Max Load in back of freelander?

Hi, hopefuly some one may be able to help me, i've phoned a land rover dealer and they couldn't...
Basicially does any one have any idea what weight i can carry in the rear of my freelander TD4 on an 03 plate (5 door).
I want to move a very heavy battery back up system from south of london to nottingham. My plan is to drop back seats and load it in back. There would be me and prob 1 front seat passanger, then the load in the back is about 550kg (just over half ton). Will my car carry this with out snapping? any help or advice would be much appriciated. Thanks, chris.

how you getting in?forklift?Wouldnt you be better off with a trailer?

your freeby should carry this easily, but i'd totally remove the rear seats for the journey if i was you, just to make sure. 550kg's is just like 5 really fat or well built people. So, it's just like another 3 large people in the back, plus a couple of 100kg suitcases full of extra large clothes!

I suppose.

Actually though, after just reading goonarmys post, i'd use a trailer too.

loading it could be interesting depending on size etc

Mine is registered at a maximum load of 500kg. So I'd put it in a trailer as well...

Lol. Yer i guess your right. It comes to bits, basically its a metal case then 8 seperate batterys weighing around 60kg each so my plan was to put the case in, then drop the batterys back in it. Think we should manage it between 2 of us. should be a 3rd man avaiable where i'm picking up from too if were struggleing to much.
Yer, i know what u mean, i looked at a trailer but i'd have to hire one and can't really afford it so figured if they'd go it the car ok i may as well go for that option.
so we think it should be fine with that weight then? Thanks again, Chris.

hummm, just read that last post from cmdr_keen. oooh, maybe to much then? guess i could lose my front seat passanger and check there will be some one to help me there, still 50kg over though. I could take the back seats out completely, they must weigh getting on for 50kg??

I reckon you'd be ok, the back seats weigh about 50kg so take them out and you'll just be in the max weight. I've had no back seats for six months now and they do weigh a fair bit.

Mine doesn't have back seats. It's a van conversion. But this is the max load on the licence. So if it's just 50kg, you'll probably be ok...

Keep the weight as far forward as you can so it has some impact on the front axle load as well and it should be OK. Consider using some wooden bearers or 3/4" ply to spread the load on the seatbacks if you don't remove them.

strangely enough, unless the rules have changed, if it's the car version, there's not a lot plod can do unless it's severely loaded to the point of being dangerous to drive.

with vans and so on, they can pull the "off to the weighbridge trick".

a while ago, on road wars or similar, they pulled a rover 400 on the motorway that was obviously way overloaded, and recovered him to the weighbridge. Turns out he had well over a ton of slates in the boot and back seat. but because there was no plated weight, the best they could do was give him a warning.

LOL. I like that story, yer it is the car version. If a rover 400 managed a ton i shouldn't have any thing to worry about. I might get 7 or 8 people to sit in back of car (if they'll fit) and see how it sits. so do we think if it looks ok (sits about right and not on suspention bump stops) it'll be fine to drive a few hundred miles? Thank you all again for the advice and input. Cheer's, chris.

I would also up the tyre pressure a bit as it is for a specific journey, about 5psi should be enough. Don't forget to drop it after. It reduces the tendancy for the sidewalls to get hot.

FL1 is a superb load lugger,

It will take this weight no problem and handle much better than a Pretender ever would,

leave the seats in (folded upright) it will give you a bit of bulkhead should you have to brake suddenly on route, dont fancy electrolyte all round the trim

only remove the seats if space is an issue.

In the commercial the cage and plywood would top around 30kgs anyway, so seat weight makes no odds.

It will be sitting on the deck at the rear

Northern Irelander said:

leave the seats in (folded upright) it will give you a bit of bulkhead should you have to brake suddenly on route, dont fancy electrolyte all round the trim

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Good point... brake hard and it would be like fat people with no seatbelts on sitting behind you!

The loadspace area has a capacity of 1400 litres (50 cubic feet) and the vehicle has a payload of 580 kg.
http://www.cwn.org.uk/motoring/rover/press-releases/9905/990505-freelander-commercial.htm

phuckster said:

The loadspace area has a capacity of 1400 litres (50 cubic feet) and the vehicle has a payload of 580 kg.
http://www.cwn.org.uk/motoring/rover/press-releases/9905/990505-freelander-commercial.htm

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Holy thread revival!!
I suspect he may have moved the batteries by now
I also suspect that the batteries mentioned may well have failed in the 6 years.

Nodge68 said:

Holy thread revival!!
I suspect he may have moved the batteries by now
I also suspect that the batteries mentioned may well have failed in the 6 years.

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As the OP has not been on here since 2012, it's probably safe to say he hasn't got the freebie any more!
Mike

Fairly comprehensive answer though. Just a little long in the research