Sam Odio, founder

ROMIK 2.5" bull bar review

Filed under: freelander   land-rover   lr2   off-roading  

I recently installed the ROMIK 2.5" bull bar on my 2008 LR2. Here are some initial impressions:

• The bull bar is extremely light and will not significantly affect the handling of your LR2
• The bottom of the bull bar is fastened to the skid plate. This seems adequately secure. However the middle of the bar is fastened to the plastic bumper cover with a poorly designed fastener that can not hold more than 10-20 lbs. In my experience the fastener falls out regularly while driving. If both of the top fasteners fall out the bar could swing forward, hitting the ground. I don't want to know what would then happen at high speeds.
• The 2.5" bar is made of very thin steel sheet metal. Since it reduces the approach angle it's the first thing to hit when I take steep inclines. The steel on the bottom of my bull bar is severely bent from off-road use. I'm somewhat thankful that the bull bar is taking the pounding and not the vehicle's lower bumper (which is plastic).
• One of the bull bar's 2.5" connecting members passes right beneath the LR2's center tow point. There's about a 1/4 inch of clearance between the bar and the tow point. This makes accessing the tow point difficult and prevents me from attaching a snatch strap that's any wider than 1/4 inch without also attaching the strap around the bull bar. This would almost certainly damage the bull bar since it'd have to bear the vehicle's weight.

In summary, I would not recommend this product, especially if you off-road. You can forget about mounting a winch or any serious hardware to it. That said, I'm only aware of one other option for LR2's front-bumper: the OEM rubber brush guard (part #LR003319).

If you purchase this be sure to also purchase more secure mounting hardware for the top brackets. I remedied the problem with hefty drywall anchors from my local home depot: Crown Bolt Black Plastic #8 x 2 in. WingIts Anchors with #8 x 3-7/16 in. Pan Head Phillips Drive Screws. These anchors are much stronger than the included fasteners and will not fall out over time. The weakest point is now no longer the anchors but the plastic bumper that the bull bar is mounted to.

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Review: General Grabber AT2 tires

Filed under: land-rover   lr2   off-roading  

I recently installed General Grabber AT2 tires (255/60R18) on my otherwise mostly stock LR2. I'm generally pleased with them and would recommend the tires to other LR2/Freelander owners.

Pros:

• Handling is great. Can't tell any difference from the passenger tires.
• They've done great in mud, sand, and rocks.
• I've been able to lower them to 10 PSI in sand with no problems.
• They're rated for severe snow (even though they don't have the snowflake symbol). By carrying this statement from the manufacturer I can pass through chain checkpoints in Tahoe without chains ... more

LR2 Off-roading shots

Filed under: land-rover   lr2   off-roading  

I'm posting my best off-roading shots here: http://so.dphoto.com/album/c501ch.

LR2 Off-roading resources

Filed under: freelander   land-rover   lr2   off-roading  

Earlier I said just about nobody takes an LR2 off-roading. That's almost true. In my research I haven't found a single private owner who's off-roaded an LR2 in North America (outside of the Land Rover experience schools). However once I started searching for the LR2's european sibling, the Freelander 2, I found a number of private off-roaders. The Freelander II was also used in the G4 competition and the Camel Trophy cup.

For those of you who are thinking about off-roading a LR2, here are some useful resources:

• Freel2's off-roading forum. This is a new ... more

Off-roading on Iron Lakes Trail

Filed under: freelander   land-rover   lr2   off-roading  

This was my first off-roading trip in the LR2. We found the trail while on our way to Fresno Dome in Backcountry Adventures Northern California. I'll talk about that book in another post.

The trail is rated 5 - moderate. High clearance 4x4 SUVs are recommended. The trail took us much longer than it would've taken an SUV with 12-15 inches of clearance (the LR2 only has 8.3). We were pretty careful picking our lines and had a spotter out on the trail for much of the time.

These three photos were taking on the way to Iron ... more

Curt Trailer hitch review

Filed under: freelander   land-rover   lr2  

I recently installed a Curt trailer hitch on my 2008 LR2. The hitch is currently selling for $111 on Amazon.

Installation was dead simple; no cutting or drilling required. There are five bolts that you must remove from the underside of the vehicle. Then simply lift the hitch so that it straddles the muffler and re-install the bolts. Total installation time was about 30 minutes. The hitch feels very secure. I've towed a 1,500lb trailer about 500 miles without incident.

The dealer quoted a cost of about $1,000 (including the electrics). I have not yet installed the ... more

Planned Land Rover LR2 off-road modifications

Filed under: freelander   land-rover   lr2   off-roading  

Above you can see the Land Rover in its current state. Modifications so far include a tow hitch receiver, bull bars, and roof rack (discussed in detail in my previous post). To get the vehicle ready for some more serious off-roading I'm planning on making a number of modifications in the near future:

• Terra 45 4,500lb Superwinch. This is an underpowered winch for the LR2, which has a curb weight of approximately 4,000lbs. I plan on using it with a block to double the pulling strength of the winch. I'll be mounting the winch to my ... more

Off-roading in the Land Rover LR2

Filed under: freelander   home   land-rover   lr2   off-roading  

Last year I came across a 2008 Land Rover LR2 for a very reasonable price. After some light off-roading during a trip to Fresno dome I've decided that I'm going to equip the LR2 for some more serious adventures.

After all, what's the point of owning an SUV if you don't use it?

Unfortunately I haven't really been able to find many people online who have modded their LR2 for off-roading. That's crazy. This is a land rover, after all. It'm starting to think that an adventurous ride in an LR2 involves dropping ... more