Build

It's no secret that the factory suspension in a Jimny is fairly soft. It's fine for driving to and from work, or shooting to the shops to do the groceries. But if you're loading your Jimny up for a roadtrip, you'll need something more suited to the task.

If you're going to spend any money improving your Jimny, you should spend it on the suspension. Whether you're looking to get a suspension lift and do some offroading, or if you're happy with the standard height of the car, replacement shocks improve the ride quality immensely.

Now that we have our Rental Jimnys, I'm driving standard Jimnys more than ever, and something really needs to be done about this suspension!

My goal is to have the Jimny drive more stable. If I'm following a truck at 95kph, I don't want it to track all over the road. If I've loaded the Jimny up with camping gear, booze and snacks, I want to feel safer on the winding hilly roads through the Lewis Pass.

So I've tested 5 options now, and I've found a solution.

Our friends at KYB have a brand new product on the market, called Skorched4's, which includes a newly upgraded range of shocks for the Jimny. This is a range of shocks designed in Australia especially with 4WD touring in mind.

I'm never one to jump onto the first product I try, so I've tested 2 other brands of shocks, 6 different types of shocks in total, and these Skorched4's shocks easily come out better than the other options. Miles better than standard shocks.

Here's their speil...

"Australian designed for 4WD touring and tested for our unique conditions, the KYB Skorched4’s range was specifically engineered as a lifted height heavy-duty upgrade from Original Equipment. With a large 35mm bore, the Skorched4's shock absorber provides superior handling and control when off road, and incorporates an increased oil capacity to minimise overheating and fade-out while in operation.
All Skorched4’s Shock Absorbers are matched to industry leading coil and leaf springs, to provide extra wheel travel of up to 30-50mm for lifted vehicles (in line with the industry national code of practice)."

Driving the car without a load is firm on the road, without the body roll that they normally have. Loaded up with camping gear and two people it's stable and comfortable, steering is more direct and windy roads a lot more fun!  Offroad these shocks will really shine, with more travel and a firmer ride, tracks are going to be much more comfortable.

Even better, KYB has assured me that these are suitable for factory ride height, or up to a 50mm lift!  So if you choose to lift your Jimny in the future, you won't need to change to different shocks. They do this by having a longer shaft within the shock.

Check this out, see the difference between the standard shocks and the new ones!

We have these available for sale now (YOU CAN PURCHASE A SET HERE). They aren't cheap, but they're the very best way to improve your Jimny. Again, I truly believe this is the best improvement you can make to your Jimny.

UPDATE August 2024

Our rental car that we first tested these on has now done 45,000km on these KYB Skorched4s shocks. This car spent about 4 months with a rooftent on top, touring around the South Island continuously. It still drives beautifully, nice and firm, and very comfortable on the open road, even when loaded up.