Kirkynut's Jimny (aka Daddy's Tractor) - The Evolution continues...

looks good,think im guna paint my wheels silver again gone off the black might be coz cars black to.

Yeah, I don't like black wheels on a black car much, I like to be able to see the wheels and they don't come out well in photos.

The wheels I really like are the ones Zukenutter has: www.bigjimny.com/index.php/forum/8-my-ji...-30-bfgs-cool-wheels

One day I might get my finger out of my arse and try to find a set in Auz and get them shipped over.

In the meantime my second favourite wheels are the OZ Suzuki alloys - I'm getting a little blingy - I'd quite like a set of them with 235/75/15 BFG MT's on with the writing on the outside!

Kirkynut

I've mentioned before that I wanted the battery out of the boot and under the bonnet and some time ago I bought a Jimny Bits battery tray for that purpose - however, I have a Numax battery for winching and starting and I'm really impressed with it but it wouldn't fit under the bonnet. It's this one: www.tayna.co.uk/Numax-CXV31MF-P3694.html

I was considering spending some money and getting one of these instead: www.devon4x4.com/index.php?page=shop.pro...virtuemart&Itemid=14 but then thought I'd have a go at getting my Numax to fit.

Yesterday and today I got it done and here it is:



The issue was that it was too tall and hit the bonnet stopping it from getting anywhere near shut. I thought it was never going to fit and had given up on my battery fitting, hence looking for others.

To make it fit I got the angle grinder out and cut a section of the support structure out from the bonnet to give more clearance.

This seemed to be nearly there but not quite enough. The solution I came up with came from the Boy Racer Brigade! A bonnet lift! For those not in the know about what the youf of today do to their cars, it involves putting washers between the bonnet and it's hinge so that the rear of the bonnet raises up a bit compared to the front. It's supposed to let some heat out of high powered and hot under the collar turbo cars but chavs do it to Saxos's!

Now I think bonnet lifts look pants but it was a case of needs must. I started with 2 washers but have gone down to 1 so now it just looks like a badly fitting bonnet!




I've cable tied 1/2" thick rubber to the positive terminal, just in case, but having laid electrical tape on it sticky side up and slammed the bonnet, then opened it again, the tape didn't stick to the bonnet - so there's plenty of clearance - well enough and the rubber will prevent any shorting out.

I gave it an oil change yesterday too, a new air filter last week and a wash today - I think the snow foam was wasted on the Jimny but hey - it's fun!




My boot floor is in good nick - not seen the bottom of it for some time!



Now I've just got to think about how I'm going to store the tools, spares and recovery kit I keep in the boot of the Jimny, now I've regained some space!

I also fitted an Off Road Armoury steering damper that I've had in the garage for some time. I bought it when I had death wobble in the vain hope that it would solve my problems - however I have formed the opinion that if you have Death Wobble you should solve it properly and believe that steering dampers hide the problem and do not solve it.

As I don't suffer from anything other than the slightest of movements on the steering wheel at 45MPH - which I don't think you will solve completely with the tyres I am running, I thought I'd put it on to help with the bump steer I occasionally feel with big bumps and pot holes on the road. It does feel a little better and there is no movement in the steering wheel at all now at 45MPH - so all is good!

Kirkynut

Looking good with that tray.

I fitted my battery in the same spot, but using the original mounting bracket, and a couple of new holes in the body, for the "hooks" in the bracket. Or whatever they're called.

What winch have you got?
You really should consider a couple of longer winchmotor bolts from gigglepin, so you can get the solenoid down next to the motor. Much less of a mess with all those cables
gigglepin4x4store.gostorego.com/gp-motor-bolts.html

Cheers - my winch is an old Superwinch EP9500 - so quite old now. It runs a Bowmotor 1 and rarely sees any action these days.

I know what you mean about the wires, but I want my solenoid in the dry! It's a decent one - Albright - but I still don't want the terminals corroding. Also I have a remote control for it so it has the control box for that attached to it and the wiring for it too.

So if I'm gonna have all that wiring going on, it may aswell be in the dry and out of sight under the bonnet! The wiring is all good too with decent connections and I don't fancy going through it all again just to put the solenoid and the connections out in the weather!

I've been at many a winch challenge where a winch has stopped working and all that was the problem was a dirty connection on the solenoid.

The Gigglepin mounts are a good idea to keep things tidy but you do have to be on top of your maintenance though!

Kirkynut

Yes, it does require a bit more maintenance and cleaning when th e solenoid sits out next to the winch. Before I got my twinmotor -adaptor I also had my solenoid sitting same place at yours. But now they're both bolted to the motors, as you can see on the pic. Also because It saves a lot on cables, and the shorter cables, the better