Frontera Technical Support

by **pidge** on Mon Feb 25, 2008 4:14 pm

my car has been loosing power for a few days now and noticed a small oil
patch under my car so i took it to a mechanic friend of mine and said the
head gasket had gone! he said he would change it with me for cost of parts
but i'm not sure if i just want to bite the bullet and get a lwb (my wife keeps
asking me to get one) just wanted to know what lwb owners think of their cars
and if there are any bad points to them and mostly what to look for when buying
one!

cheers

guys (and girls!)

by **Red Oktober** on Mon Feb 25, 2008 4:19 pm

to be perfectly honest ...
the only problem i have found is the break-over angles...and this happens

other than that ..it's far more comfortable on a long run ..(i've owned a SWB too)

by **nitromotor** on Mon Feb 25, 2008 4:20 pm

I personally only run a car that meets my needs, getting all the wife, kids, dog, and all the junk in so only ever use a LWB.
A SWB would be useless to me, unless I had it as an additional ‘toy’ and only used it for laning and play sites.

by **alex** on Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:43 pm

I couldnt run a SWB as my everyday car. They are great as a play car, but the LWB has much more room and IMHO is more stable on the road. Would also be nice to have a big boot on my play car, but thats life.

by **jmc** on Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:51 pm

I,m not the one to talk to dispassionately about my m reg2.3td lwb because I fell for it completely wasn't sensible and bought in faith.And I am still enjoying it.
I had to have a long wheelbase because I use it for work and needed the length to transport long things like in. The cushion behind the seat comes out allowing the passenger seat to go right back so the whole length of the inside can be used.It gets used for towing trailers with tools and metalwork in as well.It also doubles up as a family car last week I stuffed 4 bicycles into the back(just) and we went off on woodland tracks.I havent used it off road and would have no objections but need to find somewhere local.I had to weld up an exhaust and replace the leaf springs which I didn't spot until the first time I loaded up.
I have had it over a year now and have been watching the fuel consumption and it regularly gets 350 out of 10 gallons(45litres) so I have been encouraged by this.Less when towing or heavily laden.Watch out for low tryes on alloy wheels they can leak its to do with corrrosion on the edges and not sealing properly.The brakes went all hard on mine and the garage said it was the vacuum pump but it was just a crack in the pipe(whew).The clutch master cylinder went.
I love the lwb's perhaps if I had been better educated I would have bought a 2.8 td as they seem to be recommended.The Diamond model I saw in a scapyard had a different door at the back and an extra fold down seat which I would prefer.

by **pidge** on Mon Feb 25, 2008 6:23 pm

cheers for that mate i was just looking at the limited diamond model just before i read your post they look
good.

the only problem is i just wouln't want to take it off road incase i damaged it! i only paid £400 with a 6
months tax so im not too fussed if i break this one! the only other thing i could do is change the engine
for something with a bit more umph? maybe a calibra 2.0l 16v 4x4 might have a talk with my friend and
see if the engine is possible. as you can see i have spent alot on this one! i sat down last month and
including the car i have spent £2146.82 so alot has gone into it so i'm not sure if i could part with it!

by **alex** on Mon Feb 25, 2008 6:49 pm

Lesson no.1 Never Ever add it up, if you do in a drunk stupor then eat the paper after incase the warden spots it

by **pidge** on Mon Feb 25, 2008 6:56 pm

the good thing is my warden searchs the net for stuff for me i love it!! she is looking at loads of lwb's now but
i'm not sure!

by **bobbinsjob** on Mon Feb 25, 2008 7:39 pm

If you need a lwb as an everyday car then get one but keep the swb, get the head gasket done, mod her up to the eyeballs and have a toy cos they are a bit better offroad than the lwb because of the breakover. At the risk of being blunt, you are not going to get back anywhere near what you spent on the swb if you sell it, so treat yourself. And if your mate will do the gasket for price of parts, it aint gonna cost much anyway

by **pidge** on Mon Feb 25, 2008 8:06 pm

just got my mate looking into where we could keep such a beast!! might look at fuddy muckers project
for ideas! i might fix it and keep it though not sure yet!

by **alex** on Mon Feb 25, 2008 8:37 pm

You can go full Fuddy with a tow and play beast it would be cheaper than keeping it on the road. It does mean if you get into lanes, you would need to take the LWB, so you get to do some gentle mods on the LWB as well

by **weave67** on Mon Feb 25, 2008 8:39 pm

full fuddy lol alex

by **pidge** on Mon Feb 25, 2008 8:57 pm

it is an idea there is one on ebay no tax or mot at £155 at the moment as a donar car
we are going to put some stupidly large engine in it! i know someone who is trying to get rid
of a car trailer so we can tow it there! so there could be a pole on here soon for a name!
i think i am going to fix the fronty and buy a fronty to transform into a beast!! what sort
of engine will fit in a swb?