Vehicle & Technical > Freelander

So just how good off-road are they?

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Rockin Robin:
The FL doesn’t have axles. The IRD, VCU, final drive unit and prop shafts are all fixed to the underside of the chassis. The lift kit I have fitted comprises 1.5” spacers which bolt to the top of the suspension struts. When re-assembled, this effectively raises the whole vehicle body (including Drivetrain) by 1.5”. The additional clearance now provided in the wheel arches allows for fitting bigger tyres which (as you have noted) will allow for an even bigger lift. Hence - in my case - 3” additional clearance over standard. 2” lift kits are also available to fit FL.




The only potential problem is that the angle of the driveshafts down to the wheels becomes more acute with the potential for increased wear of the couplings. However there have been no reported problems amongst the MAD Freelander members, most of whom have this mod. Some have been running it for many thousands of miles. We’ve covered over 10K in the last year with the lift fitted, and no problems.

As far as having no low box is concerned - yes this is a drawback, but going for the Automatic transmission goes a long way to overcoming this deficiency.

V8MoneyPit:

--- Quote from: Rockin Robin on June 17, 2008, 11:46:12 ---As far as having no low box is concerned - yes this is a drawback, but going for the Automatic transmission goes a long way to overcoming this deficiency.
--- End quote ---

I can second that. Our original petrol FL was a manual and we couldn't get it slow enough in my view. The TD4 we now have is auto and it can crawl as slow as you need it to. As for hill climbing, the traction control combined with auto box copes far better than I would have ever anticipated. And this comes from a die hard Defender fan. The Freebie never ceases to impress me.

We run a 2" lift and 215/75 (IIRC) BFG AT's.

cotefarmboy:
All sounding good, I am interested to know more about lifting though.

Anyone confirm how easy a job and if it screws up steering geometry etc?

V8MoneyPit:
The kits will either have aluminium spacers or long nuts to move the entire strut down from the turret. You have to take each strut out to fit these. Not a major job as long as the bolts come undone OK! It took me most of a day to do it, but I did fit a towbar at the same time.

We fitted camber correction bolts as it gave too much positive camber on the front after lifting. Then you need to reset the tracking.

You will also need to cut the inner wing below the track rod to give clearance for the steering.

fatboy:
when you lift it in would go for 2" lift you can fit uo to 225/75 on steel rims but when you do the lift you have to cut the inner arch to allow for steering arms

Fatboy
 :dance: :dance:

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