[Zook2510]

Hi all,

We have just purchased our first Jimny after deciding we wanted a bit more after-market support than our coily had. We have been doing a lot of research on different suspension setups eg. How high, suspension vs body lift, brands etc.

We are interested in what people are running and how it performs? The car will mostly be a weekender for off-roading at Glasshouse and similar areas. We are going to be running 30s with associated gearing etc.

So far we've looked at tough dog, ORA, jimnybits etc. Amy thoughts or advice would be great!! Thanks.

[31zook]

Guard chop, 40mm TD/jimbits springs, commo/Hiace shocks. And then just make your bump stops till things stop touching.

Any higher you get woeful bump steer

[jake84]

I have. Pro comp with upgraded arms and bushes and lines and other stuff 4inch set up be careful if your going to change your suspension keep in mind the dreaded Jimny wobbles aka death wobble.
I have found pro comp to have a lot of flex on road it's ok


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[zukenutter]

31zook wrote:

Any higher you get woeful bump steer

I don't find this an issue, certainly not noticeable and definitely not woeful. I do remember my black Jimny was horrid with 40mm and no caster correction. Then after correction it was ok until I went to 80mm. Since swapping to arms with correction built in for 4" lift it's been great, in fact I prefer the feel I have over stock.

I think the bigger problem with big lift is body roll but you get used to that.

[31zook]

As a test paul, put a new person in your jimny and go over some decent little bumps.

I had 80mm and thought I had no bump steer, then my sister picked me up one day in it and I realised how bad it was. I was so use to it that I was auto correcting as I drove and as I said, would of sworn black and blue that I had 'No bump steer', but it was defs there.

Once I dropped back down to 40mm I got her to drive again and she said it was heaps easier and I found it the same experience.

Did you have caster corrector arms on the 40mm lift?

[zukenutter]

not with 40mm, I actually went to about 55mm and needed/installed caster then. After that I stepped up to about 80 but made no change to caster, things got shitty again.

Couple of questions;
1. bump steer? Or roll steer?
2. Your sister test drive… are we talking tarmac or bush?
3. Were you running sway bar or removed?

I had both Jimnys running side by side in various formats over five years, the only notable difference, apart from body roll, was when caster was wrong.
With heavier coils and no steel bar or winch the front wheels would travel upward less mm than stock, the drag link follows the same path as the panhard so no not an issue. Without the sway bar everything would change of course. In thinking about my previous sentence I can't help but think that more weight up front is the bigger issue here. When I'm on the open road I can happily cruise at over 110 with just a finger resting on the spoke of the steering wheel. Next time I drive to Sydney I'll definitely drop by, you can have a go and see what you think… maybe I am just used to it but I don't think so.

[zukenutter]

Okay, just went out for a test, bump steer virtually not an issue. Roll steer (hitting a bump with only one wheel) is definitely the more noticeable effect. Still wouldn't call it woeful but maybe that's because I run the sway bar and don't have very much weight up front.

[31zook]

Thats a form of bump steer, when your car jerks in one direction or another.

Absolutely not telling you how to build a car, if your happy with it then that's what matters. Scrawn said you have a meticulous kept car, so tight bushes and sway bars would help with it too.

I don't have a sway bar as it doesn't work with my 3-link. Which is another reason that I am possibly more susceptible to bump steer. And it was just a tarmac run

[zukenutter]

Not taken personally but so much info gets misused or misquoted on here and I just like to get to the bottom of why people have a particular problem that hasn't been an issue for others. Some people would read "woeful bump steer" and think that is gospel for anything over 40mm, just like the wobble thread has had people who have no idea what they're talking about scaring people into thinking that's what will happen once it's lifted.

I'm guilty of this tonight by saying that the shaft that failed on the original VVT gearbox was the output, luckily Losfer set me straight. Lol, I'm being set straight a lot today

I'm always happy to admit when I'm wrong.

As for meticulous, I think he's being kind but I do hate when something's not right, currently I have a long list. We are often alone and far from help so I like to know everything is as it should be

[cal213]

Avo 2"

[Jezza86]

i hate the concept of 'best'. i think its best if water do sent come through the door handles, wet my floor and drown my ECU. hence i accept that with 30"s, 3" of lift and a 2" BL make my car handle like boat in some situationf

[zukenutter]

Everybody's idea of best will be different based on needs, terrain and also aesthetics. My idea of best has changed many times over the years and is about to change again

[Zook2510]

Thanks everyone for the info/advice.

At this stage we are thinking of going with a 3" Tough Dog kit and waiting to see how that goes, before we decide on whether to do a body lift or not. Hopefully the 30s will fit with just a bit of bumper trimming here and there.

[Jezza86]

tough dog springs and shocks are ubur hard, one of the highest spring rates out as far as im aware. Monley doesn't recommend them after he had them on his twilight rig.
but if you want to carry large loads all the time (2 bags of concrete in the boot at all times) it could work for you. as soon as you go 3" you will need castor correction, panhards, and potentially a front prop shaft spacer.

on the other hand a body lift will need a longer steering shaft, i had to extend mine 7mm from memory for a 2"bl.

if you do the bigjimny guard chop and run rims with less then a -15mm offset, you can get by with a lot less lift, 1" may even do it if you extend bumpstops

if you dont need height, dont get it. a sleeper thats functional is much better then what i have on and off the road.

[Jezza86]

3" and bodylift will also need longer breaklines....

[JuniorJoel]

I have a tough dog lift "3inch" and as stated above it is has very high spring rates. I also wouldn't say that it is the best designed kit on the market but if you were to use it for heavy loads it would be prefect. I would suggest looking at a JB LIFT as you have the choice of different shocks ect. But as before what suits certain people doesn't suit others.

You will definatly need adjustable panhard rods and brake lines are a good idea, as we'll as either castor corrected arms or bushes.

Just take the time to look into it all because as many people we all change our minds and sometimes our first choices arn't the best haha,

[monley]

Best riding Jimny I've been in was one with 4"ORA lift. It had alot of body roll but handled the bumps a lot better than 3"TD lift.

If I was going to builid another Jimny that had lift it would be based around the 3" ORA lift with a few things changed out like the panhards. I prefer the tough dog panhards over the ORA ones, I'd also maybe run a rear sway bar to force the front end to work a bit more.

[jimny_timmy]

^^^ this X a billion... Although with enough weight (ie bull bars etc) 4" is pretty much 3

I would be interested in seeing how a rear swaybar makes it feel... My rear end gets a little scary climbing steps sometimes if you loose traction halfway up and come back down.

[jimny_timmy]

And just to add to monleys post... Ditch the ORA shocks for the commo/hiace setup... Much better ride

[SierraDan]

Put an antirock style sway bar in so it only adds roll stiffness not limiting travel.

[Zook2510]

SierraDan wrote:

Put an antirock style sway bar in so it only adds roll stiffness not limiting travel.

Where do you get these from mate?

Thanks everyone for the advice...its a big decision especially when there is $$$ involved by the time you get the full kit. Can't find many options higher than a 2" lift other than ProComp, TD or ORA

Any other thoughts/ideas???