Build

I'm in the process of lifting my Jimny, this is currently how it's looking. A 6" lift with 33 x 12.5" tyres. 

With the goal of getting further up the fantastic riverbeds and valleys that our country has to offer, I've decided to go for larger wheels/tyres and more distance between me and the water. 

The large 33" x 12.5" tyres will get the diff way up off the ground, and will allow us to wade through deeper water. The 6" suspension lift allows space for the tyres and gets us way up out of the water when we're doing those crossings.

The wheels are 15x8" steel wheels with -23 offset. They stick out a lot, but this is necessary for the 12.5" wide tyres that are going to help us stay on top of mud and sand.

The suspension is a mix of bits that we've found, including some very nice remote reservoir gas shocks which are compression and rebound adjustable.

We've installed some Project Mu brake pads to help with stopping. The standard brakes on the Jimny are pretty good, but I just want to make sure they're up to the task, with some vented/slotted rotors (up front) and high performance brake pads all round.

ISSUES

- Gearing. We've just installed a gear reduction kit and it drives a whole lot better!

- I had a major issue with the front drive shaft resting on the crossmember, so have found a new crossmember from Japan to solve that issue.

- The front driftshaft angle is terrible, so I've had a new driveshaft made up, with a huge UJ and a CV. 

- Certification. Will the certifier allow me to drive this on the roads legally?  I dunno! It'll be interesting to see if they pull me up on anything, but I suspect they'll worry about body roll, and the cars ability to swerve (to avoid an accident) at 100kph.

ROAD TEST

So far the road testing is going great, the suspension is nice and quiet on the road, no strange sounds. The adjustable shocks work great, on firm they are fairly firm over bumps and on soft it's a very comfortable ride, without feeling like it's going to tip. 

Initially I had some issues getting the original steering damper off, so I drove with the new suspension using the original steering damper. This was not great. When we finally got a nice big RTC steering damper on there, the car was back to driving beautifully. Amazing how much it helped, even just around town.

At 100kph, even with the suspension set to 'soft', the Jimny sits nicely on the road, it doesn't roll about much at all. 

Check back in the next few weeks for full details, and follow me on Instagram for updates.