carrying capacity and long haul drives.

I have a load of stuff in the UK that's in storage, and I need to collect it. Or some of it... I'm going to get rid of a lot. Most is old books and trinkets.

Anyway, I can hire a removal company, which is very expensive and I'd have to fly back and pack the stuff anyway, and the stuff's not worth it. Or I can hire a van here in Crete and drive it back, but that too is expensive - hiring a van for anything up to two weeks.

So I'm thinking of driving the Jimny back and using that, to save on the hire costs. But it's not exactly a big load carrier!

So I'm looking at removing the back seats - both the backs and the bases.They have covers on them at the moment so I can't see much.... does anyone know if it's straightforward to remove them? I can't see the bolts or whatever is holding them in place.

Also, how the hell does the front passenger seat come out? I can't see what's stopping it sliding off the rails.

Thirdly, Roofracks. Anything I should know? What's the load capacity of the fitted rails?

And how does a towbar fit. If I get stuck in the UK, I may have to get one fitted. A wiring junction is already in place, so it's had a bar at some point in the past. I presume it's therefore straightforward to fit the towbar itself?

Finally, has anyone undertaken a 7000km round trip in a Jimny and survived? I have to say the prospect strikes me as slightly nuts. A bigger engined, more long legged vehicle, yes, but a Jimny? I'm not exactly thrilled at the prospect and suspect it will take a long time. It's not a car I fancy driving faster than 100km (60mph) for any extended period. So overnight accommodation costs may be high, negating the point. So I'm umming and ahhing, but it would be good to know that I can max the capacity to something reasonable, otherwise there's no point in even thinking about it.

Thanks
David

Hi, David

Can't see any difficulties in what you are proposing to do to your Jimny....removing the rear seats is a piece of cake, takes about a half hour max.
Removing front passenger seat is even easier....take seat out complete with rails by removing 4 bolts, one at each corner which hold the rails to the floor... in both cases (front & rear), don't forget to put the bolts back in the holes to seal the floor against water ingress !!
Having removed the rear seats, you can then fit a plywood floor or similar, and overlay with 3mm checkerplate rubber, like mine (here's a pic...)

Massive load space is available when you've done it, although I wouldn't advise filling it with bricks ! Or even old books !

Re. the roof rails...you're a bit limited in that respect, the Jimny rails are only rated at 30kgs max, load lightly or avoid using altogether...I know you need to optimize carrying capacity, but be careful.

Towbars are easily fitted... I fitted mine in 30 mins but I did have the rear bumper off at the time...bear in mind that the max. towable weight of an UNBRAKED trailer is 350kgs on a Jimny.

Regarding the trip itself, if I were in your position I'd treat the whole thing as an adventure rather than a chore.
Prepare your Jimny thoroughly in terms of maintenance and servicing before you even think about setting off, allow a lot more time than you think necessary for the trip....plan your route carefully and consider the legal vehicle requirements for EVERY country you propose to pass through...they do vary considerably in their requirements.

I have no idea, of course, what your time frame is, but if I were in your shoes I'd go for it without hesitation. I think your primary consideration at the end of the day is how much stuff you can actually cram into your Jimny without it dragging its arse all the way back to Crete. Sounds to me like you're going to have to be ruthless with the stuff you have in storage if you're going to make it work at all.

I wish you luck, and look forward, like many others on here will be, to a running (&photographic) commentary on your trip.

Good luck, David......go for it

Gus

I think a trailer is the way to go and with the seats removed you will be able to be able to load more up to bring back, but remember to check with your insurance company some class it as a modification when you take them out

No seats and a roof rack(avoiding the crapola roof bars on the Jimny)would be my choice.

What's wrong with your Jimny though that puts you in fear of passing 60MPH?

Thanks to all

That open space in the back looks great. I'm definitely going to do that to mine... it would make it so much more useful as a vehicle.

I went to 'my mechanic' in Chania today. There was an oil leak from the distributor - knackered seal - so got that replaced. I'm ok at mechanics, ish, but it's been a long time and I have no tools here, and don't know where to buy them from yet. It's not as though there were a Halfords down the road. Anyway, he fixed that and I also got him to change the oil and filter, and to enquire about a tow hook. The car's had new belts as well as cambelt. I'm going to have the brakes overhauled as the pads are down. Might even get the disks skimmed. And then it should be pretty much ship shape mechanically.

Trouble is with one of the roof rails. The driver side (passenger to you) rail has been broken in the past and glued up. A new rail here is an eye watering 352 euros. So stuff that. It means though that realistically, a roof box or tray is out. Unless I can source a second hand rail, which isn't likely. But whilst at the Suzy dealership enquiring about spares, I was shown a spec that says the load limit on the rails is just 25kg. Which is pointless.

Crapola bars indeed Daniel. So does anyone know of a roofbar system that doesn't utilise the existing rails? If not, it's going to have to be a trailer, which is why I'm looking at fixing a hitch just in case. Although it means buying a trailer in the UK, which is extra cost, and I don't know about it being braked... know nothing about trailers. Could be a painful trek back to Crete.
As for 60mph... that's a limit here so I usually drive at that speed on the main highway, or less actually. But it feels stressful driving a very light, tall car at speeds higher than that for any duration. And I need to be as relaxed as possible otherwise I'll be well tired....

Which brings me to another point.. there are a number of armrests for sale on ebay and amazon. Can anyone recommend any of them?

Finally, there are two routes. Via Bulgaria and Hungary which is about 3700km each way, or across to Brindisi from Petra (have to take ferry from Chania to Athens anyway) and up Italy and across france which is 3500 each way, with the cost of an extra ferry. Truth is though that the hungarian route is likely to be longer as there's a lot of temptation to detour, and it's a far more complicated route. Italy/France involves a lot of motorway. I think, despite the adventure of the hungarian route, I'm going to take Italy both ways for simplicity's sake. Although tempted to do complex up, and simple back. Any thoughts?

Finally, what I have to get in the UK is pretty heavy. What are the issues with loading up a Jimny? Suspension's pretty hard so I can't see myself bottoming it. What else is of concern? And does anyone have any views on those towhook boxes that I've seen, that somehow sit on the tow hook and up the back of the car?

Cheers
David

I find the standard Jimny will bottom out with 2 adults in the back?
Possibly it might be worth fitting the rubber coil spring assistors of the type used when towing?
A trailer will cost more on the ferries but the Jimny is ratedat 350kgs unbraked so providing you source a typical small camping type trailer it will be well under the limit.
It is advisable not to put too much weight on the roof so put the lighter stuff on top. Too much weight up there will make it unstable irrespective of the weight limit on the standard roof bars or whether you remove them and bolt a rack directly to the roof.
It has been done and there are a few posts on here about constructing racks etc.