Hi guys, well after buying one fore the wife a couple of months back ive just added number 3 freelander to the fold....
So impressed am I with the td4 auto 54 plate we bought that indeed ive bought myself a 54 plate td4 auto! to replace of all things my Cayenne!
Now ive been looking at her indoors freebie and looking around and have decided (await the moans and groans) for the price ive given for mine im going to play with it... so +2" lift on order... AT's on order, devices style roof rack under prototyping as of the weekend (ill let you know how this goes but there might be 3 door and 5 door versions of this available if it works out)
now comes to the winch so everyone says why does a freelander need a winch well im intending to do a few lanes and overland trecks with some of the off road companies that take the freelanders and am even planning to build a off road camper to tow behind.. but as well as this im going to use it as a utility vehicle around the farmland of which I am lucky enough to occupy (nothing farming) but pulling of trees recovery of vehicles etc so my question standing is do I go to town building a full winch mount into the bumper or do people think more provident to build a receiver hitch into the front and back then the winch could be located at either end...
my concerns are the additional length out of the front and stress in various pulls that would be put on the hitch against having it all built into the structure of the chassis, coupled with the alteration of the approach and departure angles it would create...
Thoughts please anyone, and please keep the buy a defender ones to yourself as they just aren't refined enough for me...

I don't have a winch, but if I did, it would be one that I can store in the back and hook up to points at the front or back when needed.

A picture of the pimped FL would be nice when you've finished it.

if you do a search somebody did a winch conversion for the freelander and they did a good job all hidden behind the front bumper on the face lift freelander as there is more room behind it.

A decent winch weighs nigh on 40 kgs - thats a lot of weight to lug about and line up with a receiver slot. Its also a lot of weight to have to securely strap down in the boot when not in use.
Fit it permanantly and save yourself the hassle.

This guy spent a lot of cash and built up a bracket that he sold for a while.


However, his design holds the entire winch forward of the chassis rails, which allows for some twisting forces when winching at a steep angle hence the need for legs dropping down to the lower mounting points.


It also means it only fits a larger facelift bumper.
His thread is here....
https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/freelander-1-winch-bracket.229747/

I built one out of farm scrap with a budget of about 40pence.


Which sits the winch much further back, almost entirely between the chassis rails meaning it doesnt protrude even with a slimmer pre facelift bumper and minimises twisting forces when pulling at steep angles.




thread here....
https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/budget-winch-mount-build-lot-of-pics.288383/

Exactly the kind of responses I wanted guys... Looks like I'll be going for the fixed option..
Dave with that 13000lb winch on there plus the ironwork do you notice handling issues ? That was my main concern that the weight would upset the handling too much.. Mines the later frontend so I guess I'll have to go for the more forward option otherwise it's not going to line up with my bumper and I won't be able to put my jack points and shackles into it..
Dwalsh pictures not only of this one but the other toy once I get her looking something like will follow...

I dont notice much handling difference, if any. Its an old Freelander on AT tyres, so turn-in is ever going to be pin sharp anyway, but this doesnt seems to have made much of a difference either way.

You could save a lot of weight by using a synthetic rope rather than the steel cable. The cable on mine is 26 meters long and weighs a hell of a lot on its own which is why I unspooled it all when doing the trial fittings in the photos so I wasnt having to lug it up and down.

that's fair enough one of my concerns was lumping best part of 50kgs on the front was that it would just sit down and ride terribly.., im not looking for performance handling (part of the reason for swap from existing car to the freelander was to remove of a substantial performance element as you just can't own a supercar in the UK these days, it spends more time being fixed because the engine isn't getting the booting it needs)but I still want it to turn in and go where I want on the back roads... I think im sold to the idea, plus the 12000lb winches are everywhere and much cheaper than the size I would be looking at as a removable unit.