may not be popular... lowering a FL1

so, actually tried the baby seat in my Rover 45 tonight (due in 2 weeks!) and it only fits if you're amputated below the lungs...

So, in the next month, going to be buying my first Freelander - only interested in an early L series diesel, so assuming FL1 is the right name for it? (still VERY new to freelanders as a whole)


But anyway, as the most offroading this will do, involves a slightly muddy driveway, I'm going to have some fun with it.


The wife's already insisted on it going matt black, and we both love ratty cars. So a slight drop may well suit the look we're after. Is there anything either off the shelf, or a parts-bin shared that I can rob either struts with lower seat springs, or springs that will give a lower ride height?

Any insight would be appreciated

As the usual trick is to raise them you might have to make it up s you go along

also intending on building an attachment that means the prop can be joined/disengaged at the flick of a switch.

FWD for normal pootling around, flick the switch for offroading/etc. Will massively extend the life of the VCU

Failing that, replacing the VCU with a solid link, removing the front driveshafts, and going permanent rwd. Just to be different.

Why?. Have you not heard the term "you can't make a silk purse out of a Pigs ear"?

Pikey said:

Why?. Have you not heard the term "you can't make a silk purse out of a Pigs ear"?

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Yer only sore cos your mobile shed collapsed around yer..

DastardlyDan said:

also intending on building an attachment that means the prop can be joined/disengaged at the flick of a switch.

FWD for normal pootling around, flick the switch for offroading/etc. Will massively extend the life of the VCU

Failing that, replacing the VCU with a solid link, removing the front driveshafts, and going permanent rwd. Just to be different.

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good luck - its been tried before - and insurance companies dont like it

DastardlyDan said:

also intending on building an attachment that means the prop can be joined/disengaged at the flick of a switch.

FWD for normal pootling around, flick the switch for offroading/etc. Will massively extend the life of the VCU

Failing that, replacing the VCU with a solid link, removing the front driveshafts, and going permanent rwd. Just to be different.

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When yer buys an L series yer buying an old car which was made before 2001. Yer would be betterer to save yer money and fix things yer may find which need fixed, rather than splashing money at daft ideas.

If yer really want to go 2wd remove the props/vcu and go front wheel drive only.

Read this:

http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f9/what-lock-freelanders-163164.html

Has Spirit got a new log in name?…

I looked into this with the turbo

There is a set of off the shelf springs that lower it 30 mm, but make no differentiation between petrol and diesel, or auto/manual. Bear in mind that a 1.8 with manual box, will weigh around 120kg less on the front axle over an auto TD4/KV6, I can't see how they will lower a 1.8 at all

You may have a bit more luck starting with the heavy diesel lump though

Is the freelander sport not fitted with different / lower shocks / springs will these not be a fairly straight forward swap ?

It takes all sorts ......

Hippo said:

When yer buys an L series yer buying an old car which was made before 2001. Yer would be betterer to save yer money and fix things yer may find which need fixed, rather than splashing money at daft ideas.

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oh don't worry - most of my "daft ideas" tend to be quite off the wall. And sometimes they work out rather well too:


Also building a twin turbo kit for my Rover 45, and this poor Freelander will have a centrifugal supercharger of my own design fitted to it

Can't you just cut the springs to lower them?

I'm a Degree qualified automotive Engineer.... I'd rather cut my toes off than cut springs

There was an episode of wheeler dealers where they had bespoke springs made for a mini Moke. The cost seemed fairly reasonable if I remember correctly, maybe source the company and have a chat (was British luckily).

There is nothing wrong with cutting springs - how do you think they get made in the first place?

As long as you bear in mind that shortening a given length of spring will raise the spring rate, there is no issue.

If you still dont want to, there are hundred of alternative springs out there, its just a case of finding one that fits your needs, or getting them made. The problem is more likely to be one of damper length and being very near the bottom of a stock dampers travel at the ride height you want. You might find some other models as mentioned above have slightly different ride heights, but at most you will MAYBE lower it by 30mm, which will be hardly noticeable. If you want it properly low, you will have to find different struts.
Alternatively Ebay is full of basic kits to convert normal Macpherson struts into coilovers, assuming you are able to weld. Search for Raceland coilover kits.


If you really want dis-enageable 4x4, then look at the dog box on the back of an old Fiat panda 4x4 gearbox - its a simple lever-enaged system that is very compact and if you made up a mounting plate to seal the open face where it fits to the original panda gearbox and welded on splines from a dead VCU you could fit it in place of the VCU. Personally, I think its more hassle than its worth and a working 4x4 system is actually pretty good as long as its looked after. Its a hell of a lot of work and potential failure points to re-engineer something when £200 for a recon VCU every 5 years as a precaution will leave you pretty much completely trouble free.

If you want something different, go RWD. Im not sure, but reckon it would be actually quite easy - weld up the VCU to lock it solid, then gut the front drive shafts. You would have to leave the inner ends of the shafts in the gearbox to keep the oil in it and the outer ends in the hubs to hold the wheel bearings together, but with the actual shaft removed at the joints it should work fine. I would expect increased stress on the IRD though since all torque would be going through the rear drive pinion instead of being shared between front and rear as normal.
Dont expect to be the Drift King though, and L-series just isnt going to have the power for that kind of thing, and its an open diff on the rear.


Good luck with it - it would make a nice change to see something different around here. Expect 95% of other forum users to ridicule it though - thats the problem with single marque forums - if you dont conform to the forum ideal (in this case, 40mm lift kit, lots of spotlights and BFG tyres) people are not interested.

the downside with chopping springs is threefold:

1) you end up with the wrong shape seat, so there's a very high chance they'll come unseated

2) if you jack the wheel up, the spring can be cut too short, so there's no spare length to keep the spring seated.

3) springs are only rated to hold the weight of the vehicle - once you start going stiffer, you massively reduce roadholding ability (which flies in the face of what everyone's "heard down the pub") and comfort.


Only after a max of a 50mm drop, I still want to be able to drive it over UK roads :lol: I've owned a silly-low car before.. it was a pain to park, as you couldn't go anywhere near a kerb!



Note: this had no cut springs, or bumpstops/etc,. I swapped out the suspension for 306 struts, including 30mm lowered springs.


As for the RWD setup, I get quite a few parts machined, so sneaking in a splined shaft or two is no biggie. I'd prefer to simply unbolt the VCU, and fit a new shaft. Less to go wrong Good call on the panda setup - very similar to what I was planning, using parts from an LT230 centre diff. Instead of locking the centre diff, I'll simply use it to lock onto the centre shaft

EDIT: Thinking about it... may as well fit the dog gear section on the VCU. Why make life hard for myself?


And power from the L is easy. I'll be swapping the 10mm head for an earlier 11mm head - the freelander pump actually has the strongest case out of the 4 variants fitted to L series, so it's an idea starting point for me. Here's the dyno plot of one of the hybrid turbos I've sold, fitted to an MGZR L series


181Bhp - a peak of 212Bhp has been achieved by someone else too, but we're working together to beat that by an extreme margin.


And I'm used to ridicule - most Rover owners don't "get" why I do half the things I do :lol:

DastardlyDan said:

oh don't worry...

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Problem is I do worry about people who try to do daft things. Especially when they're daft and/or unsafe.

Reading back through this fred...

• you have a new child on the way
• you admit yer new to Freelanders
• you don't own a Freelander yet - probably best you don't
• you want to lower a Freelander - there's no point to buying a high vehicle and lowering it
• you want it to be matt black - re-spray I assume
• you want electrically operated connection to rear wheels - available on Freelander 2
• you would be happy with rear wheel drive only - stress will kill the ird after a while so go front wheel drive instead, as said before
• you want to super charge an L series with yer own design - I assume yer gonna upgrade the brakes etc. You would be betterer off in a Freelander 2 with SD4 engine if you want power
• your a Degree qualified automotive Engineer - you earn enough to buy a Freelander 2 rather than mess with converting safe designed vehicles to unsafe
• you admit to owning a lowered vehicle before, and the periles of it - confirms it's a daft idea so why do it again
• your used to ridicule - LZ will give you plenty of this.

This is the bit where I should start a flame war. But I'm not going to. Your either on ere to wind us up with ideas which are knowingly daft, unsafe and not something anyone in the Freelandering world would ever do or want to do, or dreaming.

May I suggest you buy a safe car and don't do any mods to it. It will be a safer ride for you and yer new family.

I will now unsubscribe from this fred. It's a load of crap.

some people like something known as a "challenge"



Also:
I stated I only wanted a 50mm drop at most. Not the 100mm+ drop of my old 406. Just to bring it slightly closer to the ground, not to be scraping the sump on the floor. If I wanted an offroader, I'd buy a Discovery, not a Freelander...

The respray will be a lovely, tatty, rattle-can job. Much like some of my previous cars.

Electrically, OR cable. Cable looks to be the way forwards with the parts I can easily get.


And I can see you're one of the people who assume if you have an engine with 10000000bhp, then of course, you're obviously going to drive like a lunatic, and need race-spec brakes, etc, etc. I'll still be driving like a grandad, but being able to overtake nicely on the motorway makes a car much nicer to drive.

I like the L series, and the early Freelander is the last of Rover models I've to own which came with this engine (excluding the Rover 600, which is similar enough to the R45 for me to not be worried about missing out on anything)




I'd also love to know, how swapping 4wd to 2wd, makes a vehicle "unsafe", when possibly 20% of all freelanders have the propshaft removed anyway. Actual proof, not anecdotal "my m8 did thiz, an he dieded"








But I digress

forgot to unsubscribe. :doh: I won't this time.

I didn't say conversion from 4wd to 2wd was unsafe. So stop being silly by calling me out online to provide proof. The fact is 4wd and 2wd in a Freelander does feel different. 2wd has an impact on cornering. If you want proof on this drive one in 2wd and 4wd when cornering. No arguments do it. 2wd requires a softer approach to driving. Especially corning.

The bit I find unsafe is messing with suspension. Untested suspension changes concern me. I don't have proof of this and don't know anyone who has died. But then again if you watch the news enough you'll see many road accidents where modified vehicles were involved. If you read the summery of the court you'll see that often a modification is the cause. The modification not being up to standard. This is true of tv police programs where they visit a crash and follow up the story at the end with a summery of police/court action taken due to vehicle defects. Defects caused by mods. It's these mods I don't like and consider unsafe.

What ever you do stay safe. Don't ferget to tell yer insurance too.

I haven't forgotten this time.

Weird one this, because whilst proof hasn't been offered regarding any specific examples of modified cars, it's quite easily obtainable to suggest that unmodified vehicles are dangerous, and I do know people who have been killed or seriously injured in such death-traps. In fact they can be searched by the hundreds.

I don't have proof of this and don't know anyone who has died.

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That's that then.

I haven't forgotten this time.

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Really that ought to have been done from the start - though why anyone needs to know beats me. if you've nothing nice to say and all then as we all know it's good manners to remove yourself from discussion but it needs no commentary.

I don't want to be rude in my own right but the last few posts of what is just a hypothetical idea have been painful reading - 'if you dont like it just go - don't post that you're going' crikey.

I myself live on the principle that sometimes you gotta do things that seem daft to make progress. Forums are great because knowledgable people can comment on specifics (and if there is a health and safety reason for not doing xyz it's a good way to find out!), but any criticism really needs to be , you know, of substance.

Hope the OP gives it a go anyway.