Beefing it up.

hi all

during a quick run up to the farm in the freebie, i hit a large pothole and now have a plate sized hole in the plastic sump "guard", luckily nothing else is damaged.

so i was wondering for your wisdom on -
1) lift kits i was looking at around 2"
2) Underbody guards, like the sump and rear box/fuel tank
3) knobbly tires! i was looking at general grabber at2s i've currently got 215/65/16s all four from different manufactures :O (it was like it when i brought it!) oh and whats the maximum that i can get away with with after the lift, and do i need to fit spacers?

if anyone has any hints or tips could you please share it many thanks

why !!!


your lose customers ,
and bet your hair curlers wont work so well !!

2" lift is fine, will need a small modification to inner wing which can be done with a hacksaw & hammer, this is to allow the track rod to clear inner wing.

I would fit a decent sump guard, I've got a Mantec one, 8mm alloy, bulletproof. Tank guard is a good idea (judging by the amount of gouges on mine !!). Wouldn't bother with an exhaust guard they decrease ground clearance too much, get some shorter exhaust rubbers from Halfrauds & wrap a Jubilee clip around it, tighten the clip until the exhaust box touches the body then lower it about half an inch. The back box will take a lot of hammer before it falls off, mine has got a lovely "dimpled" finish now.

Personally I wouldn't go too agressive with tyres, decent AT's work fine with the Freebies TC. Larger diameters help with the lift also, most say 28.5" is maximum but you can squeeze 29" dia tyres on without spacers as long as you don't go too wide, I've got 205/80/16 Cooper discoverer AT's on.