Liftin a Freelander Sport

Yeh I know that again but specifically a sport in this thread as the standard lift must have been done to death by now hehe..

After been nearly arrested going around standard Freelanders in car parks (mainly Tesco lol) with my tape measure I have come to the following conclusion.

I am going straight for the bearmach 2" lift kit and not fitting standard suspension first. On paper the standard suspension should give me an extra inch (ooh what a difference an inch would make ) but I would loose the superior handling of the sport which is one of the reasons I bought it in the first place. I was willing to sacrifice that for the extra inch and was about to bid on some used 04 suspension units on ebay.

On measuring I have found that the standard Freelander , on average, is only 1/2" taller than my sport. Centre hub to wheel arch on my sport is 17" and the standard should be just under 18" but in practice they soon seem to sag. I guess this is cos they have softer suspension than the stiffer sport so a used set could be a waste of money and effort plus the car would not drive as well.

A new set with the handling characteristics of the sport would need to be konis or monroe units at £450 plus £200 for the springs then £200 for the lift kit. £650 for the extra inch is too expensive and to be honest would it make a noticeable difference ? so I guess am going for the lift kit only.

Any other thoughts from someone who may have raised the ride height of a Sporty Freelander...

I suppose I could stick to using my old series 2a but if there were more than 3 cars in a Tesco car park the series isn't manoeuvrable enough to park hehe..I jest but actually thats true DOH.

cheers

are the shocks not the same between the "sport" and a standard freelander, and its just the springs they change to give a difrent ride height and stiffer feel????

without soundin funny, you obviously liked the "sport" look when you bought it, so for the sake of an inch or two, why fook about with it:doh:

why u wanna lift it?

yea, the whole point i got my sport was for the handling, ride comfort etc..

lifting the suspension will raise the cars center of gravity i think and it will loose its great handling the sport is known for.

thats the problem i found with my old l series freelander, too high center of gravity and soft suspension made it a very wobbly ride and CR@P handling.

I had my fun with my old landy greenlaning and off roading, i wouldnt dream of taking my sport off road ! lol its too nice for that

If yer want to lift it, why not just buy bigger tyres? As long as they don't hit the wheel arches...

I think the arms are shorter on the sport models, or something like that. Someone on here will be able to correct this if it's crap.

caravan doctor said:

are the shocks not the same between the "sport" and a standard freelander, and its just the springs they change to give a difrent ride height and stiffer feel????

without soundin funny, you obviously liked the "sport" look when you bought it, so for the sake of an inch or two, why fook about with it:doh:

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Nope, the shocks are shorter unfortunately, well according to suppliers who I spoke to who stock both models and I managed to go and compare them. If anyone knows any different then that would be an easy mod but I have been told different.

MMM, I have never liked the look of any lowered Land Rover, to me it defeats the reason to have one and that is to go off road but I want one that will also handle well on winding lanes. I need to drive on un-made up roads for reasons other than playing and drive 2000 miles a month on lanes so that rules out my series 2a. My Range Rover was too heavy on juice and a pig to park and rolled on corners even with uprated suspension. My disco chassis rotted too bad I gave up welding it.
My requirements are.
No chassis to rot, Comfort, economy, great road manners, off road capability but not a mud plugger, easy to park in congested car parks and must be a Land Rover.

SO far the Freelander meets all these requirements but I keep knocking bits off the underside in my woods so it makes sense to get it as high as possible within a reasonable budget.

I already have 2 sets of wheels for the freelander.

I guess the Freelander 2 would be my ideal vehicle but it's too costly for a work vehicle for me at the moment.

If you are wanting to keeping the ride 'sporty' then surely messing about with Shocks and Springs is likely to fook that up for you? I'd go with the idea of bigger tyres. Get some steel rims and put deepest tyre on you can fit. If am not mistaken from reading other threads, putting on 15" steel rims gives a wider choice of tyre to fit and you can probably get the 2" lift you are looking for that way and keep the same ride.

Skynet said:

If you are wanting to keeping the ride 'sporty' then surely messing about with Shocks and Springs is likely to fook that up for you? I'd go with the idea of bigger tyres. Get some steel rims and put deepest tyre on you can fit. If am not mistaken from reading other threads, putting on 15" steel rims gives a wider choice of tyre to fit and you can probably get the 2" lift you are looking for that way and keep the same ride.

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I have, as per one of my previous posts, have a set of steelies on her with meaty tyres. Ya can have a sporty ride without looking like a slug , freelander 2 for example. If Land Rover had fitted that suspension to the Freelander 1 then problem solved but they designed the standard suspension on the 1 for grannies and the sport for drug dealers but luckily with imagination it can be changed. Thats not the issue..........

Aaaah I missed that line among the others

Dave, Like the idea of your 4x4 response, I have been covering that duty up here with my series during the snow rescuing the Post van and taking the nurse to remote farms. Another reason to lift the Freelander, got her belly stuck on a pile of frozen snow I thought she would plough through had to go back for the series and pull her out, another 2" would have made all the difference, funny the wife keeps telling me that as well !

Are you a member of your local team H?

For those that don't know we get 3rd party cover and mileage costs when working on a dedicated task. Even if you come across someone stuck and decide to help, calling the Duty controller to let them know what you are doing gets you 3rd party cover just in case

I'd recommend anyone who enjoys their 4x4 and likes to help out joins what has become a nationwide organisation over the last 2 years.

http://www.4x4response.info

Skynet said:

Are you a member of your local team H?

National 4x4 Response

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No Dave, I didn't know they existed. Local folks know I have always a landy or 2 knocking about and give me a call if they get stuck. I'll track them down.

Cheers

Paul