Our new Jimny nearly ready - excited

Chicken wrote:

tempted.with an awning and rood rails of some sort, but prefer not to have anything up there if I can avoid it.
 

If you're going to run on the beach I don't think you can avoid it - you're going to need somewhere to put your recovery boards.

The low roof load limit is one of my concerns, I accept that I am not going to be running a roof rack, but maybe a pair of cross bars that can hold a couple of decent sized boards, maybe a shovel and I'll need to weigh my old awning before making a decision on that - this is stuff that has been liberated" from my last vehicle, (a 98 GV), the rack is still on the GV because of the Jimny limitations.

Have a couple of maxtrax lites behind the passenger seat, the back seats are pretty much always folded flat anyway. Have a fordable shovel which maybe fairly useless as haven't had to deploy it yet, and the matrix can be used in a pinch.
Have snatchstrap and shackles I. The little cargo area near back door. And compressor just in the back but if I had the seats up things would be extremely tight for space. It's really a two person vehicle and maybe a dog when we are not in national parks that dogs are not allowed because they eat the wildlife

I'm sure that things will get added as we decide they are required but trying to stay fairly streamlined currently. Have the dual cab for longer excursions or if have more than 2 people want to come along.

Went for a drive today, to a couple of spots fairly local, Mt Wheeler is pretty tame but we had a bit of a convoy so was a fun tri-p, there was this one little dip that last time we came on our own in the navara we weren't keen to try, but with people around to help if we got stuck and the little Jimny with its short wheelbase, we couldn't resist.

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Then a smaller group decided to go check out another track named Pistol Gap.  there are a few options that deviate from the main track which is generally fairly tame, that go from moderate to, outright nuts. the first of which had two sections that once you committed to teh first you really had no choice about the second, I cant seem to find shots from the second, and even the dashcam filled up so much that I dont think I have fotage from it , was a big step down, that did give us a bit of a dent in tone of the radius arm points (annoyingly while we wait for the delivery of our radius arm protection )  dont think its much more than cosmetic, along wiht a bunch of pinstrips we now need to try buffing out tomorrow :panyway some stills from the first section  
 
 

the little red Jimny is a beast, so much flex and driven by a very competent driver.
 

A couple of wheel lifts required in parts of the track



The last section we had a choice about we decided to just get the demo rather than give it a go, as usual the video doesnt do justice to just how steep this was, pretty sure lockers would be required to get back out

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as no one else was keen to have a crack he just turned around and drove back out George, George, George of the jungle, watch out for that tree



Straight to the carwash when got home to get rid of that mud, probably some buffing tomorrow to try and remove the pinstripes

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Great videos, looks like a fun time!

You might be surprised at how well your battle stripes buff out. I never had the patience to do it myself, but a professional shop can make them invisible in most cases.

A proper day out on the trail, well done and thanks for sharing.

Robin

was very enjoyable, had to work hard today to buff out the war wounds, not perfect but a lot better, considering buying a buffer to make it a bit easier as I suspect we will be gathering a few more stripes on our travels

Under the mirror about half way down the door there was quite a rough looking selection, 
 
 

The rof also had a fair few and being black showed up swirls when using circular motion to buff them out so would recommend going back and forth a bit more on the black or using an electric buffer, also make sure your car is clean so you dont make more scratches with dirt etc.

after some elbow grease

 
 

To be fair there were heaps of pinstripes, I just didnt take an extensive selection of shots of them, and if you look close you can still see some of teh deeper ones but on the whole the missus went from quite grumpy when she first saw them this morning, to pretty happy

Those tree branches really took their revenge on your Jimny, but glad they have faded.

If you get an electric buffer, especially if you use a polishing sponge and rubbing compound be careful not to overdo it, you might take too much paint off.

I have started using a Ceramic Coat on my cars, it forms a thin coat over the paint and not only provides a high gloss look, it also provides a slightly tougher outer layer. Not saying that it will make any difference to tree branches but might be worth looking at. They can be expensive depending which one you get.

I just an ‘apply at home’ and once the car is clean, only takes a few minutes to apply.

Robin

I'd be wary about using a buffer too often, the paint is so thin on these Jimnys. I have considered taking mine to a detailer to get polished and ceramic coat replied as it is 5 and half years old now. But I am guessing you only have chance for a couple of buffs before the paint wears to much on the corners and edges.

Just my thoughts and concerns, hopefully I'm wrong.

May save for a wrap to apply when things start looking a bit tired in a couple of years, hopefully the paint wont be in such poor state that the wrap is difficult ? missus wanted a red one but they dont do it in 3door, and I actually quite like the blue, although having a unique colour is also appealing as there's heaps of Jimny kicking about round here.

Myt Navara, has very tired looking paint now, it just wears any pinstripes with pride , the clear coat has faded on the bonnet and roof and I already used some 2K to reapply, which looked good for about a year then started to look tired also.

actually thinking of painting the entire ute with raptor bed liner giving it a textured outer shell , the tray bed really needs it but thinking I might give the bonnet a go also and if it looks OK just do the whoel car myself

The good things about having a nearly 20 year old car you dont mind too much. Took the Ute to the beach today with the dogs, had a nice drive on the sand and then of course had to give it a good soak when got home to get any salt off it, Jimny had a day off, but did bump into another couple of Jimny owners on the beach who are members of the local 4WD club sitting in the back eating fish and chips watching the tide go out The cops came along the beach and did some random breath tests and checked out some of the vehicles, not sure if they were just interested or were looking for something in particular didnt stop us though, would be one of the best jobs in the force "having" to go on the beach for a drive