Suspension advice.

wrote:

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.

Sent from my SM-A546E using Tapatalk

But where the brace is located isn't an area that is as likely to impact the ground. I don't think reduced clearance here is likely to be an issue, esp as you are likely lifting the vehicle at the same time.

wrote:

wrote:

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.

Sent from my SM-A546E using Tapatalk

But where the brace is located isn't an area that is as likely to impact the ground. I don't think reduced clearance here is likely to be an issue, esp as you are likely lifting the vehicle at the same time.

My high clearance cross member has taken a couple of heavy knocks. You need to wheel harder

 My high clearance cross member has taken a couple of heavy knocks. You need to wheel harder

Haha love this comment 

I probably don't have much choice regarding the lower crossmember, to be honest. The one I managed to source is the one from Hardrace, but it does not look it will affect clearance in a significant way, particularly with the lift .

The advice regarding the bushes is very good! I will go for the Though Dog ones, then, and correct the caster in both axles.

At the end of the day it seems I will be keeping the following:

- Long Bilstein B6 + 40mm H&R springs
- Caster correction Though Dog bushes, front and rear
- Though Dog ABS relocation kit and braided longer brake lines
- Hardrace lower crossmember brace
- Light relocation kit

Or, Alternatively, the same but using an all in one kit. I will be ditching the stabilizer bar at the moment and the poly bushes .

You really shouldn't need the extended crossmember for the longer B6 shocks. AFAIK (this is based on what their catalogue info says) they are only marginally longer at droop than the stock ones. You only need to worry about the crossmember once you exceed 45mm at the front.

The thing to include would be a panhard rod relocation bracket at the back which is both useful with a lift to correct the geometry at the back, but also it corrects a weirdo bit of roll oversteer that the Jimny has. OME make one, Hardrace make one, so do Taniguchi (the latter is what I run).

For an all in 1 kit for most people the OME 40mm lift is hard to beat. It replicates the stock spring rate with better shocks and they have their own panhard rod relocation bracket so can just get it all at the one place.

The spring rates are pretty good from factory for a lot of people unless you carry a lot of stuff, and it's a good compromise kit between ride quality and lift and giving you better shocks. If one is carrying a bit more stuff then the Dobinsons IMS kit is another quality option.

Hi!

The advice regarding the panhard relocation is really good, thanks! I did not even consider it until now.

Full kits have the advantage of being designed as a unit, yes, which is great. It is something that really makes me consider getting one. As far as I saw, the most popular ones are from Ironman, Though Dog and OME. I did not try any of them myself, though, and everybody has a preferred brand. Apparently, the good thing about OME is that you can find spare parts everywhere in the bush or the outback, which is great .

There are plenty of other kits in Australia beyond just those three. A quick braindump summary which I've posted in various versions onto the various FB groups are as follows
OME if you aren't carrying much weight beyond standard. Has excellent ride quality on and off road, and works well. Would get the panhard relocation bracket for the back (FK96) as an accessory.
Tough Dog if you are carrying a reasonable amount and want flexibility of 40 or 60mm. Much stiffer spring rates than the OME so more suited to a fair bit of weight. Now available as a GVM upgrade.
Ironman was the first GVM upgrade available, but it's exactly the same kit for a lot cheaper through them. The constant load springs are *very* stiff. Variable load rear springs are comparable to the Tough Dog, though. Would only get this or the GVM upgrade if you're routinely having the car at or above the factory GVM.
If you want a different option, the Dobinson IMS kit is quite good. The IMS shocks are very high quality.
Fulcrum also have a very high quality 50mm lift; I've not got my hands on the springs to determine where they sit but suspect it'll be a good middle of the road option.

I actually went the Black Raptor Premium lift out of Jimny Bits from the UK and I rate it very highly. The adjustable shocks work very well and the spring rates suit a lot of uses, too. The GBP/AUD rate isn't quite as favourable to us Australians now but it's a high quality kit with excellent components. I added in my own extended brake lines (I wanted coloured braided lines cause why not) and the panhard relocation bracket from Taniguchi, but it's a very good standalone kit too.

Although in theory there are more ARB dealers than others, they won't have a Jimny's shock in stock in the outback anyway. I do think it's a kit which suits a lot of people. They did have the original production JB74 in Australia to do all the product development on and I think they did do a very good effort of making it work well.

There are more specialised choices out there for particular use cases, but the above applies to almost all gen 4 Jimny owners in Aus wanting a sensible lift.

Well, the car is not loaded most of the time, usually it is either me or the two of us. It has a few underbody protections, though, and in the future it will carry a roof rack, recovery points and, possibly, rock sliders. I plan to get the lightest accessories available, but I would not be surprised if I ended adding around 75 kilos to the weight of the car. Then, a few times per year it will be heavily loaded with fuel, water, food, the tent, gear, etc.

Considering all the above, I originally thought that it would be good to take this into account and get something that is rated to constantly cope with 100-200 extra kilos, even if this means a stiffer ride in normal situations. That is the reason why I thought that Though Dog could be my kit to go. However, I could be wrong, I never tried a modified Jimny myself and I don´t have first hand experience with any of the kits…

In terms of warranty, reliability, etc., is there anything that is clearly better than the rest even if it is more expensive?

wrote:

Well, the car is not loaded most of the time, usually it is either me or the two of us. It has a few underbody protections, though, and in the future it will carry a roof rack, recovery points and, possibly, rock sliders. I plan to get the lightest accessories available, but I would not be surprised if I ended adding around 75 kilos to the weight of the car. Then, a few times per year it will be heavily loaded with fuel, water, food, the tent, gear, etc.

Considering all the above, I originally thought that it would be good to take this into account and get something that is rated to constantly cope with 100-200 extra kilos, even if this means a stiffer ride in normal situations. That is the reason why I thought that Though Dog could be my kit to go. However, I could be wrong, I never tried a modified Jimny myself and I don´t have first hand experience with any of the kits…

In terms of warranty, reliability, etc., is there anything that is clearly better than the rest even if it is more expensive?
 

Nah there's nothing that's a standout in terms of longevity etc. I am seeing more 2ish year old Ironman GVM upgrades with leaking shocks but they're also all being driven hard so hard to say it's an issue of the kit so much as people new to 4wding overdriving.
I think for what you describe I'd get the Dobinsons IMS kit. The springs probably cope better without excessive sagging laiden over the OME, though I would have that as the 2nd choice. I wouldn't get the Tough Dog as a default as it is a reasonable bit stiffer. Having followed people with the constant load springs when they are not sufficient laiden the ride is not good and it's compromised offroad.

Hello guys,

Sorry for not replying in a few days, I got my first Australian throat infection and I was in bed taking antibiotics. It is a bit crazy for me to have the typical winter disease in Queensland, with almost 30ºC. I did not know if I was boiling due to the fever, the temperature outside or what was going on.  Luckily, I am starting to feel better.

Thing is that I was rumbling all this for a few days, watching some videos and reading a bit when I was able to stay awake and I think that at the end what I am going to do is to go for something very mild, like 15-20mm lifting springs and a good set of shocks and all terrain tyres. The idea is to compensate for the extra weight of the accessories more than anything else. I definitely don´t want to have the Jimny lower than standard because of the extra 50-100Kg in permanent accessories (protections, roof rack, recovery points, blah, blah) but I also realized that if I install 215/75/15 tyres, that will raise the vehicle a tiny little bit, and I keep the original height, it is going to take me everywhere I want (understanding this not as rock crawling exercise, that I don´t intend to do, but being able to tackle a very crappy dirt road even if it is muddy). I have seen plenty of videos of the stock version going through places I would definitely avoid even if I had a 80mm lift.

Things like this, I was thinking about either going for the 20mm H&R lift springs or the 15mm King Springs. This last brand is new for me, and I have read good and bad things about them. Initially the King Springs offer a lower lift, but spring rate is 20% higher, which I think could be good, and warranty is for life (if such a thing exists for a spring). The H&R have a rate similar to the original ones. Both springs should work well either with the Koni or the Bilstein shocks. Additionally, I guess that if I am lucky I may be able to skip castor correction with such a small lift, particularly if the accessories shag the car a little bit. I guess it would be a question of installing them and checking where it sits...

Then yes, I think that if I went for the 40mm kit, I would totally get the OME. But things get more complex at this point, and I risk messing more with the car in general.

Soooo... after long time checking here and there, today I could try a Jimny with a Dobinsons IMS 40mm lift kit. It had a very nice ride, being the front spring prepared for a constant frontal load of up to +40 kilos and the rear one for a constant load of +60 kilos, which fits, more or less, with the overall constant load I think I will have at the end. I liked the shocks quite a lot too... they seemed very high quality and they can be rebuilt, which I like.

I was pretty sure to go for just a 20mm lift, but I think I may stick to this kit and order it. Dobinsons is a totally unknown brand for me, but it seems that in Australia they have a decent reputation, more or less like OME.

Now I only need to prepare the shopping list, order the parts and find somebody to install all this...