"Mild" off-road plans for Jimny commuting and playing - Opinions welcome :)

Hi,

I have an 07 Jimny in good condition, bought with the intention of teaching my keen 12-year old daughter about cars, driving and maintenance. It is small enough for her to operate everything, and simple enough that we can actually consider doing jobs on it! Since buying it I have driven it to work more often than my "normal" car, and taken it off-road (Wagtail 4x4) twice. Amazing fun - but needs a little more clearance (as well as driver ability)! Only mod so far was a transfer box guard (very sensible it seems!) and, from where I had to dig the mud out, the radius arm protection kit will be a wise addition soon!

Reading through all the brilliantly helpful info on this forum, I think I have narrowed down the mods we are planning to the following. I would much appreciate anyone warning me of any bad ideas or missed essentials. I think a king pin bearing is starting to wear (slight wobble at 45mph, and all tyres have been balanced), so that will be the first job, but my aim is to do moderately simple steps that are achievable by me and my daughter on our driveway (as far as possible) without too much recourse to a garage! A chunky appearance is important to my daughter, but I also want it to remain driveable on-road (and on flat airfield-type surfaces), as I can't resist driving it to work, and she will be learning to drive in it (at suitable locations!!).

Step 1 : Wheels and tyres
- I have 2x good Duellers on the front, 2x balloony "Federal" tyres on the rear and 1x Dueller spare (unused) on the standard alloys. I like the look of the alloys, but we want chunkier tyres for better grip off-road and the look! So, it is either 2 more Duellers to make a set, or a complete replacement set.
- I like the idea of either spacers or offset wheels for a little more track (especially with a view to a mild lift). Buying a set of the 15" 30mm offset black modular wheels from JimnyBits seems to "avoid" the cost of spacers, and I can still have a spare set of wheels/tyres for on-road if I end up with more mud-focussed tyres in the future Does the 30mm offset keep 205/70/15 tyres legally inside the arches, or will extensions be needed?Similarly, if I stay with 205/70/15 tyres, I assume I will be okay for clearances (to arches and on full-lock) while on standard suspension?
- Tyre choice appears to be trickiest of all - so many choices and so many opinions. I want better off-road than the Duellers (which appear to be H/T biased), but understand that it may mean noise, economy considerations etc. Sticking with the standard 205/70/15 size also makes sense as the lift may well follow in a short while, and standard size would, I assume, mean no fouling in the meantime. The following seem a reasonable shortlist. Any opinions welcome ?
(I can't find BFGs and AT2s in 205/70/R15 so that narrows it down)
- Goodyear Wrangler AT SA Plus - Good name (I think)
- Malatesta Koala - look quite aggressive
- Yokohama Geolander A/T-s
At the moment, the Koalas look my favourite (followed by the Geolanders), and they are on JimnyBits which makes me think they have some level of history on Jimny's!
Or should I be considering 205/75/15 as well, for the minor axle lift that will give?

Step 2 : 2" lift kit.
- This would be mainly for a bit of extra clearance, and also cosmetics
- Reading around all the kits, TrailMaster seems to be still good on-road, which remains important to me. I am not sure of the relative merits of the other options, although the tuning of the shocks seems key. Is this simply a matter of "you get what you pay for", or should I consider some of the other 2" kits?

Step 3 : Possibly castor correction bushes or spring spacers
- I think this is going to be dependent on how it feels after Step 2. My drive to work is windy back lanes and from work includes straight dual-carriageway, so the self-centring will be a case of "suck it and see". New bushes in is easy if they are split bushes, so depends on how hard they are to get the old ones out without presses etc.
- Some posts on the forum mention the need for an extra spacer on one side after fitting the lift kit. I understood the TRailmaster kit to be tuned to the Jimny specifically - should it need extra spacers?

Step 4 : Snorkel!
- I don't envisage doing much wading at all, so this is unlikely to ever get used properly, but this is the first thing my daughter asked if we could fit!!! So, who am I to deny her

I imagine that lights and other more minor add-ons will make an appearance as we go

If you have read this far, many thanks for sticking with it , and I would greatly appreciate any comments or suggestions!

Thanks

Nick

Well welcome to the forum nice to see you getting the jim for you and your daughter its a great idea i have an 07 plate and started modding with offset modulars and 205/75/15 and they were fine a 2'' lift Trail master will be perfect for what you want handling will be spot on but there is two versions sport and comfort i have a 3'' Trailmaster lift and can't fault it no spacers needed for me and a good quality bit of kit, the tyre tread stays within the arches on modulars 205/75/15 grabbers , lots of people on here with great advice and knowledge so you will be spoilt for choice good luck here is a link to my build if it gives you any hints or tips and don't forget to post photos of the jim otherwise no one will talk to you!!!

www.bigjimny.com/index.php/forum?view=topic&catid=8&id=60415

Thanks Dan, Kirkynut

Both your Jimnys look great and very much the sort of thing we are after, and gives a lot of food for thought. I think I will take your experience and go for 205/75/15 tyres for that mild height increase. And the Trailmaster vote of confidence is good to hear, probably Comfort. I will add re-bushing to the list of wants.. I need to sit down with a cuppa or a lunch hour to work my way through Kirkynut's thread

Dan - those 205/75/15 Grabbers look like they come out of the arches on the 30mm offsets, but you mention they fit okay - is it just the photo making them look protruding, or are they MOT-failure risks?

I will take a load of pictures before I start and as it progresses, but here are some of the "before" that I have This forum seems a friendly and helpful place to discuss this

I fitted an Android head unit with a USB dash cam for recording everything / everyone I see ahead of me off-road, but that does leave me with very few pictures of the Jimny itself off-road

Nick

The side wall sits outside a bit but the tread sits just under the edge I've had an mot as the Jimny is at the moment and flew through

Thanks Daniel,

Does it hit the arch as the suspension compresses then (especially with front wheel not in the straight-ahead position), or is the suspension arc just right to take it inboard?

If it hits, I may have to consider the 2" lift earlier (I assume that will help the wheel arc miss the arch), or stick with 0 offset...

Nick

Tyre tread protrusion is more a C&U issue...not an MOT fail item....Police can issue a dangerous condition notice if they feel so inclined.

So are the mods fitted yet?

it will catch the arch without the lift but i would get the wheels first and see how you go if its mild green laying you might be ok i went to a pay and play site before i had the lift and it was pretty good only rubbed a couple of times

nice pics

Thanks guys,

I need to have a good look at (and measure of) the arches as they are now, and the current tyres to see whether to stick with the standard offsets (although the extra stability will probably be welcome, especially once lifted. I haven't tried green laning, but the small areas on Wagtail already exercise the wheel articulation (moderate example below), and I haven't really planned to start hacking the arches about...



I had to google "C&U" I suspected it was more about spray and subjective opinions of "dangerous".

Whichever way I decide, I may end up with a barely-used set of modular wheels for sale on here, when I realise I really wanted the other ones Or, I get the tyres fitted to the standard wheels (I assume they are the same as the modulars in overall shape, and then I can see whether the 30mm offset would work.

I want to go for another off-road play at the end of October, and would like new tyres for then, to see how they do before adding the lift kit.

Nick

Hi Nick, spray suppression is an area I specialise in....not many want to sit behind me on a wet day.....I'm highly in the illegal/legal grey area as my bodykit leaves around 2/3rds of my tyre showing and huge plumes of spray behind me!

I know what you mean.