Re:Basic suspension upgrade with minimum lift

As another newbie with nil Jimny, 4x4, or modding experience, I would welcome some advice on upgrading a Gen 4 LCR suspension.

I want to improve the quality of the ride for road use and basic trail use on dry hard stoney ground with reasonable surface contours. I am not expecting to explore ruts & drop aways that I see high lift Jimny's deal with in various videos.

So, what are my best options for standard or minimal lift suspension upgrades to improve road ride quality, with the minimum of work & extra parts. IE, does a 1" lift require different springs, rather than 0" lift?

I don't want to increase the roll on road cornering, just better bump compliance, if that can be managed with better adjustable suspension components and a small lift rather than no lift, I would go for it.

I'm looking at the adjustable Black Raptor units on Jimnybits a base line.

Thanks
PB

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What country are you in?

Lifting is normally done with a longer and/or higher spring rate spring. But if you plan to off road you may need a longer shock too.

IMO the stock Jimny is under damped. Although I wouldn't really say they roll all that much. I don't understand why people say they do???

As an off the shelf kit, I think I'd go for the Old Man Emu kit. Although pretty much any lift kit will increase roll more than likely, it will ride better.

But it does depend what aspects of ride you are referring too. The Jimny is a live axle 4x4 with a short wheel base, narrow track and high roll centre. No suspension kit is ever going to change these things. So if it is the pitching back and forth or side to side you don't like. Chances are the only way to solve it will be buying a different vehicle.

A suspension kit will help with the pot hold jolts and rough road side of things.

If you don't want to lift, you could just try some good shocks like the Black Raptor ones and the stock springs. This should improve things from a damping point of view.

We are living in southern Catalunya, Spain, so a left hand drive Jimny if that makes a difference.

Most of the local road tracks are dry, stoney but regularly graded or accessability, although they can be very steep and rocky in places.

Our drive into town has seven speed bumps (four are large platform ones).

My thinking is that I don't need a big lift, just better bump compliance, hence looking at 0"-1" lift Black Raptors. I'm not sure if I would have to change springs or other parts for the 1" lift.

I'm happy with the general handling characteristics, just looking for any improvement of the harshness of the stock ride.

Our main use "road" vehicle is a VW id Buzz. The differences between them in all aspects are like chalk and cheese, but they cover the range of our requirements perfectly.

Thanks again
PB

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The ID Buzz is a 2.5 ton van with dimensions to match. Bigger, heavier cars will almost always ride smoother than small light ones. If you want a smooth ride on rocky roads get a Range Rover.

So, to keep it simple, does 1" lift shocks require matching spring or any other parts?

PB

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wrote:

So, to keep it simple, does 1" lift shocks require matching spring or any other parts?

PB

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Generally speaking, there is no such thing as "lift" shocks.

What you are probably looking at is a longer shock. This is because if you think about how a lift works, it extends the shocks.

So for arguments sake, if you have a shock with a travel of 10". At normal ride height say it sits at 5" extension, you'd have 5" of up and 5" of down. If you lifted the vehicle it would use up some of this travel. A 1" lift would mean you now have 4" of down travel available instead of 5", but 6" of up travel.

To counter this you would normally fit a longer shock to return you to at least a similar amount of down travel.

Longer shocks may need an extended bump stop, as a longer shock may top out (use all its travel under compression) before hitting the bump stop. However with a 1" longer shock you should be fine.

Thanks for the info.
I will sort out availability & give our Jimny a nice Xmas present.
PB

I would say leave it alone and let some air out of the tires 
start with 20psi in all 4 
then go up 1 or 2 psi at a time see how it feels
are you running standard tire size or larger 

At 20 psi the TPMS system will kick in and the dash will go orange and sirens let loose.
Also at 20 psi excess wear will begin and the edges of the tyre will begin to shred.
Don't do it!
This is where TPMS proves it's worth.
Also, if you have an accident, investigators will identify the low pressures and your insurance company will cancel your policy.

Roger

Hello! I am from Spain myself (Asturias) but I live in Australia

I think that you could just get better shock absorbers, with the same length, and that would be it. Living in Spain I would go for either the Koni Heavy Track 4x4 or the Bilstein B6 (the ones that have the same length of the stock absorbers, there are two types of B6!). Koni in this case is a bit less harsh that Bilstein, so you may prefer them, but on tarmac the B6 may be better.

just upgrading the shocks would be enough i reckon

dual tube or mono tube is just a personal preference, get OME shocks if you want unadjustable dual tube or taniguchi A14Z shocks if you want adjustable compression dual tube, both are pretty good in quality/cost ration

I bought the Black Raptor standard length shocks and set them to the softest damping setting, which are working fine and give a less crashy ride over potholes, etc..

I think I get more lean when cornering aggressively, but I just have to remember that I'm not in the M3 anymore.

Thanks for the recommendations.
PB

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