Suspension advice.

wrote:

Regarding cars, I was an amateur rally driver in Spain for several years, and I still have my car in there. Sadly, I don´t get to drive it much nowadays. I feel comfortable designing a suspension for a sports car, particularly if it is for the VAG group, BUT the Jimny is my first 4WD and I understand that many things are very different and do not apply to it. For example, in a regular car (particularly with the power of the Jimny) Bilstein + H&R tends to be a great combination, and you definitely won´t go wrong choosing polyurethane SuperPro bushes. However, in the Jimny I was advised against polyurethane, is this because it would make the ride significantly harsher? I still feel pretty confident regarding the shock absorbers and springs combo, though, and as far as I know it was developed specifically for the Jimny by Bilstein.
 

For what it's worth I also have a rally background, and there's a huge difference in suspension design compromises between the high speed and the low speed stuff.

For high speed performance, go right ahead and use your polyurethane, the need there is to reduce suspension geometry change, to prevent the unwanted movement that rubber bushes permit. the tradeoff is the additional NVH that you get with poly, and the need to frequently grease to prevent squeaking, take your poly out in the dirt, you end up with contaminated grease, that in turn grinds the cr@p out of the poly, so it's frequent replacement.

Off road, you want the flex, especially in a radius arm suspension design like the coil sprung Jimny - try this when you have the time - remove one of the two bolts that holds the radius arm to the axle, one bolt only, not one on each side, and see how much of a difference there is in the way the suspension flexes in rough terrain.  Poly bushings where the radius arms attach to the axles, no thank you, not on anything I'm driving.

The truth is that the radius arm suspension on the Jimny significantly impacts affects it's ability to articulate, something like a triangulated four link would be waaaay better, but virtually impossible to "package" in a vehicle this compact.

I have poly bushes and get plenty of flex
You can get a 4 link like this for gen3
See these on a lot of jimnys in Japan 
www.hardracesuspension.com.au/suzuki-jim...k-adjustable-arm-kit

That is a pretty interesting kit, I'm curious as to how much of an impact it has on clearance. It is however, not a triangulated four link,

Call me crazy, but I've been mulling the possibility of a rear long arm setup on a five door Jimny, I haven't seen the car yet, ETA here is now May instead of March, I haven't committed to one but I have quite a list of modifications, starting with a long range fuel tank.

The kit allows good articulation from what I have seen 
Usually fitted on suspension lifted Jimny's
I would be guessing a none lifted will suffer clearance issues between upper and lower arm's 

Interesting kit, I guess technically it is a 5 link not a 4. As it is still using the panhard rod for lateral control.

I'd think the biggest issue is unbalancing the vehicle with more rear travel than front. I know this is the only option with anything IFS. But something well balanced front to rear just seems to glide over the terrain nicer IMO.

Just on the cross member brace, most kits offer brackets to lower it for driveline clearance . This makes no sense to me, as you are reducing ground clearance.
Other options include less lowering of the bracket with a curved section removed to increase driveline clearance or the neoplot style that goes over the driveline so has no reduction in clearance.

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