Freelander 1 Advice for a Freelander Newbie?

Hi all,

My Dad recently got a new car and decided to give me his old 2000 Freelander 1 XEI. After a few days of driving it around, I'm absolutely loving it.

Now I wanted to ask about what people would suggest doing to it. I'd like to take it offroading a bit, nothing extreme, just light offroad driving, but I'm not really sure where to start with it. I also want to make her look a bit meaner, and perhaps get her sounding a bit meaner too. I love the look of some roof bars with lights on, and the protective bars around the front and back of the vehicles look great too. But I'm not really sure what price range to look at or what is worth buying. I also have no idea how to it anything like this, but am super keen to learn and work on this car myself!

I don't have a huge budget so can't break the bank, but is there anything I should maybe start with? Things that won't break the bank, or my freelander lol.

I've uploaded a pic of the Freelander to the post so hopefully people can see it!

P.S - With regards to the roof bars and lights, im not sure how it would work on this model as it has the split sun roof. The back third of the roof also is removable too so im not sure if this would affect anything.

1. One wheel up test of VCU - look up OWUT on here. Ensure tyres are all the same and are kept at same pressure.
2. Good service inc. coolant change. Watch the head gasket on these.

You don’t want to spend money tarting it up for it to break for a preventable reason.

3. Light guards?
4. Front bumper spotlights?
5. Knobbly tyres - BFGs?
6. Lift kit?
7. Modular shiny black steel wheels?

Further to the above comments, you want to make sure its not going to break first...

https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/tests-new-freelander-owners-should-do-on-their-car.312863/

Be careful setting out off-road. What might seam perfectly acceptable to you might upset some people and possibly get yourself into trouble.

Also be careful about those "protective bars around the front and back" of the car - I believe they are probably (quite rightly) illegal in the UK now as they offer no chance of survival if you hit someone, especially a child. So steel "bull bars" may not be an option, however plastric/rubber "A Bars" suit Freelander well.

I'd suggest joining a local LR club - although you might find they poke fun at you for driving a Freelander. Don't worry about that though, they don't usually know that Freelander can be pretty good off road - especially if you put some more off road bias tyres (eg All Terrain AT) and give it a lift (appears 40mm easiest).

You can probably get the std 3 door roof rails from a breakers - remember to get all the screws and fittings with them! For std items they're pretty cool, but don't come far forward for fixing spot lights. Have a google image search for ideas - lots of the links come back to LandyZone pages.

Good luck, and hope you continue to enjoy the Freelander.

Spend all your money on the drive train, i had lots of theses and they are great if maintained correctly . Petrol or diesel no big deal just keep
up with the maintenance.

XEI a petrol K series right?
Pretty much as above: matching tyres and correctly [evenly] inflated. I'd recommend All Terrain [A/T] tyres. One Wheel Up Test [OWUT] to check condition of the VCU. The 1800 K series motor is well know for Head Gasket Failure [HGF] so please keep close eye on the coolant. The coolant tank is prone to crazing / cracking around the neck. Red 'OAT' coolant. Fit a low coolant alarm system - pretty simple to make - info' on here... Replace fluids IRD [transfer box] gear box and rear diff'.

Modifications: A/T tyres will be valuable when off the tarmac. Under armour - a alloy sump protection plate and perhaps another for the rear muffler too. Lifting/ more ground clearance: either replace the springs or fit a lift kit. Sound: a good quality air filter [eg K&N ...] can make for an interesting intake noise but give little or no increase in power performance - £ spent for no gain? - exhaust: smaller back mufflers are available and will help with departure angle / clearance when off the tarmac. Lighting: The st'd head lights are pretty good - new bulbs will make a difference - I use Osram night breakers - an LED light bar on the front bumper? A Dash cam to capture those exciting moments?
Mines a 5 door and you can see some of the things I've done here.

Lots of info' on here if you search. Ask questions, someone will respond and try to help.

FantomFox said:

Hi all,

My Dad recently got a new car and decided to give me his old 2000 Freelander 1 XEI. After a few days of driving it around, I'm absolutely loving it.

Now I wanted to ask about what people would suggest doing to it. I'd like to take it offroading a bit, nothing extreme, just light offroad driving, but I'm not really sure where to start with it. I also want to make her look a bit meaner, and perhaps get her sounding a bit meaner too. I love the look of some roof bars with lights on, and the protective bars around the front and back of the vehicles look great too. But I'm not really sure what price range to look at or what is worth buying. I also have no idea how to it anything like this, but am super keen to learn and work on this car myself!

I don't have a huge budget so can't break the bank, but is there anything I should maybe start with? Things that won't break the bank, or my freelander lol.

I've uploaded a pic of the Freelander to the post so hopefully people can see it!

P.S - With regards to the roof bars and lights, im not sure how it would work on this model as it has the split sun roof. The back third of the roof also is removable too so im not sure if this would affect anything.

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Get shot of it while it's still running !

htr said:

Mines a 5 door and you can see some of the things I've done here.

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That's a great thread @htr

100% agree with @htr - TYRES.

Fit all terrains (AT) to your little Hippo, and you'll stun everyone as to how good it is off road.

I don't know the model structure for the pre-2001 cars, but I guess an XEI will have HDC? In which case, great - it will be a lovely car to punt on the greenlanes of Britain and Europe

For lights... I've thought about it, but I doubt I'd use them very much, and represent quite poor value for money IMO - although if you get the aesthetic you're looking for, that is something that's difficult to put a value on! But frankly, invest in TYRES! (In case I hadn't mentioned it before)

Thanks all for the advice and info, it's very much appreciated! Feel like im learning a lot about Landy's and how vehicles work already!
Just a couple of quick questions, does anyone have any recommendations for where to buy tyres, spots etc? Willing to spend on her but would like to keep the cost down as much as possible at the moment!

FantomFox said:

Thanks all for the advice and info, it's very much appreciated! Feel like im learning a lot about Landy's and how vehicles work already!
Just a couple of quick questions, does anyone have any recommendations for where to buy tyres, spots etc? Willing to spend on her but would like to keep the cost down as much as possible at the moment!

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Glad your enjoying your new toy, I assume your fairly young ( well compared with me anyway ) and your insurance is pretty steep ?
Remember in theory ANY mods you make you should inform your insurers.
Bummer I know as I can remember being young and wanting to customize my horse and cart ! Lol.

FantomFox said:

Thanks all for the advice and info, it's very much appreciated! Feel like im learning a lot about Landy's and how vehicles work already!
Just a couple of quick questions, does anyone have any recommendations for where to buy tyres, spots etc? Willing to spend on her but would like to keep the cost down as much as possible at the moment!

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If they were LR accessories for Freelander (eg roof rails, A Bar, spots, center cubby box etc) a breakers (that specialise in LR) is probably your best bet - but check around on prices and make sure you get all the fixing screws, bolts, brackets, switches, wiring etc. Google/eBay is your friend for finding parts - but you can check back on here to see if any parts you've found look decent/safe/value for money.

Stuart hall said:

Glad your enjoying your new toy, I assume your fairly young ( well compared with me anyway ) and your insurance is pretty steep ?
Remember in theory ANY mods you make you should inform your insurers.
Bummer I know as I can remember being young and wanting to customize my horse and cart ! Lol.

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Early 20's, but insurance isn't too bad. But yeah, better safe than sorry with that stuff!

Hey all, quick update. A buddy and I did the one wheel up test on the Freelander recently to see whether or not the VCU needs replacing. Now from what I was reading online and from what I've seen on videos, you jack a back wheel off the ground (we jacked the rear drivers side), leave the the parking brake off and then try to turn the jacked wheel. If you can turn it - albeit very slowly - then the VCU is okay, and if it won't budge then it's seized and needs replacing. We didn't experience either of these outcomes, instead when we turned the jacked wheel, it span like a bike tyre would. One hand could make the wheel spin freely without much force. The props and VCU are still turning when it spins though. Does this mean that the VCU perhaps isn't seized, but just buggered? Can't seem to find anything online about it!

If that's the only wheel lifted and both bits of the prop and VCU were turning - the IRD has been altered to stop drive to the back axle.

Its how my car is set up as 2WD. When the transmission went 'bang', I rebuilt the IRD but removed 1 of the gears from it so that it doesn't drive the back axle.

Its sometimes done to fool prospective buyers, other times done to get a MOT (or what ever the equivalent is locally). Here in NZ if you remove the props you should really get the car officially "certified" for the change - its a lot cheaper and easier to just remove a gear from the IRD as everything still looks normal underneath then.

GrumpyGel said:

If that's the only wheel lifted and both bits of the prop and VCU were turning - the IRD has been altered to stop drive to the back axle.

Its how my car is set up as 2WD. When the transmission went 'bang', I rebuilt the IRD but removed 1 of the gears from it so that it doesn't drive the back axle.

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Thanks for that, that's something that crossed my mind, but with my mechanics skills being very novice, I wasn't sure! If I wanted to get drive to the back again, would that be a difficult job to do?

Also, rookie question but what does IRD stand for? Could do with reading up on this!

Intermediate reduction drive , there's plenty of videos etc on the interweb .

You will definitely need a new VCU - it was quite likely the reason for the failure, but even if it wasn't, since the "change" the back axle has been turning the rear prop and the VCU has been "engaging" to turn the front prop - that alone will probably kill the VCU if its like it for a length of time. I that's about £270 for a VCU & support bearings.

Then you've got to worry about the IRD itself. It will almost certainly have had "abuse" for the car to be in this position. It may be that when it had the abuse, the owner purchased a recon "2WD IRD" - this would (hopefully) have had all the seals and bearings replaced, but will be missing the crown gear on the pinion and the pinion gear that would drive it will probably have damage. These are the expensive bits in an IRD rebuild. If its not had a recon "2WD IRD" - then you've still got those expensive gears to replace, but also all the bearings and seals - its probably cheaper and ,definitely a lot less hassle, to purchase a recon proper IRD - that's about £720 (assuming they take a 2WD one as exchange.

Then you've got to hope the rear diff is in decent condition and hasn't been damaged to - they're another £420.

So you could be looking at £1,300.

Did your dad have work done to or replace the IRD?

GrumpyGel said:

You will definitely need a new VCU - it was quite likely the reason for the failure, but even if it wasn't, since the "change" the back axle has been turning the rear prop and the VCU has been "engaging" to turn the front prop - that alone will probably kill the VCU if its like it for a length of time. I that's about £270 for a VCU & support bearings.

Then you've got to worry about the IRD itself. It will almost certainly have had "abuse" for the car to be in this position. It may be that when it had the abuse, the owner purchased a recon "2WD IRD" - this would (hopefully) have had all the seals and bearings replaced, but will be missing the crown gear on the pinion and the pinion gear that would drive it will probably have damage. These are the expensive bits in an IRD rebuild. If its not had a recon "2WD IRD" - then you've still got those expensive gears to replace, but also all the bearings and seals - its probably cheaper and ,definitely a lot less hassle, to purchase a recon proper IRD - that's about £720 (assuming they take a 2WD one as exchange.

Then you've got to hope the rear diff is in decent condition and hasn't been damaged to - they're another £420.

So you could be looking at £1,300.

Did your dad have work done to or replace the IRD?

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All doom n gloom eh G lol, expensive things these motor cars !

A

Stuart hall said:

All doom n gloom eh G lol, expensive things these motor cars !

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Also guess your quote doesn't include labour ? So all in all five times the vehicles value !