Freelander Tyre-wear and Road Noise
Mike Fielding
'rumble' which is particularly noticeable when driving on smooth
roads. Last time I heard this noise on another vehicle, it was the
wheel bearings that were shot! Since the car is under a year old
(21000 miles), I dutifully took it along to my local Landrover dealer,
where after a road test, the engineer indicated that it was the rear
tyres causing the noise and was *nothing to worry about*.
Apparently with *this type of 4 wheel drive* this is a known problem
where when the individual wedges of rubber come into contact with the
road, the trailing ends wear more than the leading ends. This causes
a small (but noisy) step change as the wheel rotates. The solution:
at each service (12000), they swap the rear wheels so that the
trailing end becomes the leading end and vice-versa. I still have
3000 miles to go before my next service, and I was reassuringly told
that *it will get worse before the service*' and that *we [the dealer]
have heard far worse noise than that*.
Has anyone else had any experience of this?
Can it really be the case?
Can anyone offer a better solution.? :-(
On a more positive note, my front tyres have worn badly in the middle
and are now close to the legal limit. Since this was due to the
incorrect over-inflation pressure initially specified by Landrover,
for which I received a corrective notification only a few months ago,
they have agreed to replace my front tyres :-)
Mike
mike.f...@no-spambigfoot.com (remove no-spam for real email)
Dawn & Gert Reed-Buur
Thanks for the information - at least I know what to expect in the coming
weeks, which is far better than not being informed, and bit just keep
falling off/brake...
Our car is now 1 year and 2 month old. It took LandRover Switzerland 9
Month & a couple of visits to the import center (even a visit to UK didn't
kill the problem) - to correct a "pulling" to the right - after which it
finally stop pulling. Now somewhat older I discovered a significant tyre
wear on the inside front wheels - more on the drivers side, than passenger
side (LHD). What to do, when you are sick of "living" in between LandRover
dealerships, and the import center - who are all friendly - but obviously
unable to cure the ROOT cause. When is it TOOO late to aks for a new car
?.
BTW, I forgot to mention that we have probably had more than 50 of the 132
"known" flaws(incl. seat belt failure !! and a disintegrating rubber
gasket around the gearknob, which both are NOT on the list). Currently we
are just waiting for the next one to appear - but as we kindly keep track
of the faults, we know whcih once not to expect in the near future !!
Best regards
Gert Buur (reed...@access.ch)
PS: I hope the group of engineer who concieved this wonderful driving toy
- got a premium for inventive engineering principles.
Iain Donaldson
I have noticed a steady increase in road rumble on a 5dr Freelander from
about 14000 miles /10 months into its life. It's one of those
invidious problems that you take a long time to convince yourself about
because there is no good baseline for comparison. BTW I set tyre
pressure to 26psi (was 30psi in Owner's Manual) after receiving
notification from LR only to find that the garage reset tyre pressure to
a consistent 28psi all around shortly after at the 12000 mile service.
Who is right LR or the service engineer?
Dawn and Gert, any chance of sharing your list of known flaws with the
newsgroup? I for one would love to read it because in the dark recesses
of my soul I have a nagging doubt that the smug way I feel about our
Freelander just now won't last.
Dawn & Gert Reed-Buur wrote:
>
> ... stuff deleted
> BTW, I forgot to mention that we have probably had more than 50 of the 132
> "known" flaws(incl. seat belt failure !! and a disintegrating rubber
> gasket around the gearknob, which both are NOT on the list). Currently we
> are just waiting for the next one to appear - but as we kindly keep track
> of the faults, we know whcih once not to expect in the near future !!
>
>
--
Dr Iain Donaldson Email: ia...@itacs.strath.ac.uk
Tel: +44 141 548 4216 FAX : +44 141 552 6229
itacs, Exchange House, 229 George St, Glasgow, G1 1QU, UK
http://www.itacs.strath.ac.uk/
gary harison
to the other, which is the only way to reverse the wear? If you do swap
them side to side it takes about 200 miles for a new tyre to Bed in to
that direction, so your's would take 400 miles.
Gary
Colin Bland
pressures every week since having a front-end blow-out on a previous car.
I set them as per the manual, 30psi all round.
Every month I get the Land Rover Owner International magazine, and in the
August issue there is an article on this very subject of tyre pressure on
the Freelander advising owners to reduce tyre pressure to 26psi all round.
Just to make sure I telephoned Land Rover technical and asked their advice,
on the article in LROI.
They did agree with the article, and told me not to worry as my tyres will
have been inflated to the new pressures by my dealer before delivery and
first service.
Yes I said that was the fact, but when I checked them in the
first week of purchase and after the first service and found them at 26psi I
immediately inflated them back to the pressure in the manual.
Their was no comment from Land Rover technical. I asked them why they had
not informed owners of the revised pressures, and again there was no
comment.
Cheers Colin,
remove nospam- for real email
<colin...@virgin.net> wrote:
<snip>
>but when I checked them in the
>first week of purchase and after the first service and found them at 26psi I
>immediately inflated them back to the pressure in the manual.
>
>Their was no comment from Land Rover technical. I asked them why they had
>not informed owners of the revised pressures, and again there was no
>comment.
>
> Cheers Colin,
>
I received the letter titled *Important Information - Freelander -
Tyre Pressure - All models* from Landrover earlier in the year,
recommending that I reset my tyres to 26psi at the earliest
opportunity. The letter states *date as postmark* so I can't be
specific about the date, but I think that it was around May 1999. The
letter came direct from Landrover, and all owners you should have
received something telling them that the manual is WRONG. It included
an addendum page for the manual. If you have done a significant
mileage, then it is likely that your front tyres are badly worn in the
middle of the tread.
Mike