Hi,

After taking my FLII off-road a few times, I can see that the protection in front of the fuel tank have had a few hits and are now bending backwards. Thinking of making a tank-guard or something. Does anyone has any experience/advice regarding this? Looking under the vehicle, it seems that the fuel tank is the point which will taken most obstacles that has passed the engine undershield, which seems pretty durable to me.

Get yourself a Mantec tank guard (as seen here fitted to my FL2).
Hard to find, but they do become available now and again.

Click image to enlarge

Sadly with Mantec no longer with us the sump/tank guards that are available new have doubled in price (at least). Seriously keep an eye on ebay but be careful as one company on their is selling tank guards new but asking at least double what Mantec sold them for.

The Mantec ones are like rocking horse excreta at the moment (I'm lovin' mine). Having the full Land Rover G4 Challenge credentials does make them the ones to have.

As noted, there are some available on eBay at silly money but it is supply and demand.

As with the Hippo, as FL2 gets older, and more people subject them to the sort of terrain they were designed for, I am sure more off road orientated parts will become available. But that isn't really helping you at the moment.

While looking I did find a European company that makes a lot of skid plates for a lot of vehicles that did a front and rear set for FL2. I think I found the link on eBay based on FL1 and followed it back to their site to discover they also did FL2. With apologies I can't find that link currently but at least it confirms there is at least one alternative to the Mantec guard.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Land-Rover-Free...SwHaBWipDX

He shoots; he scores.

Hi,

Thanks for the feedback. I think its silly prices for most. I guess I will see if I can fabricate something my self

Because of their scarcity and my relationship with engineering companies (I do drawing/3D modelling and design development for a number of local companies) I had considered getting some made using my Mantec guards as reference.

Once I had factored in the time to sort it all out, develop the cutting files, etc it wasn't going to be viable without producing a dozen or more. I was also nervous of the insurance implications. Having big slabs of 6mm aluminium bolted under the car could be somewhat troublesome if they became unbolted on the M4.

For all their apparent simplicity the Mantec guards are extremely well designed and engineered. Even at the high prices they now command I think the piece of mind is worth it.

Putting a hole in the plastic fuel tank would be quite a nuisance, not to mention replacing the existing guards and brackets once they get a bit bent and mangled.

Totally agree with you T4, i'm currently trying to find the company in Germany who are producing 30mm longer springs for the F2 but as you say 'seek and you will find'.

Having played with ride heights on racing cars 30mm is a fairly significant change and could be a great deal more detrimental to on road handling than just raising the centre of gravity. It will completely change the suspension geometry and how it works when cornering, braking, bump steer characteristics etc. Raising a car 30mm is likely to be more troublesome than lowering a car 30mm.

Not that the Freelander will have had the same level of design in suspension as one would expect on a Porsche/Ferrari etc but it will still have been analysed, tested and refined -it had to pass the moose test for a start.

Due to the difficulty in getting even tyre ware, and Land Rovers market, my suspicion is that Freelander already sits as high on its suspension as is really practical without changing a great deal more than spring height. If you are just using it for trailing then knock yourself out, if you are continuing to use it on the road I would exercise extreme caution.

Trust me landing on an unprotected tank - or even dragging it on a raised mound is not something you will do twice

The Mantec guard is bloody tough, and heavy when you have to take it off to clean it - reverse back out of a failed route and it scoops up handfuls of clay, that then bake hard due to the proximity to the exhaust.

Worth every penny, shame the company no longer is trading. Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

Based on a post on FarceBook it would seem Flatdogs UK are now producing a tank guard which has a noticable similarity to the Mantec one.

I have looked on their site but cant find it listed yet.

I have also contacted them to see if they can supply me with a couple of handbrake cable brackets as mine were missing with the Mantec Guard I bough second hand.

I'll keep you posted.

T4 you didn't happen to buy it from a company in the Midlands by any chance ?, this is where my tank guard came from and apparently they always forgot to remove the two brackets . You are right as i think Ben from F/D and the guys at Mantec were/are close friends, it took a while but Ben got me a set made up.

No it was a private sale and the missing brackets were an innocent mistake. I can understand how it happens. When you buy a new guard you remove the original handbrake cable brackets and put on the new ones, probably throwing away the originals. If the guard is subsequently sold second hand, especially if you didn't fit it originally, you wouldn't realise the brackets were special and just reuse them on the vehicle.

Have you tried fitting the guard without the brackets?

I fitted mine without the brackets, and never got around to fitting them - threw them away a couple of months ago.
Granted my fuel tank was further back than normal - went off-road without a tank guard! Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

It is fitted without the brackets currently. Well it does have ZipTie brackets which are working fine but it seems a bit Heath Robinson.