Gen 4 Jimny Shocks

Dear All, I know this subject has been discussed many many times, I have read through the articles but I'm not quite clear on what makes the suspension so harsh, I will not use the car off road and would like a more comfortable ride. it seems much of the wheel movement is transmitted into the cabin, is it a combination of the springs and shocks? Or mainly the shocks. I did chat to Twisted and they said keep the standard springs, any help pls?
Also I have been making enquiries regarding an overdrive unit for the Jimny, anyone got a heads up?

You MAY have purchased the wrong vehicle for your use case.

The Jimny, all four generations, is a body-on-frame, live axled, light truck and with the exception of the newly released five door model, short wheel based.

This is almost literally a recipe for what some people would describe as a "harsh" ride - because of the short wheel base, it will "pitch" fore & aft more than a vehicle with a longer wheel base would, because of the live axles, any uneveness in the road surface will be more noticeable than it would on a vehicle with independent suspension.

Personally (and I'm driving a Jimny with stock suspension), I don't find the ride at all harsh, but there is a marked difference if you're going to compare it to a typical sedan or hatch.

Essentially those of us who plan on taking the Jimny off road are aware that we're trading "on road comfort" for "off road capability", and are willing to accept the shortcomings of the vehicle for the advantages that we get - if you don't need or want that off road capability, maybe the Jimny is not what you need.

I wouldn’t describe my Jimny Gen 4 suspension as harsh, it’s better than my old Gen 3, both were stock suspension.

Compared to my previous car (BMW series 3) and my other car (Porsche Boxster) it’s positively soft, especially going over speed bumps and pot holes.

Robin

GAZ make adjustable shocks for the Gen.4 Jimny and I bought a 50mm lift kit from Jimny Bits that included same. The difference is surprising as the shocks, on their softest setting, are far more comfortable than the standard whilst still retaining acceptable levels of body roll and control.

Roger

It depends on your point of reference. I'm a shepherd and other than my jimny I drive a tractor and very occasionally a shorty land cruiser. My jimny is like riding on a cloud. If however you are used to say a French hatch back then a jimny will be like a pile of rocks. Before you go change things give yourself a chance to get used to it.

Basic suspension theory: there's sprung weight and unsprung weight.  Unsprung weight is all the stuff below the springs, which is *a lot* on a Jimny, since it includes the entire axles.  If the unsprung weight is low, these parts will ride over irregularities easily, without much movement being transmitted to the sprung parts such as the body with you sitting in it.   If the unsprung weight is high relative to the sprung parts, the wheels are far more resistant to riding over bumps, a lot more movement is transmitted to the body, and you experience a jiggly ride.

l remember when we got our 2020 Jimny how much better the ride was, than our 2005 Defender.

l wondered how Suzuki did it, with the same underpinnings, and had a go at changing the springs/shocks on the Defender to improve it.

I think Suzuki have done a great job with the Jimny, when you take into account the type of vehicle that it is. l doubt you'd be able to improve on it much, unless you could import a five door version.

The five door will probably ride better.
Very much like the old Defender, where the LWB version had a better ride quality due to the longer wheelbase.

Jimnyjon wrote:

Dear All, I know this subject has been discussed many many times, I have read through the articles but I'm not quite clear on what makes the suspension so harsh, I will not use the car off road and would like a more comfortable ride. it seems much of the wheel movement is transmitted into the cabin, is it a combination of the springs and shocks? Or mainly the shocks. I did chat to Twisted and they said keep the standard springs, any help pls?
Also I have been making enquiries regarding an overdrive unit for the Jimny, anyone got a heads up?

As others have alluded too. It is just physics and a stock Jimny shouldn’t be harsh. When mine has been in for a service I’ve driven Suzuki Ignis back to back and I’d say by and large the Jimny rides a lot better.

But you do need to understand that it is a live axle 4x4 with a short wheel base and relatively narrow track. Swapping shocks and springs does not address or change any of these points. Therefore any rude traits related to these items will remain unchanged.

Better shocks should give more “control”. So over things like sleeping Policemen/road jumps the suspension will feel less crashy on bounce and rebound. But the general ride will remain much the same overall.

Most lift kits or suspension kits will come with stiffer springs. So the ride will likely be more firm if you change springs too.

I’m not saying don’t change the suspension. There are gains to be had. But they are most certainly evolutionary rather than revolutionary in terms of ride quality.

Make the shocks too soft and you’ll just end up with a wollowy mess on the road. Softer springs will induce more lean and roll in the corners.

Ultimately it sounds like maybe a compact live axle 4x4 is not the right vehicle for you for dedicated road only use. Something like a RAV4 would probably solve your complaints, this is because it lacks all of the off road abilities and suspension flex.

There is not, as far as I am aware, another passenger car for sale in developed countries that has a solid front axle.  And there are very few that have a live axle even at the back.  The Jimny is the only car on the market that does not have independent suspension.

Many people don't really understand the implications of driving something that is a mid-20th century design.  

Not blaming the original poster.  Just observing that -- outside of enthusiast circles -- it is not well-understood how different the Jimny is from anything else on the road.  

Jeep wrangler and ineos grenadier is the only other ones I can think of outside of specialised stuff like ibex and unimog. Even the G wagon is ifs now.

Lots of vehicles with live rear axles still. Pretty much every pick up bar a few rare examples like Honda. 

And lots of SUV’s such as any truck based ones 4Runner and things like the Bronco. 

Front live axle is much rarer. Wrangler probably the biggest offering with something like 200,000 - 250,000 sales each year globally. 

The G-Wagon is IFS these days although I thought you could still order the live axle variant for their off road version. But maybe that has stopped now. Was it something like 4x4 Squared. Portal axle options too. 

In other markets you can get the Toyota 76 Series which is live front axle. There are also some other Asian offerings such as the Mahindra. 

And then some small scale makers like Ibex in the U.K.  Plus some trucks like the Iveco Daily 4x4. 

However, yes indeed front lives axles are somewhat rare in the mass market these days.

Shame the op hasn’t posted anything else??

Jimnyjon wrote:

Dear All, I know this subject has been discussed many many times, I have read through the articles but I'm not quite clear on what makes the suspension so harsh, I will not use the car off road and would like a more comfortable ride. it seems much of the wheel movement is transmitted into the cabin, is it a combination of the springs and shocks? Or mainly the shocks. I did chat to Twisted and they said keep the standard springs, any help pls?
Also I have been making enquiries regarding an overdrive unit for the Jimny, anyone got a heads up?

Just to answer more fully to the specific question.

Earlier this year I fitted the Black Raptor Premium kit from JimnyBits to my JB74w.

It is a 2” lift. But IMO it drives and handles better now than on standard suspension. But it is a little firmer. But the shocks offer a lot more control.

I believe you could fit the same shocks (or standard length ones) without a lift. Being adjustable they will allow you to tailor the dampening to your liking. The springs are a heavier spring rate than stock. So while it leans less and has controlled damping. It is a little firmer overall.

So I can recommend these shocks. But you will need to be prepared to spend some time messing about with them. No point in having adjustable shocks if you aren’t prepared to adjust them. I think AVO also offer adjustable shocks.

I’d also guess the Old Man Emu and Bilstein shocks would be an upgrade over stock ones if you don’t want adjustable.

But as per my earlier comment. Don’t expect a radical transformation. It just won’t happen. All it is doing is refining the setup, you won’t be changing the dynamics or physics of how the suspension works.