Freelander Off Road Capability?

[mc_blue]

Hi all, I've come by a 2002 Land Rover Freelander TD4 Auto 3 Door. Considering my options on if I should sell it on or use it in our fleet as a 4x4 vehicle? It would be required to do roadside assistance in snowy conditions for which I suspect it would be good enough? We also do work where vehicles are stuck in fields/have been burnt out or have been abandoned. How good is a Freelander Auto in these conditions for light 4x4 use? The biggest vehicle it would have to pull would be something like a burnt out MPV or 4x4.

Many thanks

[CraigVmax]

I'm sure it would cope well, you'd need decent tyres for the conditions and probably a winch but as long as its sound then they are very capable cars.

[mc_blue]

CraigVmax - Thanks for your reply. Do you have much experience of them/know much about them mechanically.

Would have to spend some money on kitting it out for roadside assistance so don't want to waste my time really.

[sunbeam_alpine]

I think you might find it at bit on the light side for what you want to do.

I've got a Discovery and I get a Freelander from the garage each time I put it in for service.

I don't think the Freelander has got any of the more serious aids for traction in difficult conditions (diff locks, low box etc.). I try not to use it too hard off road - we've got other 4x4's - and if the garage was closer to home I probably wouldn't bother with a replacement.

I spend a lot of time on mud - I'm an agricultural contractor. I'm currently running tracked combine harvesters to harvest maize, and at the moment we're having to "push" them using a big tractor and a long iron bar!!

Edit: Just re-read your post. Roadside assistance in snow would be fine, towing out of fields might be a bit more difficult.

Edited by sunbeam_alpine on Tuesday 23 November 19:53

[miniman]

It's as much to do with the ability of the driver as the vehicle itself, IMHO.

I recently helped a mate try to extricate his wife's horsebox from a muddy field. We were armed with a tractor and a massive chain and we managed to dig two trenches in the ground and snap the chain, whilst the truck (an 7.5t Iveco freezer wagon) stayed resolutely stuck in the mud.

We then summoned our mate the recovery contractor, expecting him to turn up in some large behemoth with a big winch. In fact, he arrived in an old Discovery 200TDI with a rope and proceeded to pluck the Iveco gracefully out of the mud in around 30 seconds.

[CraigVmax]

I misread or had some sort of brainfreeze.. I thought you said discovery.. My mistake sorry. I think tyres will still be v important though..assuming you go for it. I dont think fl as capable as i disco though as has been said.

[mc_blue]

Thanks guys. What I'm going to do is test it in the yard with different vehicles this week and see how it performs. We will either sell it on and get something like a Disco if it is lacking or failing that keep it and use it when we're stuck.

Are the mechanically okay? The engine is the same as in the BMW 320d AFAIK.

[A.J.M]

Ive an 04 3 door manual td4, did last winter in central scotland with plenty of snow.

Had no real issues with it, tyres were pretty worn though so just needed to be careful. The HDC is very useful for keeping speed down and the traction control system is very handy.
Did 16 tows over the winter from, a mk4 fiesta to a transit van. No issues with any of them but steep hills were interesting to start off and keep momentum on. Better tyres would help this.

I have 225/55/17 michelin synchrones on mine. They are mud and snow rated.

You should be fine for towing on roads with it but getting stuff out of fields may be harder, will be down to driver and the tyres you have fitted.

[300bhp/ton]

mc_blue said:

Hi all, I've come by a 2002 Land Rover Freelander TD4 Auto 3 Door. Considering my options on if I should sell it on or use it in our fleet as a 4x4 vehicle? It would be required to do roadside assistance in snowy conditions for which I suspect it would be good enough? We also do work where vehicles are stuck in fields/have been burnt out or have been abandoned. How good is a Freelander Auto in these conditions for light 4x4 use? The biggest vehicle it would have to pull would be something like a burnt out MPV or 4x4.

Many thanks

The Freelander is a bit of a mixed bag tbh.

Downsides are IRS/IFS so it is very easy to lift a wheel off the ground and you don't get the flex of a live axle setup.

Lower ground clearance.

Lack of low range.


However, in the world of soft roaders it has very good wheel articulation, adequate ground clearance and in the case of an auto Td4 you will actually have some form of low speed control without burning out the clutch.

What will make the real difference is if it has TCS. While not as good as real diff lockers it will help to keep all the wheels spinning when one lifts off the ground or loses traction.

This means that in some conditions a TCS equipped Freelander can actually be better than a non TCS Discovery or Defender, such as wet grass or snow.

The IFS/IRS also mean better ground clearance under the diffs, so less drag in deep snow compared to a live axle vehicle and a smoother underside so less to get caught up on.

Not sure what the towing weight is for a Freelander, but suspect it'd be fine mostly.


My advice would be to fit some sipped mud terrains and a 1" spring spacer lift.

[A.J.M]

Towing weight is 2 tons but mine has shifted closer to 4 tons for a short distance.

If you get one, the TD4 EGR valve is best removed and a blanking kit fitted, easily the best mod ive done to mine!

Front sump guard is plastic and can be damaged easily, the plastic part can be removed and a steel section welded in place as the outer frame is aluminium and i had one on mine till a garage nicked it.

Ive never tried this but if you have a wheel in the air spinning, would lightly holding the brake pedal help stop it spinning and let you drive onwards if the traction control couldnt fully help you?
300bhp, im guessing you may know the answer to this, havnt taken my freeby off road in over a year as there are no places in scotland for it in my area but i got stuck once last winter with the above problem. 1 wheel in a shallow ditch, 2 on the slushy grassy muddy side and 1 sticking in the air, couldnt get out of it by reversing or trying to drive forward. Black ice on hill is bad.