VAXXi's Jimny (Little Tank)

Hello everyone. Been reading for a long while, but the mention of the wobble PDF made me register The Jimny was bought in september 2010; it's a 2007 edition, 1.3 petrol, seems to be JLX spec.

What's on it so far:

- ProComp springs and shock absorbers, 1" body lift
- TJM snorkel
- OME steering stabiliser (previous owner said it was for the death wobble; now it only shuddered slightly at 70-80 km/h, but this was fixed after proper balancing of the wheels)
- flanges
- front bumper trimmed and a small bash plate fitted
- BF Goodrich 215/75R15 A/T
- CB antenna (FM) mounted on roofrails and CB radio of course

Previous owner also had a roof carrier fitted, which I've taken down because it was not used (and could not enter most underground parkings anymore :laugh: ).

Flanges:

Steering stabiliser:

New suspension:

Snorkel:

Front bumper trim:

BFGs fitted:

Front bash plate painted black:

Next came the CB antenna and radio. This was a very complicated topic, because I wanted as good performance as possible on a permanent setup, while avoiding damages to the body (and I'm also a perfectionist ).

In the end, I decided to put it on the roof rail in order to use the roof as a ground plane. A grounding cable was needed in order to achieve a good SWR, and I still have to finish up the work properly (current grounding is done through a small braided wire, which isn't perfect), but it works good enough. My previous antenna was a 2 meter Sirio; adding the 2 meters of the car, it made driving through the city or under trees quite a challenging task, so I changed to a lighter 170 cm Sirio which is pretty ok so far.

The radio is an Intek M550, mounted on the cup holder. Initial plan was to mount it under the center column and lighter, but there was not enough room because of the airbag controller, so I relocated it. Under the cup holder I also found the airbag sensor, so had to be extra-careful working under there :dry: The radio is powered directly from the battery with a 15 amp cable, fused and routed through the firewall rubber grommet and under the carpeting.

Some phone pics after a wash (including the engine bay):

Some other pics:

In the snow:

Lake side:

More pics:

The Jimny had HID lights when bought, 8000^o K and a crappy wiring. Too white for my taste, so I bought a new wiring loom (with hi/lo switcher), new ballasts and new 6000^o bulbs.

New cabin filter installed:

Rust

Underbody protection:

And a better "voice" for the tank :evil: The stock horn is a 4 A Denso, which is also mounted on motorcycles. Since the wires were too thin for the Stebel (which draws up to 16 A), a relay circuit had to go in place.

Connection to the battery through a 1.5 square mm wire (I really need to get a fused distributor box :laugh: )

Relay in place of the old horn

New horn (136 dB !)

Testing the circuit and connections

Wire route

And finally, one of the best investments for confort: sound proofing.

The goods (from Russia with love from StandartPlast):

Factory vibration dampeners in the plastic panels (LOL):

Plastic panels properly dampened:

Degreaser for the metal (isopropylic alcohol):

Bituminous material for the arches and side panels:

Some of the same in the rear speakers's area and the seatbelt mechanism bolts to get rid of the buzzing:

Thick sound dampener for the floor:

As I don't use the rear seats, out they go and carpeting takes their place (still have to arrange the top margin properly):

Mucho better :woohoo:

Phew, that was a long introduction. What's next:

• castor correction bushes
• LED strips for interior lighting
• front bumper (when I'll break this one) + spotlights]
• sound proofing the doors and front floor

Welcome to bigjimny, vaxxi!

That's a great set of photos you've posted up. I'm tempted to do some sound deadening too, so I'm looking forward to the next set of photos of you doing the front doors and front floor.

hi mate nice jimny does it go ok on the road with out the caster corrected bushes? and also where did you get the under body armour from.?

thanks

james

little jimny wrote: That's a great set of photos you've posted up. I'm tempted to do some sound deadening too, so I'm looking forward to the next set of photos of you doing the front doors and front floor.

Thank you. I cannot recommend it enough, it's been one of the most rewarding projects for the Jim. As mentioned, I only did the rear panels + rear plastic trim + the floor; music sounds much better now, there are no more rattles and it's much more quiet in the cabin (to get an idea, the noise level at ~100 km/h now matches the noise level at ~70 km/h before the insulation). I must also say that I did a lot of planning when choosing the material, as it's not a one-size-fits-all kind of job. But it was worth it

I expect the floor and doors sound proofing to reduce further more the noise level, and I also want to do the roof at some point for thermal insulation.

myers647 wrote: hi mate nice jimny does it go ok on the road with out the caster corrected bushes? and also where did you get the under body armour from.?

Keeping in mind that I've driven only two Jimnys (a very stock one and my own), that's all I can compare with. The stock one had a more precise direction and the steering wheel was properly returning to center after a curve. My own Jim has a bit more vague steering and the wheel doesn't quite return to center, but I suppose that could be also because of the steering stabiliser. To sum it short: it's not that bad and you can definitely live with it, but it could surprise an unexperienced driver.

The underbody is around 100 euros, made in Czech Republic and imported by a Romanian company; here . I installed it in order to protect the transfer case wiring, which I understand it's very easy to rip off.

welcome