Fitting polyurethane bushes

Suspension bushes deteriorate gradually, so the performance improvement from renewing them can be surprising: Mark Williams gets his Freelander re-bushed

Bushes deteriorate gradually, so the performance improvement from renewing can be surprising

THE FREELANDER 1 is now one of the cheapest Land Rovers on the secondhand market, with Mot-able examples as low as £500 and a mint, late Td4 as little as £2500. Although the Freelander – cheerfully named the Hippo by enthusiasts – was never a serious off-road tool, even die-hard mud pluggers occasionally end a tough greenlane drive scratching their heads and wondering how the Hippo came through unscathed. The fact is, the only failing in the off-road department is the low ride height, but for everything else, its four-wheel drive and electronic traction control get the Hippo out of all but the tightest spots.

My 2005 Td4 HSE manual Freelander is heading, inexorably, for a life of light off-roading, the general idea being to modify the car sufficiently to cope with a few greenlaning days without making it undriveable on the road. To be honest, I’d never had any concerns about the suspension, but when some rare workshop time at Bishops 4x4 became available, I bought a full set of Powerflex polyurethane bushes to be fitted on the front and back, and took the plunge.

The original bushes are bonded rubber items, notoriously difficult to remove, while the PU replacements are easy to fit and to replace, and they’re so durable it is doubtful they will ever be replaced in the lifetime of this car. In addition to the new bushes, it’s also important to have new replacements for all the bolts and washers removed in this procedure. I’ll report back on the effect on the ride in a later feature in Writers’ Rovers.