Consumption experiences - 100 Series LC converting to part time 4WD

Having had cruisers with part time for the last 30 years I don't think you would save anything, it might even cost in the long run.
The vehicle has been designed to be part time, the drivetrain has been designed to share the load between front and rear not carry it all on the rear.
The costs incurred doing the mods to the transfer and free wheeling hubs would take a long while to recoup as I could never detect any increase in fuel consumption when running in high four in a troopy, which I did for weeks on end when running on dirt roads.
If you don't lock the hubs in on a regular basis you can cause corrosion on crownwheel after extended periods.
You would have to keep the vehicle for a long time to make any difference to wear on the drivetrain too.

Hi Viv
Not long had our 100 series cruiser , stock standard 1hz 2003 model GXL
Checked fuel consumption on a trip from Jindabyne / Newcastle got 12.9l/ 100km
Wondering how it compares with others around
As for the conversion all the gear you need is in the povrty pack ,just a matter of cross referencing the drive train to see what matches and what doesn't then work oout if it's the trouble and expense
good luck!

Just do it, you know you want to :-)

I´ve done it a few months ago, to an 80series though, and it is awesome.
If you are doing it for fuel economy, forget it.
You will gain a little more power, cause of unloading the front drivetrain.
Traps... you wont have a centre diff anymore, it´ll be like a GQ, 2wd unlocked or 4wd locked. (but who wants it unlocked anyway)

Some say they will lose stability (bu$#%hit), get yourself known name tyres and you´ll be ok.

http://www.ozsigns.com/aussie/fj80tohzj80/partime_conversion/index.html

Ulises

Kits that I've seen all state that they are for non-ABS equiped Cruisers, so there might be some issues with loosing the centre diff and the braking bias, ABS sensors or something along those lines. I've a 2000 GXL 1HZ and my economy varies depending if I've got the touring setup in or the short trip setup. Fully setup for a desert trip, the weighbridge told me that I was 3.7T (I know it's overweight). I averaged 17l/100 with a tar average of 15l/100k (sitting on 110 with the aerodynamics of a brick wall). With the storage unit out and the winch out on the garage floor (probably back to around 2.6 or 2.7T), I'm back to between 11 and 13 L/100K.

I thought about converting mine years ago, but I'm glad I didn't as it is so much more stable over higher speed (relatively speaking of course) loose dirt roads. I can't really quantify this as I have not driven a part-timer in the same conditions, but in my opinion, the full-timers are very stable and easier to drift slighly, and I guess. a bit less taily.

The potential slight drop in fuel consumption wasn't worth the cost or loss of stability, even if it is only my perception. Hope this helps,

Andrew

No lockers as yet; the rear LSD still works. What sort of lockers are you thinking about? I'd guess that it'd be something like a Detroit or Lock-Rite, which I've heard of being described as unlockers. I think with this style of locker, you could put one in the rear, but not one in the front due to constant FWD. When I made enquiries along these lines, a Detroit for the rear and an aftermarket LSD for the front (softlocker? or something similar)

If this is part of the reasoning for looking at a part time conversion, then it might be the only way with these types of lockers. If you were thinking of airlockers or any sort of manually controlled diff lock, then I'm pretty sure that you can just fit them to a Constant FWD without any problems. You just need to know when to lick them and when to un-lock them.

This is only an opinion that I formed by doing some asking around as I'm certainly not an expert, but I will be tending to lean to a manual locker first in the rear, then maybe one in the front later. I just can't understand how the LSD is still working.....

regards

Andrew

I have a 2000 model Pov Pack (free wheeling hubs). Day to day driving with a roof rack, winch, bbar, kaymar rear step, 33" tyres, 3" lift, etc... (the works) -- I get 13.5 litres per 100 klms. Mind you I have an aftermarket turbo fitted too.

I'm happy with that considering it's a big brick. When towing the CT I average around 18L-19L.

Cheers
SMITHY

In previous free wheel hub 4x4s (Hilux / Troopy) I found an improvment of 1 to 2 MPG & about 3 or 4 kph top end speed with the hubs out. It would take ages to see any return on the cost of the conversion. Instead put the price of free wheeling hubs towards ARB lockers. Far superior IMHO.
Cheers Craig.............

hzj79 work vehicle averages 100km a tank more with hubs out rather than in. Average week 1000 km. I couldnt figure out why i was getting 22l/100 then after a month or so found apprentice had put hubs in consumption now about 18l/100.

95 80 series DX, stock standard apart from bull bar,towbar and 2inch lift around town 13.5 ltrs per 100km on the highway 12.5ltrs per 100km.could probably do better than these figures as i am a bit of a leadfoot !!