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The anticipation was killing me. The UPS guy is my best friend. The
neighbors think I'm nuts. My girlfriend, well- she might think it but she
doesn't say it. It's just difficult to explain to someone who doesn't have
a Freelander just how addicting it is. Luckily Brian is just as crazy as I
am. When I ordered my lift from the kind people at DAP, they informed me
there was only one left after mine. Brian jumped on it and the rest is
history.
I started mine on Saturday, then Sunday we did Brian's Green '02 S. The
weather wasn't looking too good but I just couldn't stand the wait. Here's
how it went:
 First
off, you must remove the interior panels from the rear. There are
a half dozen or so Torx screws on the rear sill. Unbolt the seat
belt anchors with a large torx bit. The sill cover pops off and
then the side panels pull out. The worst part of this is that is
sounds as if you are destroying them, but all is well… just be
careful. In the photo below, you'll see that the strut top is easy
to reach. If you don't have the trailer tow kit, you won't have
the black box on the right side. |
Next is the fun (dirty) part. Raise the rear of the vehicle and support
it with jack stands. Remove the wheels and set under the vehicle. If for
some reason the vehicle shifts and topples the jack stands, the wheels
lying underneath will probably keep the Land Rover from squishing you to
death.
 The
instructions advise you to remove the two large bolts at the
bottom of the strut and remove the brake line mount. An impact
wrench made short work of the bolts. Only problem is the brake
line mount is welded to the strut body! You have two options at
this point. You can disassemble the hard brake line from the
rubber line with a flared brake line wrench or cut a slot in the
mount so the brake line can be liberated. I chose to cut a slot
with a pneumatic cutting wheel. Disassembling the brake lines
would mean bleeding the brakes, which I hate to do. The trick here
is to cut the slot just big enough to pass the hard line, but
small enough that the clip will hold it securely upon reassembly.
On Brian's, we decided to make a smaller cut and bend the mount
enough to free the line- then bend it back upon reassembly. If I
do another lift on a Freelander (Robert?) I will probably do the
bend technique over the large slot technique I used on mine. |
Once the three top nuts are removed the strut can be wrangled free from
the vehicle. The lift kit includes threaded extensions for the threaded
studs on top of the strut, as well as a plate spacer that installs over
top of the newly extended studs. One important step is to use
thread-locking compound on those extensions and torque to the
specifications laid out in the instructions. Keep in mind that the
instructions don't walk you through the disassembly and reassembly of the
vehicle itself. Once the spacers are installed, it's time to put it back
on- the same way it came off.
 The
front end is a little more difficult, but still not too bad. The
most difficult part is that the battery must be disconnected, the
fuse box unplugged and moved aside. Make sure the battery is
disconnected first! The black and red primary wires into the fuse
box must be removed along with the multi-wire plug next to them.
Don't be fooled by the black wire- if the battery is not
disconnected the black wire is unfused and hot… a disaster
waiting to happen. |
On the other side, the coolant tank must be moved aside. It's held by a
plastic screw that will strip easily if you don't use a small, sharp
screwdriver. Don't ask how we know this…
The tie rods must be disconnected from the strut. Place a piece of
wood under the bolt head if you use a hammer to knock it free. A
better bet would be to use a small gear puller. A wedge tool for
separating tie rod ends exists, but will destroy the rubber seal.
The anti-roll (sway) bar must then be disconnected and the clips
holding the brake lines in place removed. It can be difficult to
manipulate the strut from the vehicle, the trick it to drop it
slightly then rotate it. Be careful not to damage the rubber boot
on the CV joints. |
Before reinstalling the strut, you need to enlarge the bottom of the
opening from which the tie rod comes. I used a pneumatic chisel to quickly
eat away a couple inches of sheet metal. Be sure to hit the area with some
rust resistant paint when you're done cutting and bending. Getting the
strut back in place and the bottom bolts reinstalled was the hardest part
of this installation. It takes two people to get this part done. There are
several things about which one must be VERY careful:
1. Don't touch the brake disk with dirty or greasy hands!
2. Don't bend the brake shield! It makes a helluva noise if it touches the
brake disk while driving.
3. Don't force the strut across the rubber boot, if it tears you MUST
replace it.
4. Don't pull the drive axle away from the transmission- it's difficult to
reseat.
 Once
everything is back in place, make sure to get the front end looked
at by an alignment shop. The toe setting must be corrected to
avoid premature wear on your tires. Of course you must realize
that by raising your Freelander you will be changing how it
handles. There is a possibility that the your newly lifted
Freelander will require axle shaft and CV replacement before a
non-lifted Freelander. Only time will tell if this is a good
long-term modification. Forget about warranty on your struts and
axle shafts, but those are typically wear items that you
eventually get to replace outside of warranty anyway. My
suggestion is to put 5K or more miles on your Freelander before
doing a modification such as this so you can be sure there isn't a
factory defect in the struts, axles etc. |
Only time will tell if this modification is ideal for the Freelander,
but so far I must admit that I love the way it looks and drives. It turns
heads much more than before and the off-road performance is much improved.
If you aren't comfortable working on the suspension of your Freelander, a
competent shop should be able to do the complete installation in 3-4
hours. Because of the unusual tools required, I wouldn't recommend this to
someone who isn't very comfortable working on cars or doesn't have an
extensive tool set.
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Lift Kit pictures shown here with Dunlop mud tyres in
225/75-16. Total diameter is 2.23" taller on the new ones-
effectively giving another inch of ground clearance!
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For this project, DAP Inc. was a pleasure to deal with. Courteous
staff, promptly returned calls and unbelievably fast shipping made this
project a breeze. At times it may be possible to find a lower price on a
particular part, the kind of customer service that DAP provides is worth
the difference. My thanks to them…
Please keep in mind that any modification to your vehicle may have
risks and consequences in safety, warranty coverage and performance.
MuddyOval.com, it's editors, employees, agents and members assume NO
liability in any way for the accuracy, completeness or safety of any
information contained on this site. All modifications are at your own
risk.
Update: 30,000 miles later and still going strong-
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