2006 Land Rover Freelander - Camper Build

[SeanBate]

I've been driving around a stock 06 Land Rover Freelander 1 for a few years now. I'm a photography student studying in Cumbria, UK. I specialise in outdoor photography so I need a vehicle that's suitable for accessing hard to reach locations. It's been great for carrying kayaks, climbing equipment, photography gear, camping gear, but I've decided it's finally time to kit it out and make it more suitable for taking off-road, and ideally add a fold-out bed for overnight trips. I'm trying my best to keep this build cheap as I'm a student.

First job was adding some new LED lights to help out with driving at night. Got these cheap on eBay and they've worked great so far!



Next job was making a fold-out bed platform with storage. I've got a foam mattress topper which work great as a mattress to sleep on. I've added a pull out shelf for my gas stove. I'll be adding a pull out work surface and painting the whole box with black truck bed liner.



I've also added a cheap eBay roof rack for carrying tools, water, and an awning. The Freelander is only small so it helps to keep the inside clear when sleeping inside.



I've got a big wish list for this build! I'll make sure to post more as I get further into the build.

 

[SeanBate]

Finally finished painting the camping box.




Also mounted a CB Antenna to the roof rack.

 

[reaver]

I really like how you laid out that camping box. I'll be following your build to see what you come up with!

 

[SeanBate]

Thank you! There will hopefully be more in the next few days.

 

[SeanBate]

Today I tested the full camping setup. The bed is perfect for me, I'm 6ft tall and I can lie down flat.









I made my own window covers from silver bubble foil insulation. This gives me great privacy and also gives added insulation.




I've got two legs which hold up the end of the bed platform.

Today I also added a fuel carrier on the roof rack.

 

[reaver]

I really like this build. You see tons of discos and defenders. I've even seen a few range rovers, but I think this is the first freelander I've seen. You've done a great job building the vehicle to suit your needs, and it's really turned out great.

 

[SeanBate]

I really like this build. You see tons of discos and defenders. I've even seen a few range rovers, but I think this is the first freelander I've seen. You've done a great job building the vehicle to suit your needs, and it's really turned out great.

Thank you! One day I'll get a Defender, it's been my dream vehicle since I was a child. But I'm happy with how this build is turning out. Over here in the UK you see a lot of Freelanders, but they never get taken off-road! It's a surprisingly good vehicle for using off-road, it's narrow and light. Add some decent tyres and it'll go almost anywhere.

 

[rgallant]

Cool, the same I hear about Freelander's all the time but I have never seen one kitted out. I suspect they suffer the same sort of bias as R50 Pathfinders, they are thought of as too much car not enough truck. But my old R50 took me many 10's of thousands of KM off road.

Here is a little motivational image

 

[SeanBate]

Cool, the same I hear about Freelander's all the time but I have never seen one kitted out. I suspect they suffer the same sort of bias as R50 Pathfinders, they are thought of as too much car not enough truck. But my old R50 took me many 10's of thousands of KM off road.

Here is a little motivational image

That's an awesome looking rig! I never see them over here. That's a huge inspiration, I love that scenery! That's exactly the kind of environment I like photographing.
LR Defender and Disco owners always look shocked when a Freelander can keep up with them! They consider it an on road 4x4, but it's capable of so much.

 

[reaver]

Cool, the same I hear about Freelander's all the time but I have never seen one kitted out. I suspect they suffer the same sort of bias as R50 Pathfinders, they are thought of as too much car not enough truck. But my old R50 took me many 10's of thousands of KM off road.

Here is a little motivational image

They do get viewed that way. Thing is, they're super capable out of the gate. Add a moderate lift, and a rear locker, and that's about all you'd need. For overland use I'd take the r50 over the r51, just for the solid rear end. If uni body construction works for the xj, I don't see why the r50 would be any different.

That's an awesome looking rig! I never see them over here. That's a huge inspiration, I love that scenery! That's exactly the kind of environment I like photographing.
LR Defender and Disco owners always look shocked when a Freelander can keep up with them! They consider it an on road 4x4, but it's capable of so much.

I mean, I don't see why. Land rover has always been known as a capable vehicle. Are some better than others? Sure, but for overland needs, I think they're all perfectly suited.

I get the same response from folks with my 03 nissan xterra. I've gotten compliments from jeep guys, old Ford guys, and Toyota guys on how she just crawls up things. And I'm still running a mostly stock suspension atm.

I think that's part of why I like this build so much. The shape and size of the freelander are very similar to my xterra. On top of that, the way you've set this up is very similar to what I ultimately want to do to mine, so this is great reference.

 

[SeanBate]

I mean, I don't see why. Land rover has always been known as a capable vehicle. Are some better than others? Sure, but for overland needs, I think they're all perfectly suited.

I get the same response from folks with my 03 nissan xterra. I've gotten compliments from jeep guys, old Ford guys, and Toyota guys on how she just crawls up things. And I'm still running a mostly stock suspension atm.

I think that's part of why I like this build so much. The shape and size of the freelander are very similar to my xterra. On top of that, the way you've set this up is very similar to what I ultimately want to do to mine, so this is great reference.

I think it's just because you never see anyone taking Freelanders off-road. The Freelander doesn't have selectable four wheel-drive. It has a VCU which essentially means it's constantly running in four wheel-drive, but on the highway the front wheels do most of the work and the rear wheels more or less trail behind, with the VCU providing four-wheel drive if needed. The Defender and Discovery both have selectable four wheel-drive. Some people also say it's not powerful enough, it has a 2.0 litre engine, but the vehicle is very light compared to other Land Rovers. I've taken mine off-road on rocks, snow, mud, and even through floods. Never got it stuck!

I'd be interested in seeing a build for the xterra!

 

[reaver]

I think it's just because you never see anyone taking Freelanders off-road. The Freelander doesn't have selectable four wheel-drive. It has a VCU which essentially means it's constantly running in four wheel-drive, but on the highway the front wheels do most of the work and the rear wheels more or less trail behind, with the VCU providing four-wheel drive if needed. The Defender and Discovery both have selectable four wheel-drive. Some people also say it's not powerful enough, it has a 2.0 litre engine, but the vehicle is very light compared to other Land Rovers. I've taken mine off-road on rocks, snow, mud, and even through floods. Never got it stuck!

I'd be interested in seeing a build for the xterra!

A buddy of mine drives an 03 grand Cherokee with non-selectable, full time 4wd, though he has a low range. I'm not sure if the freelander does. He's never gotten stuck, as far as I know.

Don't worry about the horsepower thing. I'm rolling around with 180hp,and have plenty of torque getting up hills. Having 4.90 gears helps though.

Ill get around to putting a build thread together soon. I'll be taking a ton of pics this weekend, as a buddy and I are building an auxiliary electrical system.