Mine too looks just like Swanny's above.

Has anybody fitted the Powerful UK clip on grille?

.

Your grill trim is a common problem see link for cover

https://www.powerfuluk.com/front-grille-co...ilver.html

As for your FL2 steering, my own experience is that, with low profile tyres on 19in wheels, the steering is very accurate and sensitive. My only concern is that the short (stiff) tyre walls lead to some tram-lining on the deeper lorry ruts that are in parts of the motorway slow lane.
It is not violent and only needs a very slight correction at steering wheel. It is similar to that experienced in the good old cross-ply tyres. I would expect your problems may be diminished by choosing a smaller wheel diameter and therefore deeper sidewalls on tyres.

EDIT Reggie, I wish you had posted a bit earlier, I have spent 20 mins searching for the surround as I could not find the right words to find it on forum. FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 76k+ miles) (MY2015)

Quote:

Wow! thank you Peeps! (don't want to misgender anyone lol!)

Don't worry, we're all ladies on here!.

 Landrover - turning owners into mechanics since 1948

2014 Orkney grey Freelander SD4 GS.
2004 Zambezi silver Discovery 2 Td5 (Gone)
1963 Surf blue Morris Mini Minor Super de Luxe (my little toy)

IanMetro wrote:

Your grill trim is a common problem see link for cover

https://www.powerfuluk.com/front-grille-co...ilver.html

As for your FL2 steering, my own experience is that, with low profile tyres on 19in wheels, the steering is very accurate and sensitive. My only concern is that the short (stiff) tyre walls lead to some tram-lining on the deeper lorry ruts that are in parts of the motorway slow lane.
It is not violent and only needs a very slight correction at steering wheel. It is similar to that experienced in the good old cross-ply tyres. I would expect your problems may be diminished by choosing a smaller wheel diameter and therefore deeper sidewalls on tyres.

EDIT Reggie, I wish you had posted a bit earlier, I have spent 20 mins searching for the surround as I could not find the right words to find it on forum.

IanMetro wrote:

Your grill trim is a common problem see link for cover

https://www.powerfuluk.com/front-grille-co...ilver.html

You will have a steering angle sensor, I am sure it shows up as a live value on the AP200 code reader and also if memory serves in a couple of the driving modes certainly in the mud rut mode.

Swanny wrote:

IanMetro wrote:

Your grill trim is a common problem see link for cover

https://www.powerfuluk.com/front-grille-co...ilver.html

As for your FL2 steering, my own experience is that, with low profile tyres on 19in wheels, the steering is very accurate and sensitive. My only concern is that the short (stiff) tyre walls lead to some tram-lining on the deeper lorry ruts that are in parts of the motorway slow lane.
It is not violent and only needs a very slight correction at steering wheel. It is similar to that experienced in the good old cross-ply tyres. I would expect your problems may be diminished by choosing a smaller wheel diameter and therefore deeper sidewalls on tyres.

EDIT Reggie, I wish you had posted a bit earlier, I have spent 20 mins searching for the surround as I could not find the right words to find it on forum.

Hi....thanks for that reply but I don't think this is the issue....the overly sensitive steering is present all the time, smooth roads as well as rough.

I was just reading about generic Speed assisted steering and someone mentioned that many times if it's faulty it can lead to a faulty 'Steering Angle Sensor'. Not sure I have one of those either......When buying my car I drove two older TD4's which felt totally different to steer....no sensitivity like mine. I thought perhaps it was just the difference in year and models. Dunno.

The search continues....

Thank you Nodge68 -

So I can rule out a faulty Speed Sensitive Steering....thats good. There was another post I read I think on here where a chap had a similar problem and spoke of sometimes being thrown about left and right which is what happens to me also. I've sent a PM as there was no conclusion posted but heard nothing. Thats why I changed all shock absorbers but to no avail. It's really strange......

I wonder if where i take it for 4 x wheel alignment they are putting in the wrong parameters? I'm a bit limited for resources on that front where I live but I will find someone else and have it done again. Anyone know where i can find the correct suspension settings for. my car?

It couldn't be the springs could it? My mechanic didn't think so as he measured the height of the wheel arch to ground, not very scientific I know but perhaps they are worn? Is it possible the initial resistance of a spring can weaken whereas the main resistance is fine....or am I talking nonsense?

You talk about your car being unsettled after bumps, I take it that it is not worn, useless, shock absorbers?

I have in the past, on other cars, experienced unpredictable handling after hitting even mild, mid-corner bumps. Cured by renewing shocks. Springs and anti-roll bar links are other less likely culprits.

(Asking the views of others) - I am not aware that I get any feedback through steering when going over bumps - any comments? FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 76k+ miles) (MY2015)

There is something wrong with the suspension and steering setup on that car. Did you get a printout of the findings from the wheel alignment? Add it to a post and someone will soon tell you if the settings are wrong.

Hi Ian,

Yes, it doesn't tramline but uneven surfaces can make it rock side to side on the suspension quite hard, knocking me about. I put four new shocks on it about a year ago but apart from eliminating a tiny tiny bit of bounce on the springs, it did not change this behaviour at all.

One other disturbing thing which may be normal under the circumstances is if I go over a speed hump too quickly there is an almighty BANG from the suspension which feels like the suspension dropping to the limit with a bang as it exits the other side of the speed hump....weird or normal if you hit a speed hump too quickly. It seems to do this also if I go over a sharp drop like leaving the main road where there is a noticeable drop of say around 12 or 15cm. Again a bang as the wheels drop to the new level. I suppose it could be a bang as it hits the speed hump but as it happens with just a drop off I'm guessing it's only as the wheel drop. Dunno.

The steering is so light when driving a friend of mine drove it for the first time and as we set off she said..."oh! ok...it's like that is it!" She noticed immediately how light and super sensitive the steering was. You can't really relax into the drive with one elbow on the top of the door panel....I find I must make sure I'm concentrating on steering (ok, we should at all times but you know what I mean?)

I've adjusted my driving style to compensate as we do so day to day it's not so irksome, but it's always there. On windy roads you can't be lazy about when sweeping through left and right bends as it could soon get the better of you. I dread having to avoid something in an emergency as this would probably mean a very large overcorrection of the steering and might mean the difference of staying on the road or not. Gulp!

I'm definitely going to look into the toe out issue and have the tracking done again in a different location. The new tyres are not scrubbing so far so I'm assuming the tracking is ok but we shall see. I guess after this its steering rack? Pump? etc......

BossBob wrote:

There is something wrong with the suspension and steering setup on that car. Did you get a printout of the findings from the wheel alignment? Add it to a post and someone will soon tell you if the settings are wrong.

What your describing sounds like pitching side to side. This can be felt in the Freelander or most other tall vehicles, especially if the driver is used to driving cars with a much lower centre of gravity.

Vehicle instability over bump mid corner is very common, even on brand new vehicles. Our family Mazda CX5 was particularly effected by this phenomenon, where the rear could be felt to hop sideways over bumps. This kind of bump steer is difficult to eliminate on a production vehicle, but some suspension designs are better at hiding it than others. My Freelander does suffer mild bump steer on the rear, but it's not enough to concern me at all, especially as I've driven much newer vehicles which are considerably worse in this respect.

Banging from suspension as the shocks run out of travel is very common. Mine will also do it, as have many vehicles I've driven. It sounds really alarming, but in reality it's the suspension running out of extension and being restrained by the shock pistons.
The way to avoid it is to drive over these kinds of bumps slower. Driving over speed bumps quickly is vary destructive to the hydrobushes used in the suspension system, so it should be avoided. 2009 Rimini Red SE TD4. Soon to be sold.
Hyundai Ionic 5 Ultimate on order.
Gone. 2006 Tonga Green i6 HSE.

Thanks again Nodge,

I understand what you mean with tall vehicles, I've had four wheel drive cars before but never felt this kind of lateral rocking. It really isn't as a result of hitting objects I do believe it's a result of such light and sensitive steering. The best way to hold the steering wheel is with my elbows on my thighs....this way if the car rocks unexpectedly, my arms don't jiggle the steering wheel so much and make the car steer erratically. If I hold the wheel with my arms free of support and this happens the shaking of my arms can jiggle the wheel which makes the car feel very unsettled indeed.

Thanks for the input on the banging....very reassuring. I don't intentionally hit speed humps too fast but sometimes they are hard to see here in Cyprus. If I'm somewhere unfamiliar I can find a speed hump where you least expect them. ha!

^^^simply not normal. Get it checked by a trusted source.