Best 40–50mm Lift Kit for Jimny Gen3 – OME, Trailmaster, Tough Dog, Pedders? Wha

Hi all,I'm from Europe and currently looking to install a 40–50mm suspension lift on my Gen3 Jimny (JB43, 1998–2018). The car is not my daily driver – I’m building it up mainly for vacation trips and overlanding, with a focus on off-road use.I’ve found several lift kits available here, there's probably more, including:

• OME
• Ironman
• Trailmaster
• Black Raptor (Jimnybits)
• Tough Dog
• X-Shocks Dakar
• Pedders

I’m not necessarily interested in all of them, but those are what I’ve come across so far. I’m struggling to figure out which one actually suits my use case best.What I want:

• 40 or 50mm lift
• Good off-road performance and decent comfort
• Strong and reliable kit
• Future upgrades might include a roof tent and camping setup inside, but no bullbar; I might add a winch (hidden mount)

Questions:

• Is 50mm lift really the point where I must upgrade panhard rods, brake lines, or caster bushes, or are those still optional?
• Is 40mm generally "plug & play"?
• Any thoughts on long-term performance and ride quality from people running these kits?

Any experience, advice, or setups that worked well for similar use would be massively appreciated. I’d like to get it right the first time and not end up replacing components again later.Thanks in advance!

I'm deliberately avoiding your original question(s), I just want to point out, that Jimnys in general, do not make good "overlanders", primarily because of their diminutive size and low payload".

Fuel range - this might not be an issue in Europe - but be aware 40 liters doesn't take you very far.

There's a 30kg dynamic roof load limit, and any attempt to fit a roof top tent will certainly exceed that.

This is not to suggest that you can't "road trip" in a Jimny, or even camp out of a Jimny, but, you will need to tailor your expectations and packing accordingly.

I know its not ideal for this, but i think its a fun car and i will make it work

I'm not too familar those kits on a gen 3 although my old 2005 Gen 3 did have a trailmaster 2inch lift fitted which I was happy with so I got the same kit for my Gen 4 when I got that car. I then had a peddars kit fitted to another Gen 4 as I couldn't get another trailmaster kit into the UK easily. Having the two kits on the same cars side by side running the same 215/75/R15 mud terrain tyres means I could see how differently they handled. Both kits seem to ride over bumps better than stock suspension. I find the trailmaster kit a bit more floppy and the car leans more. The peddars kit is firmer with less lean. I switch between the cars often and tbh can't really tell much difference between them and side by side there is no difference in height. We also have stock jimny and if you measure to the bottom of the diff then there is actually no difference between the lifted & unlifted car. One is a 43mm kit and the other is around 48mm. Most lift kits actually vary in size when you really measure them so not all 40-50mm kits are the same so not all things are needed such as caster correction. None of mine have needed it nor has the panhard rods been upgraded in anyway. Only the rear brake cables get changed. I think most of the kits you've listed are pretty reputable and everyone will say the kit they have fitted is the best one as there is no way to really compare kits without having a bunch of jimnys with the different kits fitted to compare. I just picked a kit and hoped for the best.

I haven't lifted any of mine but I have had one with trailmaster sport dampers and I currently have one with koni adjustable dampers. The trailmaster sport were rock hard, great for what I was doing but far from comfy. The koni are set as soft as possible and it just floats along and in reality is actually quicker point to point on a back road if not quite ultimately as fast on a circuit. The koni are also every bit as good as the ride in my gen4 with it's stiffer chassis.