235/85-16 on Stock Suspension, No Body Lift & All Original Panels

Once tha chassis had tried from its jet washing I treated it to some internal rust protection.
I read the reviews and the only repeat complaint I saw about the stuff I wanted was the plastic spray tube was always kinked & split in the middle of the 36" tube. But they were old reviews im sure they'd change the tube or packaging by the time I ordered so as not to have the same problem. Nope. Kinked and split the later I didn't see until I started spraying. By then the tube was all oily and duct tape wouldn't stick to it. (Oh well twice the spray coating.)

 
 

With the inside of the chassis rust protected it was time to move onto the ends in preparation for the front and rear bumpers sourced from aliexpress (China) seen here in their boxes. 

The partial extent of my hoard preparation with extra bits & bobs.

Time to open the big boxes..smaller box first.
The front.

 




I'm not alone in not knowing what these parts were for. 


Didn't bother fitting the crush cans. It's not as if we could see any use for them. Infact I think they would need to be cut off.

No instructions!!!

Time for those childhood years of playing with mechano to pay off.

Dean decided it was best to see what would be needed to add onto the chassis first so we offered upp the lower mounts which kind of aligned.

 









Fitted the center section & swung it top into place after reinforcing the top & sides of the chassis ends

Time to put the main bumper on.
this is where it got frustrating.... really frustrating.
The bumper just wouldn't line up. It was too far forward but the centre section it was coming off was right because the the chassis brackets it was mounted on were right..
There was 1" up & down adjustment and 1" forwards & backwsrds but it wasn't enough. The whole back edge was hitting the lower slam panel.
 

This was the area where this "bolt-on" kit was hitting, we just didn't know why.E also couldn't figure out why the bumper lined up slightly better on the cars right than left. 
 





Almost a 1" wide strip was taken off


And the fit was closer.



Dreaming of 235s


Even fitted some fog lights I found on ebay that kind of matched the headlights.

Onto the rear bumper.
Ther chassis wasn't as butchered as the front but still still hacked about. The right rear looked normal but the left looked like it had had the fectory scalloped box under chassis removed & replaced with some thicker box section. No idea why.

 









Couldn't see a use for this piece so took it off along with the rusty old piece of box section on the other chassis end.

With a clear chassis we offered up the rear bumper & like the front nothing lined up. The brackets were way out. Was the chassis seriously bent or are there differences in the Japanese tin top & the Spanish soft top ?

This is how out the chassis mounts were.




Finally the left lined up


The right side was still out


The bumper was hitting the body


Just a small cut to clear the body.




Because this was so long ago I've lost a load of pics, like the one of the bumper lining up.

With new front & rear bumpers offering the most clearance I could afford for the 235/85-16 with no cutting cos I wasn't going anywhere near them with an angle grinder or any kind of gas axe and keeping all standard factory suspension it was time for the main event....

Ever so slightly used/tested.....

TIBUS OFFROAD PORTAL BOXES

Again, since it's been so long, I've lost the original pics from my old phone so had to nap these from an old post.

According to Tibus the portals give about 4.5" lift and 115% gear reduction.
I figured if a 4" suspension lift clears 235/85-16 then I'd be good with these for both lift and gearing compensation.

What's in the kit.
4 Portal Boxes
4 new HD Front & Rear Axle Shafts
Rear Disk Brake Conversation Kit
Manual Free Wheeling Hubs for the rear which becomes a Full Floating Axle.

Parts Needed
Pair of Jimny Front Hubs & Spindles/Stub Axles for the rear. (Tibus gave me a pair of hubs but the Centre hole was different to the front so I ordered a pair to keep everything the same on the front as the rear)
4 Jimny Manual Free Wheeling Hubs. (Tibus gave me a pair)
Pair of Jimny Front Brake Discs for the rear ( mine is 107mm Centre Hole. Brembo # 08526610)
 

Tibus markets this and their other kits as bolt-on that can be installed on the vehicle in under 2 days.
However 1 mount has to be welded to the underside of each axle end.
Because of this, it's probably better to take the axles off the vehicle.
Also because of the extra weight of the portal boxes on the end of the axles, I thought it would be a good opportunity to strengthen them with some trusses.

So we've seen what was in the box 
but
What's in the boxes ?
You have to open them to install them.