

Just the question I posed a year or 2 back and got flamed by a so called expert...... (No longer with us)

I know exactly what you are saying and both have the merrits.. I do huge distances on the Autoroutes (regular 600-800km each way trips) so 2wd would be great to prevent wear/windup, but in crappy conditions the VC offers the benefits of not thinking about the road conditions.. (Winter has been down to -18 and 6 weeks of snow on the ground)
My option would also be decoupler and tight VC... or just a new vc...

Yes the solid shaft is great, but mine has to do everything.. and most of that means road..

Personally, I wouldn't want to miss a working VC during normal driving ...especially not on your typical Irish country roads that are either flooded or full of muck half the time.
A good VC makes driving under those conditions just so much safer.

A had little Suzuki Jimny with selectable 4WD before (i.e. straight through shaft with decoupler). While that was great offroad, you could only use the 4WD on-road when it was really slippery, otherwise the whole thing would bind up and I found myself constantly engaging/disengaging the 4WD, which is not what you want to be doing while negotiating a partially flooded road where both hands should be on the wheel.

I have driven 2WD T3's long enough to really enjoy the added safety that the VC 4WD brings and wouldn't want to miss it.

Like you, I drive mostly on-road.

I don't really understand how the VC

is too susceptible to wear and damage during norm,al driving

it's allowed a replacement after 15+ years and thousands of miles, isn't it?

I think its more due to the fact that people dont maintain tyre pressures and rotations, with odd ball tyre combinations too.. so the problem gets accelerated they get hot and the "oil" ages etc... and people keep driving them "coz its still moving" with tight VC.. then something breaks...
It seems to be a "service" item really... 80-100k miles..

Fiats New Panda 4x4 has a vc and they recomend tyre rotation every 6000.

I am going for the de-coupler and keeping my aggressive VC which is fantastic off road. Can also be used on road most of the time if I choose.
Waiting for Aidan to get the bits and bobs for the de-coupler-rather than exchange nose which is a pain if youve gotta get one to Belgium.

Go-westy fit decouplers as a standard thing with their mega money campers.

Decoupler and billet shaft all the way.I have had to may VC's fade under extreem conditions.
New and old ones.

Russel at Syncro-Nutz wrote:Decoupler and billet shaft all the way.I have had to may VC's fade under extreem conditions.
New and old ones.

"Extreme".... being the operative word there....!!!!
I can see the advantages for expedition camper etc and serious off roading...
But most of us dont do that...... and the VC does work quite well for us "average Joes".......
I think its a balance of compromises between what your use is and what your accepted handicap would be...

If I was going across "wilderness" then the solid shaft and deco would be it... but that aint happening for a couple or three years...

[IMG:400:240]http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa28 ... oupler.jpg[/img]
Come on, we would all have a decoupler if we could, I know I would if the $700 euros was'nt a problem.

Why do you want to wear out your VC, Cv, front diff, tyres ets when you are driving on the tarmac. If you are doing a fair mileage in a syncro then to decouple will save you money.

I ran a 3 year old syncro with 20,000 miles on the clock, for a further 107,00 miles. in that time I replaced the CV's twice, once on the isle of skye at Sutherlands in 1993 for £800.

No one had heard of tight VC's then.

They are the way to go. I still cant afford one though.

This is tempting though for a 2wd.

limited slip diff
[IMG:200:161]http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa28 ... ipdiff.jpg[/img]

I'm with toomanytoys here ...

My Syncro is a 95% roadgoing vehicle, so I want the perfect setup for difficult road conditions ...of which I have plenty around where I live.

The VC is doing a very good job on wet and mucky twisties and has me convinced.

That it also works off the tarmac is a very nice bonus and in combination with the two difflocks it will get me as far as I dare and probably even further. (I'm a bit of a sissy and I also don't like breaking my cars )

If I wanted to drive trial-type offroad courses, I wouldn't do it in a Syncro anyway and rather pick some old "proper" 4x4 and upgrade it.

You don't damage your VC simply by driving on the tarmac ...yes, it will wear over time ...but so will your driveshafts, CV joints and other drivetrain bits when you go bouldering with your front and rear diffs (or worse, all four wheels, with difflocks engaged) turning at the same speed ...or something will just go "snap"

I'd fit a decoupler, I have owned three Land Rovers before the VW Caravelle Syncro and I am used to select 4WD when I want/need... You really don't know when a VC fails and then is "breaking" the gearbox...
In fact I will fit a decoupler, my VC is tired and is not working properly...

Maybe for your weather conditions in Eire you need a VC, who knows... depends on you.

Whatever option you decide on will have advantages and disdvantages. Every set up will be better for situations A B and C but not so good for situations D E and F!

When I bought my van it had a very tight VC and had already snapped one front driveshaft a few months before I bought it. I fitted a decoupler immediately and have generally found the set up I have excellent. I live where we drive a lot on formed gravel roads but also, most of the offroading is in sand. The set up is great for the roads but lacks a little in the soft sand but the van does have twin diff locks which certainly helps IMO.

Oh for a set up that can flick between a solid shaft and a VC!

As a metter of interest, my work supplied vehicle is a Toyota Kluger, It is sold as a Highlander in the US and I don't know if you have them in the UK. It too has a VC.

I wore through a set of tyres in 25000 kms and have certainly noticed some binding on tight u turns on bitumen (which I do every time I drive away from work, which can be 5, 6 or more times each day). On this second set of tyres I am rotating them every 5000 kms - something I don't miss having to do with the Syncro now I only have to do this every 12 months with a decoupler fitted.

I am biased but always recommend a decoupler for our busses, especially if like me, you are pushing 160hp through the drive train (':P')
I travelled many 1000's of km's to, from and in Eire (on surf trips) in both a 2wd T3 and in Syncros. It was great having the VC set up on the Irish B roads and laneways (all that cow s**t and mud made the roads very slippery) but I always thought it great to be able to switch to 2wd for the long motorway hauls and general driving and parking etc once we got home to Bristol.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

Cheers,

Andy

Pity the propshaft isn't quick release ...like a bajonet lock ...that would be nice too ...for the occasional motorway trip.

Right so Im getting a decoupler then. The question mark for me remains over what to replace the broken VC with. Im still of the idea that the sports VC would give me the best of both worlds, allowing me to use it on the road when driving in difficult conditions without having to worry about it. The solid shaft would only be useful if Im really going to be using it offroad a lot, which Im not. Then when Im manouevring with the sports VC or just driving in normal conditions, I can disengage it. It sounds like just the job for me.

The sports visco and a de-coupler. That's perfect.
It is possible that I have a sports visco in my 16" as I have heard that they were fitted by VW on that model, but then again it could be foobah. It certainly is agressive, with little slip between the axles.

For what I need it for it will be fine as a starting point.