I pranged mine recently and found that the Mantec didn't do much to protect anything. It bent and pushed everything behind back an inch or so, so that the turbo pipe was rubbing on the Aux belt pulley.
 MY13 Santorini Black SD4 HSE

That looks very flimsy, more a cosmetic plate than offering any protection. REME .. Rough Engineering Made Easy

It's 5 or 6mm alloy plate. I think the trouble with it is that there's nothing at the front edge for it to bolt to to give strength. MY13 Santorini Black SD4 HSE

Interesting the FL1 plates, by Mantec, were made of 8mm aluminium.

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I don't have plates under my Freelie and just try to go as slow as possible over the lumps. Bash plates no doubt help give some protection to squidgy bits but if they are rigid they have to transfer the impact somewhere. Lighter and more flexible might actually be better on a Freely than heavier guage. Similar to a tow bar- if someone smacks into you they will take loads of damage but one would need to check the fixing points of the tow bar to be sure that the impact has not distorted the mounting areas - modern chassis just not designed for such impacts. Bash plates generally do not seem to be a popular accessory even on serious 4 x 4s - no mention of them on (UK Spec) Landcruiser or Shogun for example. Pity that Mantec have gone however - if I was buying such new I would probably try to get them from a specialist supplier - they must be available in other countries.

Lunar-Rover wrote:

That looks very flimsy, more a cosmetic plate than offering any protection.

Agree, definitely not flimsy at all, and I too talk from experience.

A real worthwhile piece of kit (along with the fuel tank protection plate).

Wouldn't be without them. FL2 now gone and have a couple of items left for sale:-

Brodit active iPhone holder + Brodit dash clip,
Bluetooth Music Streaming Module.

Have to also agree here that I am pretty happy in general with the robustness of the Mantec kit for the Freelander 2's.

The damage in the pic is close to the front edge which I can see the guard could bend here but the main purpose of that guard for me is to protect the sump from damage and potentially losing all your engine oil and I have found it has done a pretty good job in this respect.

From my perspective the Mantec tank guard is pretty good too and your not going to go too far off road in a FL2 without one in my experience.....

I have just installed a genuine Mantec front protection plate.
Picked this up second hand, although it is a '317' (model to fit later FL2) I went into the work shop and converted it to a '316' (earlier model FL2) plate. Drilled a few holes made packing spacers, job done. [in fact this plate will now fit ALL model years of FL2s]
In answer to a previous statement ...... the Mantec guards are only 6mm thick aluminium.

For those who want a Mantec "STYLE" protection plate ....... FlatDog are due to produce their own soon ?? I am told.


Just need a Tank Guard now ........ I'll have to hunt one out.

Click image to enlarge

See Ebay item eBay Item No. 263431015884 for a tank guard. No connection to the seller but I think another forum member bought one and got it for an offer of £250 or so.

Yes I have seen that one ......... too expensive .... for what it is.

I know the RealBeale ...... he has one ....... if he hasn't already fitted it ....... I may just go and see him and measure it up ...... then back to the workshop .....

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You're more than welcome to , mate.

dondiddy wrote:

See Ebay item eBay Item No. 263431015884 for a tank guard. No connection to the seller but I think another forum member bought one and got it for an offer of £250 or so.