I cut the fuel tank cradle flat plates out of a couple of Freelanders and made replacements out of 2 or 3mm alloy (Not sure which)
https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/freelander-project-iii-audrey.299738/page-4#post-3746921

Does the rust eat the cradle away from the outside, or is it moisture that works its way in between it and the tank and stays there?

GrumpyGel said:

Does the rust eat the cradle away from the outside, or is it moisture that works its way in between it and the tank and stays there?

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Just been outside looking at it and pondering my next step. Looks like it's been attacked from above, moisture, and below, road salt. Looks worse on the photo than it actually is. The main tubes are intact, most of the flaky bits you can see is the underseal peeling off. The thin steel cradle is a bit worse for wear, but also @Alibro suggests, a plate of alloy and a hammer will sort that.
Main problem is me being @rsed to do it. It's been so hot here for the last 6 weeks and humid, it's saps any motivation in 5 minutes. Just doing the brakes this morning had me sweating buckets, and I'm a skinny git. And there's more hot weather coming, I'm English, I don't do hot

Mike

Sold it




For many reasons.




I may return in the future.




Thank you for all your help. It has been appreciated.



I will drop by every now and then to dish out my normal bad advice

Cheers
Mike

NO! This can't be possible.

Did you leave yourself logged in and someone's posted this fake news?

Am sorry to hear of yer loss

Skinny Mike said:

Sold it




For many reasons.




I may return in the future.




Thank you for all your help. It has been appreciated.



I will drop by every now and then to dish out my normal bad advice

Cheers
Mike

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Aw Skinny, don't be leaving us like that. Come back and be as stupid as the rest of us.

It's been fun having you around Mike.
I'm sure you'll be missed by many on here. 9 years is a long time on a forum, which makes you one of the regulars.
Good luck with whatever the future brings.

So, I hear you all shout (or not!)
What are you driving around in now to replace the tremendous Freelander.
Erm,
This:


Stop laughing.
A mighty Mitsubishi Mirage? What, never heard of it, not surprised really. It's the replacement for the good old Colt.

Bad points:
Numb steering
Minimal sound proofing ( to keep it light)
Two wheel drive
Can be a bit crashy on bad roads.

Good points
Currently averaging 65 mpg, yes really.
Auto wipers
Auto lights
Digital climate control
Comfortable seats and driving position
Cost under £5K
Doesn't rattle or clonk
Zero road tax

The Freelander at last communication was being readied to ship to Africa for its new life. This might change if the fella gets offered more cash for it.

If my situation had been different, I'd have taken the Freelander off the road to sort it out, I worked out I could fix everything for around a grand. But I don't have the time, space or inclination at the mo.
Still have the Jeep, so 4 wheel drive fun is still an option.
Give it a few years and I'll probably be looking at another off roader. Will it be a Land Rover? Dunno really. I think I need some time away from the green oval, get my enthusiasm back up.
Needless to say I'll drop in every now and then. But if for some reason you think I'm the only one who can answer a query (doubtful) drop me a PM and I'll attempt to answer.
Cheers again
Mike

Sorry Mike, I can't hit the Like button even if it does to 65mpg. Alcohol free beer doesn't give a headache, but you don't drink it

Sad day indeed - but don’t be a stranger!

Sorry Mike, my Mrs wouldn't drive that thing.


How the mighty have fallen poor boy.

What's wrong with yer Freelander?

Hippo said:

What's wrong with yer Freelander?

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Well what happened was:

Had a knocking noise from the rear. On closer inspection it was the rear offside drive shaft and the diff dif chucking it's oil everywhere, so no big deal me thinks, new shaft and oil seals and think about taking the diff to bits and rebuild it.

Then on a drive home from work I turned a sharp right and the rear of the car skipped a few times. Eek, bugger, me thinks, so limped it home and parked up. Went out to check and after a few tests, yes you've guessed it, the VCU was rapidly dying. And as an encore the diff now sounded like a bag of spanners.
So drive shaft, diff rebuild, oil seals, new diff mounts, VCU and bearings. At this point I'm losing the will to live (there's other stuff going on that won't get discussed here)
Then I'm thinking if I'm going to do it I might as well do the rest what's waiting to be sorted, bottom arms and bushes, front shocks and top mounts.
It then became apparent that the car would have to be sorned while I did all this and I'd have to buy something else to drive around in.
At this point the other issue was taking most of my spare time up, and the cost/time involved to fix the Freelander plus somewhere to store it and do the work put the last nail in the coffin and the decision was made to sell it on.
Sad really, had it around 14ish years, lots of memories in that car. But sometimes you have to make cr@ppy decisions.
So I'm now driving a toaster for the foreseeable future.
Things will turn out ok, they usually do given time.
You never know, they might have sorted out a hydrogen powered 4x4 by then, now that'd be a laugh

Cheers
Mike