Greetings from Finland

Partner:
Feiertag?
  • Hi!


    I'm a proud new owner of a Freemont from Finland. Sorry that my German is somewhat rusty, so I'll stick to English. I can understand German a bit, but you really don't want me trying to write anything..


    I have a history with Italian cars and when it came the time to find a bigger family transporter I got a Freemont. I previously drove a -09 Lancia Delta 1,6 MJet and the Mrs. had a 159 Alfa. The Mrs. will most likely do most of the driving with the Freemont and I'll take the Alfa. As a summer car I have a -77 128 Fiat with a tampered 1,6 l and a 5 speed. I work as a hydraulics engineer and do a bit of traveling on sites. The Mrs. is at home with our 1, 3, and 5 year old kids for now. My mother in law lives about 40 km away and doesn't have a drivers license. She also visits us regularly with my wifes nephew and niece. So picking them up from a train/bus has been a bit tricky and impossible if I'm away.


    So far I've driven like 100 km with the Freemont, so don't have a real good feel of the car, but so far I like it and it seems to suit our transportation needs pretty well.


    I was out on the market for a 7 seater for quite a while. I like cars and driving, so my cars have to offer something else besides just basic transport. I guess that is why I've drifted to Italian cars. We test drove one Peugeot 5008, but didn't like it at all. I was also looking at S-max Fords, especially the 2,5 T versions, but those are somewhat rare with 7 seats and a Titanium trim level. Also somewhat expensive to buy and drive so I would have had to settle for like an -06/-07 with about 250 k on the clock. I also looked at the Eurovans, but those weren't imported after 2008, so those are pretty old and also hard to come buy since not many were sold to begin with. Most cars around here have very basic trim levels because of the taxation, so its hard to find anything with any extras. I was also looking at C4 Grand Picassos, but most are with the DV6 diesel and BMP6 box. Both a bit suspicious choices. Also most are with the most basic trim. C-Crosser/4007 was also an option, but those are a bit smallish. Did take a look at a Doblo and Scudo + relatives, but didn't like the ride of these modified vans. VW was not an option due to many problems. Grand Scenic also has a pretty unreliable reputation. Grand Voyager would have just massive space, but again rather expensive to buy and run. Fuel consumption and mass is used to calculate an annual tax, so that makes the big Voyager rather expensive to own. Journeys would have been cheap, but the horrible interior is a pretty strong turn off.


    After all this I got a Freemont. The ride is comfortable and the Urban trim level has pretty much all that I want. Tow capacity is just ridiculous, but I can live with that. Sure a car like this would be nice with an automatic gearbox, but I can live with a manual and the Mrs. has never driven an auto. There aren't a lot of Freemonts around, so there isn't a lot to choose from. Almost all are 140 hp 4x2 Urbans.


    The Freemont I got is in pretty normal condition for a 5 year old car. Not flawless, but generally clean. Brakes will need a complete overhaul pretty soon, but that isn't a problem. It seems that parts for this aren't as easy to come by as for many other models. I can pretty much do all service work and repairs myself, so I try to keeps some parts in stock and service the car before anything breaks down completely. Any good clues what might be the weak points of this? A-arms? I have a burnt headlight bulb (hopefully) and wit hthat I already hit a wall. It seems these have two bulb types and there is no info on what is where. I guess I'll just have to take the old one out first.

  • Hi and welcome!
    The next Freemont-Meeting is in Finnland, yeah!
    See the attachments for the lights (headlights = ZMP_1080089 and high beam = ZMP_61250)


    Best greetings from Germany

    Dateien

    |Black Code | Baujahr 05/2015 | Tenore Schwarz | 170 PS Diesel | Schaltwagen | LED's | Tagfahrlicht freigeschaltet | Navigation in Bewegung aktiviert|

    Mein Freemont: Baujahr 05/2015 Black Code 170 PS Schaltwagen Tenore Schwarz
  • Welcome and thanks for your in-depth introduction. Have fun with your Freemont, and concerning brake discs and pads I can highly recommend EBC as a reliable and long lasting alternative to Fiat's original low-quality brake discs. ;)

    2011 Freemont Urban JTD 170 PS | Progressive Grey | EBC Premium-Discs und Blackstuff-Bremsbeläge | Tagfahrlicht | Chrom | AHK

    Mein Freemont: <p>Freemont Urban ohne Dachreling (2011) in Progressive-Grey, mit Tagfahrlicht und 19" Chromfelgen, Spiegelkappen und Edelstahl-Einstiegsleisten, abnehmbare AHK</p>
  • Thanks for the welcomes and thanks for the light information. Picked up new bulbs yesterday, but haven't installed yet..


    I was looking at the brakes, but problems again. For the front there are two types listed: Bosch and Lucas/Girling. How do I know which I have without taking everything apart? Bosch pads are 147x64 mm and Lucas/Girling 144x63 mm. Are the front discs 302 or 330 mm?


    Same for the rear: 117x53 or 130x55?


    Spare parts catalogs seem to be very poor for this car!



    I have used EBC Turbo Groove discs in the past and those are good IMO. But I cannot say the same about the pads. Might be ok, for street use, but.. I have a -97 Bravo HGT as a track day car. That has the heavy 5 pot lump in the front and its pretty hard on the brakes. That has 284 mm discs. I tried EBC Bluestuff endurance pads:





    Friction material parted from the back plate and lost brakes at about 150 kph. Lost the brakes from right front wheel and spun very fast. From the left side I could break the pad with just my hands. I asked about that from the factory and the reply eventually was just that its racing use and no warranty applies. They had some speculations about brake bias and ABS function, but I fail to see the point.


    Bluestuffs also faded after about 3 fast laps even though those are supposed to be endurance pads. Now I run Ferodo DS3000 pads. Those won't fade at all no matter how hard you push. Ferodos cost 180 e and EBC about 90 e, but one works where the other doesn't.


    In my 128 I have the stock 227 mm discs with Ferodo fast road pads. Those seem to survive even on the track for a couple of fast laps. I have about 140 hp in the engine.


    My case is not the only one that I know of where the friction material has parted from the back plate or has started to chip away. I would think very carefully if to use EBC pads anywhere. Caveat emptor...


    In my 159 Alfa I have had Bosch/TRW/Brembo pads in the 305 mm 4 pot Brembo calipers and those also have worked ok on the track.


    As fluid I only use Motul RBF600. Its easily avalable, decently priced and has a dry boiling point of over 300 deg C.

  • Er hat doch in seinem Anfangspost geschrieben, dass er nicht so gut auf Deutsch kann.

    2011 Freemont Urban JTD 170 PS | Progressive Grey | EBC Premium-Discs und Blackstuff-Bremsbeläge | Tagfahrlicht | Chrom | AHK

    Mein Freemont: <p>Freemont Urban ohne Dachreling (2011) in Progressive-Grey, mit Tagfahrlicht und 19" Chromfelgen, Spiegelkappen und Edelstahl-Einstiegsleisten, abnehmbare AHK</p>
  • Man kann es sich doch über google so halbwegs übersetzen lassen.

    |Black Code | Baujahr 05/2015 | Tenore Schwarz | 170 PS Diesel | Schaltwagen | LED's | Tagfahrlicht freigeschaltet | Navigation in Bewegung aktiviert|

    Mein Freemont: Baujahr 05/2015 Black Code 170 PS Schaltwagen Tenore Schwarz
  • Sorry for the German speakers, but my German is not good enough for me to write in German. I do understand your comments. I can try to write in a way, that Google translates it rather well.


    It has been about 20 years from my last German lesson..

  • My case is not the only one that I know of where the friction material has parted from the back plate or has started to chip away. I would think very carefully if to use EBC pads anywhere. Caveat emptor...


    I can't say anything about the racetrack. The problem with the Freemont's original brakes it that they tend to overheat and then produce a permanent imbalance especially when braking from higher speeds on the Autobahn. The solution for me and many others in the forum were the original OEM brake discs (EBC Premium Disc) and Black Stuff or Green Stuff brake pads. Since I switched to EBC I personally have not had any more trouble with the Freemont's braking system during the last four years. And I haven't heard of any others here in the Forums.
    But surely, if you can find braking stuff from Ferodo or Brembo for the Freemont that's certainly never a bad choice.


    Regarding your question about brake measures, Fiat fitted the Freemont with bigger brake discs and pads as of 01/2012. The older versions have disc diameters of 302 and 305 mm, the 2012 and newer versions have 330 and 328 mm. Brake pads have bigger sizes accordingly.

    2011 Freemont Urban JTD 170 PS | Progressive Grey | EBC Premium-Discs und Blackstuff-Bremsbeläge | Tagfahrlicht | Chrom | AHK

    Mein Freemont: <p>Freemont Urban ohne Dachreling (2011) in Progressive-Grey, mit Tagfahrlicht und 19" Chromfelgen, Spiegelkappen und Edelstahl-Einstiegsleisten, abnehmbare AHK</p>

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