2" Black Raptor lift kit

Indeed Dan, does look nice

Let us know how you get on when it gets offroad...

Dave

Took it down my fave local lane tonight and it seems very good in my novice opinion. The damping seem much better suited than the standard stuff and articulation seems better from the drivers seat. Gets a thumbs up from me!

Hello there,
I've been a lurker for some time now and proud owner of a black Jimny for a year now.
Thinking of doing some modding and one of the things I've been considering for quite a while now is a suspension/lift kit upgrade. I'm especially looking for an upgrade in the suspension department and have longed to buy the Trail Master comfort 2" lift kit, but its steep price held me back.
Now that I saw the Black Raptor kit popping up at JimnyBits I thought it may well be what I was looking for... Am I right? Does it add the same comfort I'm told the TrailMaster would give the Jimny?
I live in a neighbourhood with many (rather steep) speed bumps and need to almost crawl over them and I feel almost every bump in asphalt roads. Oh, I will be using the Jimny about 90% on asphalt, so I want to gain there and not loose too much of Jimny's great off-road capabilities.
Any thoughts are greatly appreciated!

Also, I for one would like to see those before and after pics, Horney!

I have the 2" kit from jimnybits but with the pro comp shocks. The springs will be the same as mine and I find them nice and flexi off road. The pro comp shocks are very hard on the rear so if the black raptor ones are much softer it should be a nice kit.

Thanks for the input. I think I'll order the kit soon.
@Horney: did you find time yet to shoot some before/after pics?

Any updates on the Black raptor after some usage ?

I want to order them .. Are they soft ride onroad ? feels the difference from the stock suspension ?

Installation was reasonably easy for someone with not too much car maintenance experience. Took me and a mate about half a day. After installing I found that the suspension was generally much more comfortable than stock and the extra height is also nice from the outside and inside! I can now drive over speed bumps at a reasonable speed without the sensation that I hit a curb (there are quite a few annoying ones in my neighbourhood). The suspension on the rear tends to kind of hop the back up quickly, when leaving a bump. It sort of jostles me up a bit; I guess those springs are a bit stiffer. In general they are really nice flexy on asphalt: the comfort I was looking for.
However, despite recommendations, I did not install the castor correction bushes and there the fun begins: I found out the hard way why they are really needed. I should have installed them together with the lift kit, as the steering has become quite vague: some may call this land-boatiness (I learned here). In short my Jimny now tends to pull left and right when driving over normally unnoticeable height variations in the road (like aquaplaning) and this makes the ride much more tiring. Bump steer is another term I came across as, when driving on bad, bumpy roads, the car seems pull left and right into holes.

I've already received the SuperPro correction bushes and will install them soon, reckoning this will improve things greatly.

I also experienced my first death wobble when braking at 80 km/h and the slight wobble I had at 75 km/h while driving has tripled and now mostly occurs from 70-85 km/h. When driving on straight, quality roads at about 100 km/h (typically high ways) the vagueness is hardly noticeable, except at strong winds.

For this I will install the shims on the kingpin bearings, as I had the bearings checked and they are still fine.

I did not go off-road yet, but I'll do that after the corrections.
I'll report back later!

Installed the castor correction bushes and noticed a reasonable improvement, but things still weren't as good as before (actually I had expected better results from the bushes). Some vagueness was still there. Probably the wheels need re-alignment, which I will do later.
Also, I had the local dealer install shims for the kingpin bearings and the wheels balanced (which appeared to be really necessary on the right side). This really solved my death wobble issues, as far as I can tell after a couple of rides. Steering response has impoved and there is less slack in the steering wheel.

Next week I'll bring the Jimny in for wheel alignment and then I hope all will be optimal.

Had the Jimny aligned and no surprises there: the Caster angle was almost 0 degrees. That explains the steering that is still less than great.
However, I cannot figure out why this is the case, with the Poly caster corrections bushes in place this should be fixed.

Ideas would be really appreciated.

Not sure, but I seems there's a general thing regarding death wobble and suspension kits fitted. Don't think I've ever seen a death wobble mentioned here, on a Jimny with a Quality suspension kit installed (Trail Master, Old Man Emu etc.) But often mentioned on cheaper suspension kits.

Remember. This kit may have a fancy name. But do also keep in mind that you have no idea of the origin of the shocks. Same goes with shocks from vitmods and other very cheap "brands". Pro Comp and Rough Country are both fairly well known brands, but still in the cheaper end. And not made for the Jimny.

Did you need spring compressors to fit this kit? and how easy was it..bearing in mind i am sat here longing to fit mine, but got no spring compressors at moment.!!