Hippo the OE bearings are in a much stronger housing and they have a thick rubber insulator. Your pictures show this well. I believe you can press out the bearings and just take the number and renew the bearings from a bearing supplier. I think the reason the cheap sets are noisy is that they do...

I'm not quite sure what you are asking. The XeDi I think came as standard with 15inch wheels but 16inch was an option. Obviously if you have 15inch wheels you have to fit 15inch tyres. On both new XeDi I have owned, I specified the 16inch wheels and tyre option with 215/65 x HR16. The thing to...

The VCU damper is there to try to smooth out some of the torsional vibration probably caused by hookes joints (universal joints). It is simply a heavy metal band attached by a rubber diaphragm which is bolted onto the VCU. When the rubber perishes the metal band starts to move about and causes...

I also replaced my VCU bearings and within 3k miles they have started to make a similar whirring noise at any speed up to 50mph. Above that I don't notice it. I am (almost) convinced that the reason is because I bought the cheap VCU bearings which don't have the rubber noise insulators like the...

Pre LR being BMW owned that is to say up to 2000my, all hippos with air-con were not fitted with pollen filters. It's in the hand-book.

Yeah thanks for that, they are the ones I bought. The price is a bit of a giveaway when compared with the real thing. If you want to do the job once, do it properly!:o

:mad: Here is a sorry tale. I had a knocking sound on the transmission and decided my VCU bearings were breaking up. Anyway, I ordered the parts and stripped off the propshafts. After some days work! I finally separated the shafts (badly seized) and removed the bearings which were terminally...

What about the Michelin Latitude Cross? It's quite a new tyre. Don't know much about it apart from reading reviews on other sites. It is advertised as a third generation tyre better and quieter than Synchrones. I expect it to be expensive and have good wear characteristics. I am getting 40k+...

I had the same problem with an early XEDI in 1998. I was away on business and shut the door with the keys in the ignition. As I watched it locked itself! Everything including my phone and wallet was in the car. I resisted temptation to break the window. In those days nobody knew much about...

On pre 2001 doozels (L-series) If you have aircon you don't have a pollen filter. It says so in the hand book somewhere. I well remember catching two different main dealers who tried to charge me and friends for changing non-existent pollen filters! Happyhippo

Yep! quite a common problem. The water drips in through the screw holes which hold the plated metal trim. The design of the trim tends to pools water round the screws which leak. I sealed mine with clear silicone and cured the problem. The black plastic rear window trim is more of a problem. To...

OK depends on what the load is. If being pulled out use a shackle! Lashing eyes are not the same as the towing rings on a freelander. lashing eyes on the sub frame should never be used but the towing rings were designed for recovery.

You are supposed to use the towing eyes in the bumpers front and back. Rumour has it that you can suspend the whole vehicle from these if you had to!:) I attach a carabiner to these and pass the rope or strop through that. I wouldn't use the tow hitch which is designed for a relatively light...

Water in the boot locker is a constantly reappearing thread. I can't speak for all ingress but can tell you all how I cured mine. I bought my 2000my hippo new it is the second one I have owned. The first had the same problem but I never got to the bottom of where the water came in. After...

You're right! Also the metal trim is designed in such a way that it channels water to the screws which fit into a polythene fixing and are therefore not water tight. I have done the silicone sealing bit on the screws and am now puzzling how to get the side trims back on. I ordered new side trim...

I can't tell you where the water is getting into your boot locker, but I can tell you how it got into mine. The water runs down the rear door seal and can run into the inside about 300mm from the floor wher it touches the plastic trim. Just seal that with silicone. ANother place is underneath...

Some help required from those who know more about body work and trim than do I. After eventually curing water ingress into the underfloor locker and everything remaining bone dry in the worst downpours (thats another story!) I was dismayed to find water dripping in, through the headlining...

I had a complete exhaust (from downpipe back) for my L-series diesel supplied in stainless and made to measure on the car by Longlife for £300. This was a couple of years ago. I got them to improve the clearance for off roading and removed the cat (not required for MoT). There was an immediate...

here is a picture of the offending items. I have pointed the way forwards! Sorry about the quality but its good enough to see the details. Make sure the vcu bearings are set square to the axis of the propshaft before tightening bolts. good luck!:) happyhippo

As to why would you buy an L-series the answer to that my friend, is that there was no such thing as a TD4 in March 2000, when I bought it. Its the second L-series freelander I've owned making a total of 150k trouble free miles covered. Its needed some preventative maintenance but never let me...