Postby limecc » Thu Dec 03, 2015 1:24 am
Hi Gordon, glad to offer you my experiences.
In 2010 when we purchased our 640EB we dug deep and had the AWD Powrtouch and I couldn't be happier with the turning circle although I have had some problems. The rubber boots on the motors have perished and I had water ingress on the nearside front motor which seized it and it was replaced just before the warranty ran out. I would definitely purchase Powrtouch again but this time the latest model.
The fitter who did my job said nearly all of his Powrtouch twin axle customers came back to be upgraded with a second set of movers so this convinced me to go AWD from the start. When turning the tyres are nearly forced off the rims but it's no worse than scrubbing them when attached to the car I guess. Whichever brand you get the turning circle will be about 6m radius. I like the Powrtouch because the electronics seem superior, there's no need to full stop when applying slight changes of direction and when on full lock the inner wheels are slowed to a smooth crawl where other brands apply a stop start pulse which gives the van a duck-tail waddle. I also use the speed adjustment when things get tight, not sure if other brands even have this?
There's plenty of power for hills and kerbs, it eats them. For a couple of years I had some cutting out problems due to low battery voltage though. Sometimes the movers wouldn't work at all because the battery was completely dead. Eventually I found this was caused by an intermittent dry joint in my PDU charger, there's some posts in the technical section somewhere about that. This led to me needing a new battery. Four motors are power hungry!
I will see if I can get a video of it turning because we may be out in it soon!
Depending on your location I have a couple of contacts who may be able to upgrade your existing movers with matching secondhand kit. This would be my first choice and it saves you the hassle of selling the old movers.