2025 GLX stereo and other upgrades?

I owned a Suzuki Samurai for many years in the US. Drove it all over the PNW of the US, from Seattle to Los Angeles. All over LA. Down into Mexico. And back again. My young stupidity for not installing a temp guage killed it finally. But I loved that car!

Living in the Phillipines now. Trying to get established. And realize I can get a new Jimny here for a little over 20k. With a 3 year/100k warranty. Put a deposit down yesterday. 3 door, GLX, AT, Jungle green. 

I have a few questions:

1) Is it worth upgrading the front speakers and adding two in the back? Without upgrading the stock head unit?

2) Looking for a functional but economical roof rack. They sell a simple one over here and in AliExpress. Just sort of flat. Mounts to the drip rails. Any recommendations?

3) I've owned Jeeps for years.  Prevailing wisdom seems to be any bigger than a 2" inch lift and you start messing with geometry and need to upgrade alot more parts. How does a 2" inch lift on a Jimny effect the ride on and and off road?

4) What other upgrades do you find essential? I am also changing out the rear door hydraulic arm to accommodate a 90 degree opening. 

Welcome to the forum. The main reason for a lift on a jimny is to fit bigger tyres to in turn raise the axles away from the ground. The thing there is that if you go to the limit of the standard gearing with the bigger tyres they will just about fit under the standard suspension. Also with a 2 inch lift the front propshaft interferes with one of the chassis cross members so you need a kit that moves said cross member or go for a 40mm lift. As for roof storage systems they are all essentially cosmetic as the roof load limit is 30 kg including the roof system aka practically useless.

Oh and as for a stereo my gen4 is standard and perfectly adequate for a daily. My project gen3 on the other hand is capable of rendering permanent hearing loss so that is kinda up to you.

Depends on the actual size of the 2inch lift as not all are the same. The 2inch pedders and
Trialmaster kits fitted to both my Jimnys haven't needed the crossmember relocation brackets. As for how they handle is also dependant on the kit fitted. I think most kits will somewhat improve the ride on a Gen 4 from talking to owners and having two lift
Kits myself. I find the pedders kit firmer but not too harsh. The trialmaster kit has more body roll but both seem to cope with potholes better. Can't really say how they handle off-road as I don't off-road mine but it does give me more room in the wheel arches for articulation. I'm happy with mine on the road and wouldn't want them any bigger.

moab762 wrote:

I owned a Suzuki Samurai for many years in the US. Drove it all over the PNW of the US, from Seattle to Los Angeles. All over LA. Down into Mexico. And back again. My young stupidity for not installing a temp guage killed it finally. But I loved that car!

Living in the Phillipines now. Trying to get established. And realize I can get a new Jimny here for a little over 20k. With a 3 year/100k warranty. Put a deposit down yesterday. 3 door, GLX, AT, Jungle green. 

I have a few questions:

1) Is it worth upgrading the front speakers and adding two in the back? Without upgrading the stock head unit?
I added rear speakers to my 2020 SZ5 and kept the front stock speakers with the original Bosch head unit.  The rear speakers made quite a good improvement in terms of quality, although the speed aware volume adjust doesn’t work anywhere near as well, so I find I have to adjust the volume up a bit when on the main roads. 

2) Looking for a functional but economical roof rack. They sell a simple one over here and in AliExpress. Just sort of flat. Mounts to the drip rails. Any recommendations?
The Jimny has a relatively low roof load, so I suggest you go for a very light roof rack or simple roof bars.  It depends what you want to carry, but the roof load is so low in my opinion it’s not worth fitting one of the full length racks and I would just go for something basic, light and therefore cheap.

3) I've owned Jeeps for years.  Prevailing wisdom seems to be any bigger than a 2" inch lift and you start messing with geometry and need to upgrade alot more parts. How does a 2" inch lift on a Jimny effect the ride on and and off road?
My Jimny is currently on stock suspension, but I am going to get a 2” lift, although I go to a few local trials against Land Rovers and regularly run out of ground clearance.  Others have already commented on lift kits and stability, but you are right limit it to 2” and you have much less issues.

4) What other upgrades do you find essential? I am also changing out the rear door hydraulic arm to accommodate a 90 degree opening. 
Depends on how big your budget is.  I have a snorkel fitted and have been through water deep enough to need one.  Snorkels also stop dust ingress if the roads near you are very dusty.

I also have a diff and transfer breather kit fitted, essential if you are going through water on a regular basis.

I have front and rear recovery points and have had to use both, but that was when I was in a trial and very few people made it through.

Apart from that, I have a HD rear rubber mat, tie down straps and points in the rear, rear load cover, extra holders, dash board trays, CB, etc, etc, the list can just go on and on.  Have a look at my blog, link below my signature.

There are quite a few people on here have added a number of accessories which are a benefit to how they use their vehicle, like extra storage, or a fridge and various awnings for those that go camping.  The best way is to have a look at peoples blogs and nick the best ideas.


Good luck and remember to post a few pictures, we love seeing Jimnys, especially in other parts of the world.

Robin

 

 Get good speakers front and rear, and make sure you add Dynamat (or similar) all over. Dramatic improvement.

I got Jimny specific Pioneer tweeters too.

OME 40mm lift and shocks is the way to go, hassle free.

Perfect and silent racks = Yakima.