A while back, I made the move back to Facebook after many years away from it. I've always been part of the Freelander 2 Off Road Group, it's just been by proxy with my partner, Alana, keeping me up-to-date on things. After joining the group myself some time ago, I noticed 1 question in particular that kept coming up which was, "Will this wheel/tyre fit onto my Freelander 2".

To go a little way into addressing that question, Alana and I put together a video with the help from the ladies and gents from the FL2ORG. It's a series of pictures of all different Freelander 2's with different all terrain and mud terrain tyres on and different wheel combinations and whether there needs to be modifications in order to fit them.

For anyone looking to change wheels or tyres on your Freelander 2, maybe this video might give you a bit of inspiration .



Other wheels that could be tired on the Freelander 2:
2018-2019 Ford Edge 19" rims. - Same bolt pattern but different offset and center caps

- Scott https://www.youtube.com/@scottandalana4x4

Last edited by Dean1234 on 22nd Apr 2025 6:55 am. Edited 1 time in total

Thank you for the post. It was interesting the various size tyres people are using. Mostly 17 inch rims. What I wanted but it was too expensive to buy 6 new rims. Two spares for the outback are necessity plus decent tyre repair kit & compressor.

In Australia it is illegal to use spacers. Also lift is limited & total lift including tyre radius is a factor. Increase of tyre radius & lift is 50mm in total.

Offset is generally 12.5mm so I could use Evoque rims as they are only 10mm in relation to the Freelander.

The other interesting thing in the video, as best as possible, it didn't look like people were reducing tyre pressure for the off-road. It makes a hugh difference on difficult surfaces. I have go myself out of many otherwise bogged situations simply letting tyres down.

Also a 1000 km of corrugated roads is far more bearable with reduced tyre pressure. Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!

Acoustic insulation ARB TPMS 3xARB air compressors After cooler Air tank On-board OCD pressure air/water cleaning Additional 50L fuel Carpet in doors ABE 2x1kg Waeco 28L modified fridge Battery 4x26ah Solar 120w Victron MPPT 100/20 DC-DC 18amps 175amp jumper plug Awning 6x255/60R18

Thank you for taking the time to watch the video Lightwater . 17" rims does seem to be the general sweet spot when it comes to the widest choice of all terrain/mud terrain tyres and the choice of sizes .

We bought the white wheels that are on our car from a fellow Freelander 2 Off Road Group member who has now sadly passed away. The concept was going to be that we had an on-road set with good road tyres on and then an off-road set for when we head off-road. The all-terrain tyres have treated us so well that we have left them on permanently . Alana luckily got given a steel wheel that fits onto the Freelander 2, so we have put an all terrain on that and have it in the boot as a spare .

I do always enjoy reading your posts Lightwater and it's fascinating to me how different rules, regs and laws are in other countries. I guess we are lucky over in the UK, that, providing the car is in an MOT passable state come the MOT day, you can pretty much modify cars pretty much how a person wishes which isn't always a good thing.

As for reducing tyre pressures, some people really play around with pressures, other people, myself included, get on perfectly well running stock pressures on-road and off-road. But I think that has more to do with what we class as off-road is probably your version of a high quality road .

I did once play around with pressures by letting air out. I couldn't honestly say I noticed any difference. I'd love to meet up with someone one day so they can explain things like...

- Why it's beneficial to drop the pressures in the tyres.
- How much pressure to drop out.
- What sort of terrains require what sort of pressures.
- Is there more or less of an effect in an all terrain tyre Vs a mud terrain tyre for example
- Safe operating windows in which different tyres can work within.

I have seen people in the past drop pressure out of their tyres and then tear a sidewall later on in the day. Unlucky? Or a lack of pressure in the tyre causing the sidewall to get pinched? Who knows .

I feel like most novice off-roaders like myself just lean on the terrain response in the Freelander to help us out to avoid messing with things that we don't really know much about . https://www.youtube.com/@scottandalana4x4

One particular funny situation. We were camping in an area north of Broome. An "indestructible" Toyota Landcruiser with tyres effectively off a 360 tonne mining truck was stuck in the sand.

He & Wifey were looking at our car wondering how we got the "city" Freelander where we did.

My wife said have you let the tyres down.

No.... no yet... um... are... & other excuses....

We didn't want to know. You have a proper 4WD.

From a distance we could hear the family politics of how much air do we let out. Knowing you should do it, but probably never did it.

Anyway, after letting air out they got out of the place very quickly to save further embarrassment.

We have seen many indestructible Toyotas stuck due to utter basic incompetence.



Another funny situation was at Francois Peron National Park, Western Australia. The National Park is kind enough to have 2 air stations to pump up your tyres exiting the park.

You run 20psi in the park. It's soft sand, we even saw another Toyota bogged, & there was no need for it.


Exiting the park there were 2 very long queues for the pumps. Probably about an hour wait per pump.

We drove past & pull up in front of all the other 4WDs. My better half & I were a good team. Ran around the car, remove TPMS, pump up tyres 20psi to 35psi, 28 seconds per corner (60 seconds a corner to let tyres down).

While we were at it a 4WD pulled up behind us to use the "3rd" pump. As we were finishing as we were quickly packing up, we said its our own set-up... you will save an hour in a queue if you get your own.

It was even more funny as all the vehicles were serious 4WD, but couldn't afford a compressor, or 3 in our case so we are out of there in no time.

We have sand tracks & tow rope & extension. Wouldn't have gone where we did without them, but airing down has saved us every time.



Corrugated roads, worse still, rock strewn roads, airing down & taking it slowly will save the car & you.

Don't worry about the exact pressure, it changes by 4psi if the sun is on that side of the car for half an hour.

Super soft sand 16psi, sand 20psi, corrugated & crap roads about 24psi is what we use. Also drive slower, which you will be on these surfaces, as the tyres heat up more being under inflated for highway speed. If you don't have an air compressor, drive slower until you can air up.



All tyres get noisier as they wear. All Terrain tyres are worse noise wise. Put them on the opposite side of the car after a few years & they will be quieter. Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!

Acoustic insulation ARB TPMS 3xARB air compressors After cooler Air tank On-board OCD pressure air/water cleaning Additional 50L fuel Carpet in doors ABE 2x1kg Waeco 28L modified fridge Battery 4x26ah Solar 120w Victron MPPT 100/20 DC-DC 18amps 175amp jumper plug Awning 6x255/60R18

Thanks for the tips Lightwater . After a very wet and muddy off-road weekend, on advice of a friend, we let some pressure out of our tyres in case it helped with traction. I think we went from 36 psi all round to about 30 psi. Seeing as we didn't really know what we were doing, we didn't want to go any lower in case the bead of the tyre got pulled from the rim.

Long story short, at the end of the weekend we pulled out our small air compressor that plugs into the 12v supply in the car. Just as we pulled it out, our friend told us to put it away and to move the car close to his. Cue him dragging out a very long length of airline to pump our tyres back up in no time! We vowed that when/if we ever stop paying for maintenance bits on our 2 cars, we need a compressor installed into the car . https://www.youtube.com/@scottandalana4x4

I forgot to comment on sidewall bulge. A large diameter tyre on a small diameter rim will bulge out more. What you are doing is creating a larger footprint on sand so the wheels are less likely to dig in. The increase in bulge is more likely to hit something unfortunately.

Highly unlikely to damage the sidewall on sand unless there was a rock or tough stick which was buried & you didn't see it.

Sandy tracks through the bush, more likely to hit something, so keep eyes peeled.

Stoney tracks you are more likely to do damage. Don't reduce pressure too much.

We came down the Oodnadatta Track, the top 120km is a rock strewn road. We let the tyres down to 24psi. A fair bit of the road we only drove at 40kph, & trying to avoid the larger rocks. A Landcruiser flew past us doing at least 110kph.

10 minutes down the road they were replacing a tyre. We asked if they needed any help. But they were ok. 10 minutes later said car flys past again. Some people don't learn. That late afternoon we camped pretty soon, so no idea if they destroyed their second spare.

All you do is wreck the car, wreck the tracks. Cost a fortune in new tyres. Which you probably can't quickly replace in the outback as Land Rovers mostly have poodle sized rims!

I have heard over time that sidewall thickness does vary a bit depending on the manufacturer.

Oodnadatta Track, the road is basically the same texture.


You can have the best car in the world, but if you don't let the tyres down & or are a bit tight arsed to replace those tired road tyres. Not a pretty picture!
 Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!

Acoustic insulation ARB TPMS 3xARB air compressors After cooler Air tank On-board OCD pressure air/water cleaning Additional 50L fuel Carpet in doors ABE 2x1kg Waeco 28L modified fridge Battery 4x26ah Solar 120w Victron MPPT 100/20 DC-DC 18amps 175amp jumper plug Awning 6x255/60R18

If you don't want to build in a compressor Buy one (or dual) in a box. Always run the engine while running a large compressor to keep the voltage up. A dual compressor is about up to 60 amps. Our triple setup is up to about 90 amps.

https://www.arb.com.au/air-compressors-tyr...ressors-4/

They get f---ing hot out of the compressor. So a piece of stainless hose is worthwhile for the first 0.5 metre, or as we did extra heatsinks & fan. Or pour a bit of water on that part every minute.

This is a pretty good chart, amps vs volume vs psi.

Click image to enlarge

Dean1234 wrote:

it's fascinating to me how different rules, regs and laws are in other countries. I guess we are lucky over in the UK, that, providing the car is in an MOT passable state come the MOT day, you can pretty much modify cars pretty much how a person wishes which isn't always a good thing.

I often read your MOT stories. Somethings fair enough they need to be fixed, but other things, they are counting pepper corns.

In Australia, NSW has the toughest rules, but it is nowhere near the level of your MOT.

The rest of the States in Australia, no annual inspection. Only when selling the car. Northern Territory a check at 5 & 10 years & every year after that.

That's why there are so many rust buckets on our roads. Most car hire companies register their cars in Victoria.


Even though we are not allowed to use spacers, it doesn't stop people using them. I am personally not going to go there.

If my mechanic says something needs fixing, I get it fixed. The only major thing the car has needed, was last service, the steering control arms "should" be replaced. It was borderline, but I said do it.

When travelling around Australia. I had a full service before we went. The car was way over its oil change, but due to most of the km around the country are gently crusing along, there is minimal stress on the car. As soon as we got back the car had another full service. Also told the mechanic before & after about the long trip, & can you look thoroughly at the car for any potential issues.

It is just not worth the fluffing around having things go wrong cutting corners. Especially in the remote outback.


Coast Auto Detailing, think I will go elsewhere. Not sure if this one will pass your MOT because at least 2 windows had fallen out, so there may be an issue there!

Click image to enlarge

Also seems to be a trend to sand the paint off the bonnet so it acquires a curtain patina. I don't think that will suit a Freelander. Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!

Acoustic insulation ARB TPMS 3xARB air compressors After cooler Air tank On-board OCD pressure air/water cleaning Additional 50L fuel Carpet in doors ABE 2x1kg Waeco 28L modified fridge Battery 4x26ah Solar 120w Victron MPPT 100/20 DC-DC 18amps 175amp jumper plug Awning 6x255/60R18

My 2008 si6 has Ford Edge 19" summer rims, I believe the 2018-2019 Ford Edge models. Same bolt pattern but different offset and center caps.

Sorry for the late reply Lightwater but I try and keep my time spent on the internet down to a minimum while Alana is home so I can be present for her .

The terrain out there in Australia does look a very harsh environment for those ill prepared or just out right plain ignorant of the conditions . As you say in your example, if you take your time and respect the conditions presented to you then you'll be fine. It is funny how no one will wear ballet shoes on an ice rink, most people will put on a pair of ice skates before hitting the ice. Put the same people in a 4x4 and they suddenly look perplexed as to why their 4x4 isn't dancing across the wet sodden ground with their almost bold road tyres .

I don't know how true it is and maybe someone can correct me. I've heard that road tyres have the least ply's (layers) to their tyres. While all-terrain tyres have a more ply's, rough terrain tyres have more over the all terrain and mud terrain having the most amount of ply's to their tyres which contributes towards the overall thickness of the tyre.

Thanks for the tips and graph on air compressors. Stuff like that is always handy to look back on in the future if/when we do get the chance to look down that route .

Regarding MOT's and maybe I'm far out with what I'm about to say and you'll correct me Lightwater. In the UK I'm kind of glad that we have relatively strict MOT's. I feel like the attitude over here is either people not wanting to maintain their car or people that cannot afford to maintain it. So they quickly end up in a condition where they are borderline dangerous or even just outright dangerous.

My impression of Australia and other places that have remote areas and/or harsh environments is that people put more effort into keeping their vehicles more mechanically safe even if they don't look it? At a guess, I'd say anyone wanting to travel on something like the Oodnadatta Track isn't going to want to start it with undertrays hanging off, a 50/50 chance of the car starting and more smoke coming out of the exhaust than a fire compared to some cars over here .

Although some MOT testers can take sticking to the rules to the most extreme level over here. We had 1 of our cars fail it's MOT test and then get charged for a retest because the MOT testers had to adjust the headlight aim using the control inside of the car. Then another car fail due to the fuel cap having a perished sealing ring. Had we have been notified, we could've nipped out, bought a new one and had it fitted to the car before the MOT tester had finished the test . These are examples where I do think the MOT's in this country are a bit too much on the stricter side that's for sure . https://www.youtube.com/@scottandalana4x4

MotionInc wrote:

My 2008 si6 has Ford Edge 19" summer rims, I believe the 2018-2019 Ford Edge models. Same bolt pattern but different offset and center caps.

Thanks for that MotionInc . I'll start a list in the opening post in case anyone else comes forward with other choices of rim . https://www.youtube.com/@scottandalana4x4

265/60/18 Yokohama Geolandar AT go15 on RR Evoque rims. Rub on full lock on uneven ground or gradient.

40/50 lift, 25mm spacers.

Click image to enlarge

Your Freelander 2 always looks really smart to me RealBeale . Do you use it much off-road? https://www.youtube.com/@scottandalana4x4

Not since lockdown, when some scrote relieved me of my sump and tank guard !

No way! I know those items are somewhat in demand, but I didn't realise just how in demand! I'm guessing without them you wouldn't be interested in a day at Binegar Quarrys 4x4 site in May?  https://www.youtube.com/@scottandalana4x4