Jimny suspension questions

I have a 2001 Jimny 4x4, 5 spd. w/ left hand drive. It is equipped with Dobinson's 2 inch lift suspension, 9500 lb. T-Max winch, ARB winch bumper, Lightforce lights, running 215/75/15 Fedimas.
I am interessted in adding 1.5 inch coil spring spacers.

Dave from Bits4Vits gave me some really good advice, but suggested I run it by some Jimny professionals. So let me know exactly what else will be needed with this. Thanks.

Adding 1.5 spring spacers may cause your shocks to bottom out over alot more when going over bumps, so either longer shocks MAY need to be fitted or shock relocation brackets on the rear with shock extensions on the front. Also when lifting over 2" you will need some form of castor correction, this can be achieved with either castor correction bushs or corrected radius arms and you will need longer/adjustable panhard rods to keep your diff in the factory possession.

Thanks for the help Monkey. That is pretty much what I heard from Dave from Bits4Vits so it was good to have that backed up.

I'm sure castor correction bushes would probably be the least expensive. How do you know what to ask for exactly? Do all castor bushes correct to the same degree, and if not, how do you know what degree you need?

Hi Nickey

You made it here then? These are the Jimny experts... I've always been a Vitara-man

Dave

FIRSTJIMNY wrote: Thanks for the help Monkey. That is pretty much what I heard from Dave from Bits4Vits so it was good to have that backed up.

I'm sure castor correction bushes would probably be the least expensive. How do you know what to ask for exactly? Do all castor bushes correct to the same degree, and if not, how do you know what degree you need?

I am 90% sure that all the bushs are 3deg cator bushs and any less than 3 deg over 50mm of lift they are pointless and more than 3deg they will fowl on the tie rod.

Pics of what mean.



Any more castor on the bushs and the rod will hit the diff.



There is no load in the spring there and as you can see the castor is still out by 1deg at the height of 80mm. In the ideal world longer radius would be the best thing.

Also get rubber castor bushs if you can, they will flex better and not bind up when the front is flexing like my polyurethane bushs.

"I am 90% sure that all the bushs are 3deg cator bushs and any less than 3 deg over 50mm of lift they are pointless and more than 3deg they will fowl on the tie rod."

The tie rod (track rod) is attached to the hubs, the hubs are on either end of the axle tubes, the diff is in the middle of the axle tubes. Therefore any adjustment to the castor angle, with bushes or corrected radius arms, won't change the distance between the diff and the tie rod.
Cheers,
john.

@Firstjimny : with 3.5" lift you can use castor correcting bushes: this will reduce the madness of the steering, but reduces also the flex ability of the front axle, and in any case will not completely cure the castor angle (i understand that every 5cm of lift needs around 3° of castor correction)

The best solution is to buy some castor corrected arms, which are of course expensive, but works much more better than other solutions, and besides this they put the coils in their correct position (no more banana shape) and keep the best articulation of front axle. And, do not forget, that original front arms likes very much to bend when used for serious offroad, and ALL aftermarket arms are much stronger ...

Here in Italy Zanfi has 4 versions of arms: 5° and 10° correction, and you can choose both type in tubolar or "frame" (don't know the correct word) design (tubolar are more heavy duty) and the set of 2 arms costs 280€

Thanks to everyone who has written in for all the information you have provided. I appreciate the time and effort you have taken to help me out with this problem.

Hello everyone,

I have a few questions regarding the suspension too. If someone could shed a light, it would be much appreciated

My Jimny currently has a 2" ProComp suspension lift and a 1" body lift, but no castor correction to my knowledge. I plan to correct the castor and if I'm at it also improve things a little, so:

- rear shock relocation brackets; these will raise the shock by ~2". Considering I already have a suspension lift in place, will my Jimny raise its behind in the air even more ?

- radius arm mount guards; are they worth it ? they look cool and everything, but I think if you hit something really hard with the guards mounted you'll damage the arm mount anyway.

- rear Panhard relocation bracket; is it needed for a 2" lift ?

- lengthened steering arm; anything against it ?

- castor correction bushes or castor corrected radius arms ? to my understanding, for 2" SL you can get away with bushes only. In this case: rubber or polyurethane ? if I'm at it, should I get an entire kit (all radius arms and Panhards) ?

Thank you!

Relocation won't affect the height of your rear, it's the springs length that does it
Some castor bushes would be perfect for 2" lift, but only if your front springs look like bananas!
Most of the 2" lift kit are pretty conservative for the springs shape.
In my opinion, don't use polyuréthane ones, they'll make the Jimny stiffer again with no real benefits on road, and less axle crossing than rubber ones.

Hi Vaxxi,

my opinion, trying to be brief are:

- rear shock brackets: do not have any change in vehicle riding height, but before mounting them, made some measurement in order to be sure that shock absorbers do not "bottom out" (you effectively raise the lower mount, but you are not raising also the high mounting point) and to avoid that the shock + repositioner lenght is not too much for the spring travel ... you will risk to loose your left springs in extreme crossaxle situations

- radius arms mount guard ... usefull only to grab mud inside them and loose ground clearance

- panhard relocation ... not needed for 2" ... the inclination of rear panhard is fair, and the lateral movements within reasonable tolerance

- lenghtned steering arms ? never heard about them

- even if for 2" lift the castor bushes are enough, the castor arms are much more better: they are usually stronger than stock ones, they can set the castor to a value higher than stock (better driveability and steereing response), and you can use with them the genuine rubber bushes which flexes much more better that castor bushes

- adjustable panhards for 2" lift are not necessary for correction of axles position, but are a good improvement as they have usually heavy duty constructions against the weak stock ones ...

Hope this help

Hello!
My jimny is pushing to the left. The people from aligment said that everthing is ok.
I raised it with HD OME springs, front and rear. At the front i ad more 3cm. My jimny as iron front bumper and a t-max 6500 winch. An iron rear bumper, roof rack with spare tyre.
i managed to put strait. But keeps on pushing to the left.
I was tinking to change my panhard bars (front and rear). I´m waiting for my caster corrections. compare to a original one he is only 5cm higher.
should i get used to it or look for something else.
Thanks

Africa-Angola-Luanda