Furo's Jimny Build

I've been slowly working on my Jimny over the past 2 years and learnt a huge amount from this great forum. I thought it was time I made a record of my Jim's progress so far and of the progress yet to come!

Here she is "new" in 2015. Jimny Mode 2004 with 48,000 miles, but in pretty good condition.

The first modifications were front and rear Jimnybits recovery points after bending the tie-down points during a recovery! Unfortunately I'd slightly bent one of the front chassis rails in an accident getting used to driving the Jimny and how it corners in the wet, so I could only get one of the front recovery points on. I also got steel wheels but with such limited knowledge I ordered 7.5" wide wheels which look cool, but I'm suffering the consequences now with tyre rubbing. I then attempted to rustproof with a wirebrush and hammerite and got a set of stock size Goodyear Wrangler ATs (now for sale).

I then replaced my very worn shocks and springs. I should have got a lift at this point but I was worried about making the ride and handling much worse. It turns out it was so bad because the original suspension was in such bad shape.

Then came another round of modifications: Jimnybits snorkel, Suntop roofrack and a Jimnybits lightbar mounted on the front of the bonnet. I did all the work myself which was a great learning opportunity! Especially the wiring.

Over the following year I didn't do much, but engaging 4x4 became less and less reliable so I made the jump to AVM manual hubs which have been great. Then my exhaust snapped through and after looking into it I made the decision to get a full length stainless one made, which I'm very happy with! It wasn't the cheapest option, but it was half the price a genuine Suzuki one costs!

And now the latest modifications. The roofrack was making a lot of wind noise even just at 30mph so I took it to a welder nearby who sorted an air dam at the front. It's now very quiet up to about 60mph. I also removed the lightbar at this point because it was looking quite tatty. The glass had badly fogged up and the paint had all chipped off. It still worked well, but I wasn't using it at all.

I then finally pulled the trigger on a trailmaster 2" comfort lift, and I'm so happy with it. While it was being done I also got a set of ORA radius arm guards fitted that I'd bought ages ago. This was the first modification that I got done at a garage and I'm glad I did because the bolts were all seized, but they put the front springs in the back so I redid the springs myself. I replaced the stock size Wranglers with 215/75/15 General Grabber AT3s which have transformed the look, but unfortunately sometimes rub on the arches.

In terms of what comes next I have it booked in for professional rustproofing this week with Preserve and Protect near Glasgow and they have a great reputation. I've done a fair bit of rustproofing myself but I've always been conscious that I haven't been doing as thorough a job as the professionals would.

The main issue I need to sort is the front tyres rubbing on the arches. It has happened a couple of times while going over dips in the road but has been fine over big speedbumps. I'm hopeful that switching to stock width steel wheels will sort this, otherwise maybe I'll need to do some arch trimming.

I don't have any other changes planned at this point, but I'm sure that will change!

Exciting night last night transporting paediatric nurses into work thanks to the "Beast from the East"! The Jimny performed heroically.

In terms of it's current status I have recently installed adjustable panhard rods but unfortunately now have an intermittent steering wobble at various speeds. The consensus seems to be that it is likely related to the Superpro panhard bushes. I also installed a steering damper which has in turn reduced this wobble and has made handling much nicer at motorway speeds.

My next mods are 15mm spring spacers for the driver side to counter the Jimny-lean I have developed since getting the Trailmaster 2" lift and I will get my wheels properly aligned at a garage. Also while out last night my 4WD light flashed on a couple of occasions and I couldn't tell if it was properly engaged. I have a lever-operated transfer case and manual hubs so I assume it was fine and just an irrelevant vacuum issue but I will look into this.

Good on ya for helping out the nurses

btw... wobbly steering generally points to hidden issues. Steering dampers whilst great do hide the actual problem a bit im afraid. 'Death wobble' is usually between 40-50mph, and usually kingpin bearing, wheel bearings and/or rod ends.
Simple stuff to fix tho;-)

The 4x4 flashing light could be cold related. I have intermittent cold issues with ARB air lockers, which i have (possibly) attributed to water/condensation freezing in the airlines. Ive had air compressor running on endlessly trying to build pressure to the diffs when in really cold and icy conditions, which would figure with the standard air operated hubs and cold weather (hence 4x4 flashing light)?

I run superpro bushes all round and find they are good. They do provide much more steering feedback than standard bushes, which would again accentuate any defects with above steering components.

oh yeah... turn the snorkel head round. you dont want snow in the airbox!

Thanks for the reply Riccy!

This steering wobble seems related to the panhard change as I had absolutely no issues with the stock panhard (the kingpins had recently been sorted) and when I switched to the adjustable rod I immediately noticed the wobble. My previous kingpin wobble happened consistently at around 42mph but the new wobble can happen at any speed and seems quite random. It's also much less severe than the kingpin one. I searched threads on here and a few people seem to have had issues since installing panhard rods with superpro bushes.

Thanks about the cold affecting the vacuum! Would that actually affect 4WD engaging with my manual hubs or just the light? And thanks for the snorkel tip- I checked my airbox after and there was a little water in there.

I have recently sorted out a few issues with the lift, which has been very satisfying. I installed a 38mm spring spacer to rectify the lean, I adjusted the panhard rods and then I lengthened the steering bar as the longer panhards had put the steering wheel out of alignment.

Over the next couple of weeks I'm going to get the dinitrol topped up and I'm going to replace my bonnet with one that j999pre is breaking, as my current one has bolt holes from the LED bar. I also need to plug my vacuum pipes because I've never gotten round to that! Not actually sure how to go about it.

Well done on helping the nurses out. I'd like to do the same but I have to look after my 2 year old when I'm off and the Mrs is working.

Superpro panhard rod bushes gave me death wobble too. I narrowed it down to them and got some off Dave at Bits 4 Vits as he was then. Martin has some in the Bigjimny shop I think.

Look at my thread here for how to block off the vacuum pipes: www.bigjimny.com/index.php/forum/7-jimny...m-hubs-to-fixed-hubs

Kirkynut