Locking front diff minus VC

1

I have been offered one for sale. How much would you pay? What is a reasonable price? Has about 170k on it.

Cheers,

Jon.

2
Not sure of the right price but check it is the right ratio as there were a few options with designated numbers stamped on the housing ?..............pete SEQ


On Thu, May 15, 2014 at 9:33 PM, Jon Bartlett mail@jaybe.net [Syncro_T3_Australia] <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

I have been offered one for sale. How much would you pay? What is a reasonable price? Has about 170k on it.

Cheers,

Jon.


3
Jon,

I would say these front lokkers are very rare - most caravelle syncros only came with the rear lokker, the Telstra vans - no lokkers at all and same with many low spec window vans.

Most Trakka syncros had them on the rear though - yet no fronts.

With no VC you could have a solid shaft installed possibly cheaper than sourcing a new VC if you didnt want to break yours up and use it as a spare incase the lokker front diff etc went wrong somehow.

Price? Have a look on the theSamba.com and see if there is any on there - can take a while looking through the Vanagon spares section in the classifieds but at least you will have a guide.

As my guess with kms that low I would say $1500? Well that is $500 more than I would pay for it.

Cheers,

Skot

On 15/05/2014 9:33 PM, Jon Bartlett mail@jaybe.net [Syncro_T3_Australia] wrote:

I have been offered one for sale. How much would you pay? What is a reasonable price? Has about 170k on it.

Cheers,

Jon.


4

Thanks Skot.

Think I'd be removing the VC from the current diff and swapping this over. Don't fancy the solid shaft and goes against the Syncro concept in my mind.

As an aside, what do people do when their VC's fail? New VC's seem to be in very short supply with no new units being manufactured now as far as I can see. They are sold here but at a price:

http://www.vw-t3-bus-shop.de/eng/syncro-special-parts/viscous-coupling-new-item-org-vw.html

10 years down the track is the solid shaft route going to be the only option?

Jon.

Jon,

I would say these front lokkers are very rare - most caravelle syncros only came with the rear lokker, the Telstra vans - no lokkers at all and same with many low spec window vans.

Most Trakka syncros had them on the rear though - yet no fronts.

With no VC you could have a solid shaft installed possibly cheaper than sourcing a new VC if you didnt want to break yours up and use it as a spare incase the lokker front diff etc went wrong somehow.

Price? Have a look on the theSamba.com and see if there is any on there - can take a while looking through the Vanagon spares section in the classifieds but at least you will have a guide.

As my guess with kms that low I would say $1500? Well that is $500 more than I would pay for it.

Cheers,

Skot

On 15/05/2014 9:33 PM, Jon Bartlett mail@jaybe.net [Syncro_T3_Australia] wrote:

I have been offered one for sale. How much would you pay? What is a reasonable price? Has about 170k on it.

Cheers,

Jon.


5

Thanks Peter. Current diff number is 6N with a D stamped under this. I believe the "D" relates to the speedo. Presumably this is calibrated for 14" wheels. Wonder if you can change this for 15" wheels?

On 16/05/2014 2:04 AM, "Peter Wilson peterw1000@gmail.com [Syncro_T3_Australia]" <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

Not sure of the right price but check it is the right ratio as there were a few options with designated numbers stamped on the housing ?..............pete SEQ


On Thu, May 15, 2014 at 9:33 PM, Jon Bartlett mail@jaybe.net [Syncro_T3_Australia] <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

I have been offered one for sale. How much would you pay? What is a reasonable price? Has about 170k on it.

Cheers,

Jon.


6
I hope it does not come to that Jon.

The URL you gave seems to indicate that the T3-bus-shop.de just offers a very expensive swap program.
Your old VC for a reconditioned one.

Question:
Are the parts and silicon still available ?
If they are, why can't our VCs be rebuilt here, by us as owners, or by our mechanics ?
How hard is it ?

I did my swap a few years ago through Mike Plompen at about 200,000 Ks.
Since then I determined not to risk overstressing the VC again:
Fitted a decoupler.
Drive almost all the time in 2WD while on blacktop, although sometimes 4WD in the wet.

And:
Never run on uneven tyres except in 2WD.

Living on 5 acres gives me a chance to test it regularly, like a few weeks ago when:
1. Bogged the mower.
2. Went to the rescue in the Syncro with 4WD and both diff locks on.
Bogged the Syncro.
3. Broke out the Massey Fergusson with it's giant lug tyres.
Just pulled the Syncro and mower out,
but got a bit nervous when I noticed wheel slip with the tractor.

That's deep colloidal clay for you.

Peter




.


--Original Message Text---
From: Jon Bartlett mail@jaybe.net [Syncro_T3_Australia]
Date: Mon, 19 May 2014 07:01:27 +1000

Thanks Skot.

Think I'd be removing the VC from the current diff and swapping this over. Don't fancy the solid shaft and goes against the Syncro concept in my mind.

As an aside, what do people do when their VC's fail? New VC's seem to be in very short supply with no new units being manufactured now as far as I can see. They are sold here but at a price:

http://www.vw-t3-bus-shop.de/eng/syncro-special-parts/viscous-coupling-new-item-org-vw.html

10 years down the track is the solid shaft route going to be the only option?

Jon. Â

Jon,
7

Jon,

I am a bit out of date but I think that the Classic Parts organization has new ones.  High quality reconditioned units are available from Mike Plompen in Belgium but don’t contemplate the ‘sports’ reconditioned version – it is far too aggressive for daily driving and puts far too much strain on the driveline.  It is designed for rather extreme off-road use.

Solid shaft is not an option except for permanent soft surface use.  A solid shaft will destroy the gearbox very quickly if used on hard surfaces.

Les

From: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com]
Sent: 19 May 2014 07:01
To: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Syncro_T3_Australia] Locking front diff minus VC

Think I'd be removing the VC from the current diff and swapping this over. Don't fancy the solid shaft and goes against the Syncro concept in my mind.

As an aside, what do people do when their VC's fail? New VC's seem to be in very short supply with no new units being manufactured now as far as I can see. They are sold here but at a price:

http://www.vw-t3-bus-shop.de/eng/syncro-special-parts/viscous-coupling-new-item-org-vw.html

10 years down the track is the solid shaft route going to be the only option?

Jon.

 

8
Regarding rebuilding VCs have a look at what some guys in the UK are up to here:
 
http://forum.club8090.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=128744
 
To: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com
From: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com
Date: Mon, 19 May 2014 10:27:28 +1000
Subject: Re: [Syncro_T3_Australia] Locking front diff minus VC

 
I hope it does not come to that Jon.

The URL you gave seems to indicate that the T3-bus-shop.de just offers a very expensive swap program.
Your old VC for a reconditioned one.

Question:
Are the parts and silicon still available ?
If they are, why can't our VCs be rebuilt here, by us as owners, or by our mechanics ?
How hard is it ?

I did my swap a few years ago through Mike Plompen at about 200,000 Ks.
Since then I determined not to risk overstressing the VC again:
Fitted a decoupler.
Drive almost all the time in 2WD while on blacktop, although sometimes 4WD in the wet.

And:
Never run on uneven tyres except in 2WD.

Living on 5 acres gives me a chance to test it regularly, like a few weeks ago when:
1. Bogged the mower.
2. Went to the rescue in the Syncro with 4WD and both diff locks on.
Bogged the Syncro.
3. Broke out the Massey Fergusson with it's giant lug tyres.
Just pulled the Syncro and mower out,
but got a bit nervous when I noticed wheel slip with the tractor.

That's deep colloidal clay for you.

Peter




.


--Original Message Text---
From: Jon Bartlett mail@jaybe.net [Syncro_T3_Australia]
Date: Mon, 19 May 2014 07:01:27 +1000

Thanks Skot.

Think I'd be removing the VC from the current diff and swapping this over. Don't fancy the solid shaft and goes against the Syncro concept in my mind.

As an aside, what do people do when their VC's fail? New VC's seem to be in very short supply with no new units being manufactured now as far as I can see. They are sold here but at a price:

http://www.vw-t3-bus-shop.de/eng/syncro-special-parts/viscous-coupling-new-item-org-vw.html

10 years down the track is the solid shaft route going to be the only option?

Jon. Â

Jon,

9
Thanks Paul.

I had a good read on that forum around this new effort to rebuild a VC, and this (long) post started a few years ago:


Peter,

In answer to your question about rebuilding the VC, from I can gather from the forum above:

- it is very hard to get the correct consistency of fluid for the VC internals
- the amount of fluid needed varies for each VC
- hence, you really need some test equipment to be sure of what you are doing

It seems that some chap in Austria bought the original test machine from Steyr-Puch when they were done with it sometime in the 90's. He was rebuilding VC's and offering a before and after testing that looked something like this (from the SP machine - green lines are factory spec):


Not sure what has happened to this chap but there are some comments about him not being the most helpful.

So looks like we are ok for now as rebuilds are happening and more and more information is becoming available.

Jon.

On 19/05/2014, at 12:22 PM, Paul Hardy paulhardy76@hotmail.co.uk [Syncro_T3_Australia] <Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

 

Regarding rebuilding VCs have a look at what some guys in the UK are up to here:
 
http://forum.club8090.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=128744
 
To: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com
From: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com
Date: Mon, 19 May 2014 10:27:28 +1000
Subject: Re: [Syncro_T3_Australia] Locking front diff minus VC

 
I hope it does not come to that Jon.

The URL you gave seems to indicate that the T3-bus-shop.de just offers a very expensive swap program.
Your old VC for a reconditioned one.

Question:
Are the parts and silicon still available ?
If they are, why can't our VCs be rebuilt here, by us as owners, or by our mechanics ?
How hard is it ?

I did my swap a few years ago through Mike Plompen at about 200,000 Ks.
Since then I determined not to risk overstressing the VC again:
Fitted a decoupler.
Drive almost all the time in 2WD while on blacktop, although sometimes 4WD in the wet.

And:
Never run on uneven tyres except in 2WD.

Living on 5 acres gives me a chance to test it regularly, like a few weeks ago when:
1. Bogged the mower.
2. Went to the rescue in the Syncro with 4WD and both diff locks on.
Bogged the Syncro.
3. Broke out the Massey Fergusson with it's giant lug tyres.
Just pulled the Syncro and mower out,
but got a bit nervous when I noticed wheel slip with the tractor.

That's deep colloidal clay for you.

Peter




.


--Original Message Text---
From: Jon Bartlett mail@jaybe.net [Syncro_T3_Australia]
Date: Mon, 19 May 2014 07:01:27 +1000

Thanks Skot.

Think I'd be removing the VC from the current diff and swapping this over. Don't fancy the solid shaft and goes against the Syncro concept in my mind.

As an aside, what do people do when their VC's fail? New VC's seem to be in very short supply with no new units being manufactured now as far as I can see. They are sold here but at a price:

http://www.vw-t3-bus-shop.de/eng/syncro-special-parts/viscous-coupling-new-item-org-vw.html

10 years down the track is the solid shaft route going to be the only option?

Jon. Â

Jon,