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Car Forum / UK Car Forums / 4x4 Cars (UK group) / April 2006Testing 4 wheel drive
we recently bought a suzuki grand vitara from a garage( Luckily as it had 6 months warranty) Upon the first heavy snow we discovered it jumped out of 4 wheel drive, a problem with the transfer box apparently, which the garage claims is "very rare". What I need to know before we get it back....can the Grand Votara be driven on the road in normal conditions in 4 wheel drive to check all is well when we get it back without damaging any of the drive components? > we recently bought a suzuki grand vitara from a garage( Luckily as it had 6 > months warranty) [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > driven on the road in normal conditions in 4 wheel drive to check all is > well when we get it back without damaging any of the drive components? In a word NO. The GV does not have a centre diff, so driving it on road will cause the varying speeds of the four wheels to 'wind up' the transmission - cuase stresses in the components, which can quite easily break a half shaft. Best to find a nice muddy field to try it out on! > Upon the first heavy snow we discovered it jumped out of 4 wheel drive, Bear in mind that just because it starts to snow, it doesn't mean you should engage 4wd, it doesn't give you "more grip", and certainly doesn't help you when you want to go around corners. It allows you to put more power down on slippery surfaces, so you can accelerate harder which isn't useful on snow, and it would allow you to climb steeper hills but unless you start to slip on the hill then no need to engage it. Engaging it on tarmac even when snow is around can feck it up.  SignatureBlast off and strike the evil Bydo empire! >> Upon the first heavy snow we discovered it jumped out of 4 wheel drive, > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > hills but unless you start to slip on the hill then no need to engage > it. Engaging it on tarmac even when snow is around can feck it up. It's also worth bearing in mind that in 4WD on snow or mud the vehicle will handle in a way that many drivers find disturbing until they get used to it. Especially when the vehicle has no centre diff. It takes practice, and rather than finding out what your 4x4 is going to be like in slippy conditions on the road in snow it's a good idea to book in for an off road session in mud where you will get a feel for driving a 4x4. > we recently bought a suzuki grand vitara from a garage( Luckily as it had > 6 months warranty) [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > be driven on the road in normal conditions in 4 wheel drive to check all > is well when we get it back without damaging any of the drive components? Get the garage to check the condition of the transfer box mountings. If one (or more) has failed it is possible that the T-box is 'leaning' to one side and restricting movement of the selector lever so that it doesn't engage properly. Mechanical problems with Vitara t-boxes are very rare. Hope this helps. Simon H Thanks for all your help. Have done a little offroading previously, and it was serious snow requiring 4 wheel drive that day, (Live in Scotland) Also have owned various 4 wheel drives before. My favourite was my old Landie S2A. As an aside, we looked at about 12 freelanders when looking for something to buy.......what a disappointment. >> we recently bought a suzuki grand vitara from a garage( Luckily as it had >> 6 months warranty) [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > Hope this helps. > Simon H > As an aside, we looked at about 12 freelanders when looking for > something to buy.......what a disappointment. What was wrong with them? Huw >> As an aside, we looked at about 12 freelanders when looking for >> something to buy.......what a disappointment. > > What was wrong with them? The Freelander badge for a start. A cynical pile of shite mobile, badly built from the remaindered bin of Rover 214 parts. Reliability right up there with the Lada and Moskvich. 10 out of the 12 were flooded/damp and 2 were even mouldy. It "looks" as though the water is coming in through the rear window as 2 or 3 of them had floods in the little safe box in the luggage area. The worst even had a blue/green mould on the dash board. We were looking at vehicles in the £8000 approx value range by the way. But as previous poster mentioned, overall build was poor too, and one vehicle in particular with alleged mileage of 30000 miles the seats were worn shiny. would be interested if anyone has a freelander...check for that water ingress in rear. >>> As an aside, we looked at about 12 freelanders when looking for >>> something to buy.......what a disappointment. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > built from the remaindered bin of Rover 214 parts. Reliability right up > there with the Lada and Moskvich. >>> As an aside, we looked at about 12 freelanders when looking for >>> something to buy.......what a disappointment. >> What was wrong with them? > The Freelander badge for a start. A cynical pile of shite mobile, badly > built from the remaindered bin of Rover 214 parts. Reliability right up > there with the Lada and Moskvich. Could be worse. The next one's a Focus. |
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