Thinking of buying one...

Hi all,
At the moment I've got a defender 90 with the old 2.5 td which is a play toy and as such I don't tend to go to far afield in it. I'm toying with swapping to a freelander, the theory being that if I want to go greenlaning further afield then the freelander will be a lot better to get to the lanes in, more than adequate to do the lanes and a damn site more economical to do the whole trip with. Does that sound about right? Ideally id like a TD4, How capable are they with just a set of A/Ts?
And finally, is it possible to fit seats in the back of a commercial?
Any thoughts or theories would be great, cheers, James

not bad - but body panels are much more expensive to repair.

ground clearance is biggest problem.

I guessed that would be the major problem but there must be people out there who green lane with theirs?

oh yes

Good good. Seen a few videos on YouTube and they seem as capable as I'd expect.
Does anyone know if it's possible to fit rear seats in a commercial? I'd prefer a commercial but occasionally itd be handy to have seats fitted.

Most commercials start life as standard and get converted by a workshop in the factory or by importers. I know somebody who did it with a disco 1 com so would guess that you could with a freelander. You need to change the seat numbers on the log book and tell insurance other wise they get funny if in a accident. The other thing to think about is some people can get very sick in the back of cars with no windows.

The sickness thing had crossed my mind... Maybe some sort of wipe clean flooring is needed!
It'd only be occasional use, we live in the back of beyond and in the winter it'd be handy to be able to chuck the kids in the back should I need to...

I go laning with a mate who uses a freelander and as said ground clearance was his only real problem , he removed back box which helped ! There is also a kit available for raising the suspension a little also do you not have to pay back vat to custom and excise if you convert a commercial

Still think a Disco would be more suitable for your needs.

I've seen that people have fitted a lift kit but that seems to open up all sorts of issues.

Point taken on the disco issue and I am considering it, particularly as I could get a 7 seater which ticks even more boxes. It's just I've never liked the look of a discovery.. Think I'll have a test drive in one to see if that helps change my mind at all

Robbo5833 said:

The sickness thing had crossed my mind... Maybe some sort of wipe clean flooring is needed!
It'd only be occasional use, we live in the back of beyond and in the winter it'd be handy to be able to chuck the kids in the back should I need to...

Click to expand...

If you get the comercial one then the hard top can be changed for the one with rear windows in,

Not exactly where the seats are but may help rear passengers to feel less enclosed in though,

I have the commercial one & was thinking of fitting all the windows in then having them tinted as I think it looks a little better.

Hi there, I go often greenlaning with my Freelander Td4. As said before. ground clearance can be a problem.

https://picasaweb.google.com/108825569965543438716

Robbo5833 said:

I've seen that people have fitted a lift kit but that seems to open up all sorts of issues.

Point taken on the disco issue and I am considering it, particularly as I could get a 7 seater which ticks even more boxes. It's just I've never liked the look of a discovery.. Think I'll have a test drive in one to see if that helps change my mind at all

Click to expand...

Here's mine


2" lift, 225/75/16 mud terrains. Camber correction etc, plus a facelift. Some pics before it was done, it makes a huge difference off road, the face lift bumpers are a little higher and catch less too.

^^^

That looks really good,

How easy is it to fit the camber bolts & where is the best place to get them from?

Robbo5833 said:

Good good. Seen a few videos on YouTube and they seem as capable as I'd expect.
Does anyone know if it's possible to fit rear seats in a commercial? I'd prefer a commercial but occasionally itd be handy to have seats fitted.

Click to expand...

here click the youtube link in post one

http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f13/todays-trip-moors-184086.html


Thats a freelander, it managed alright on the smaller lanes but I wouldn't take one on any of the lanes marked as red, this was a green and yellow rated lane

I've never done any laning as severe as that, most of the lanes around here (the fens) are not much more than rutted tracks around the edge of fields so I'm confident that the freelander would cope. I'm stuck in a catch 22..the freelander is better for covering the miles to these exotic places to green lane, but worse when I get there!

Chrisr45 said:

^^^

That looks really good,

How easy is it to fit the camber bolts & where is the best place to get them from?

Click to expand...

Got mine off eBay. Wheel off remove top mount bolt in hub and replace with camber one! To adjust loosen bottom bolt and turn top one. It has a cam on it that pushes it in and out

Keep the fender and buy a volvo to tow it with ?

A C303 you mean?

No idea on the models haha just meant an estate maybe a V50 its the only one I know