100% Road Princess

Time to introduce our Jimny which we have owned for over 2 years now. We always wanted one, but the low unbraked towing limit kept us away until I eventually reduced the weight of our caravan. It's our daily transport and so spends 90% of its life on the queen's highway, only occasionally venturing off road, but even then nothing it can't cope with in it's standard form.
I have made some modifications and improvements over the two years, so this may be interesting for those that have similar requirements.

Say hello to our Jimny


I added the Jimnybits roof rack first as we carry a lot of camping equipment, it's just easier to throw damp items on the roof. It's a well made item but the powder coating started to show signs of rust after a year, but I sprayed it myself before it took hold which has stopped it totally. It did increase wind noise slightly, but made no noticeable difference to mpg.

Next to go was the rear seats, we simply needed to space and have no need to carry more than two people. I used a plywood base and covered with black automotive carpet to keep the noise down.


The original Clarion sound system was "vintage" in every way, so streaming from my phone and all that modern MP3 stuff was added courtesy of Sony and a new fascia. I worked at Halfords at the time so it was very cheap to do with my colleague discount. Also added rear speakers and new fronts to compliment the better sound system.


Next was the surface rust and transfer box wires. When you are under the vehicle treating rust it becomes apparent that the transfer box cables are going to be the first victim of even mild off road adventures, so as JimnyBits are 5 miles from my home it was rude not to fit their transfer guard. At the same time I treated any rust and painted, finally applying black waxoyl. It's been on for 1.5 years but still looking fine.


The led Light bar was added to assist with those late night arrivals at the camp site. I did not expect it to last electrically, cosmetically or remain watertight. It's proven me wrong, 1 year later it still works, still looks like new and has not filled with water. Not everything on eBay is rubbish, a big thumbs up to WOWLED. It's 180W and very bright and an easy fit to the roof rack. The power cable is routed though the aerial mount to an illuminated switch on the dashboard. Works great as a route for the cable, but if you like FM radio it does pick up the led switching noise, so that the down side.


In addition to the above I have also:-
Refurbished the swivels and rebuilt the kingpins.
Dinatrol injected into box sections and doors etc.
Fully serviced everything.
Refurbished alloy wheels.
Fitted front and rear dashcams.
Fitted QC30 USB charger in place of cigarette lighter.
Fitted Osram night breaker headlamp bulbs.
New front Disks.
Heavy duty steering damper, makes the vehicle steering feel better to me (personal preference).
Nautilus air horn to shout louder than the next person.

My next change will be Koni rear shocks hopefully to improve the ride quality, but mainly to control the back end better when the vehicle is towing. Currently on order from Holland, not sure when they will arrive. But we can't go camping anyway so nothing spoiling.
When the current tyres are worn out plan to replace with Vredestein Quatrac 5 all season tyres as I found the limit in snow of our current tyres when on holiday in Scotland.

Mike

Looks great!

Nice and tidy

Looks superb, Mike... excellent work

I'm interested in your comment re. reducing the weight of your caravan....when you have a moment, I'd like to know more about this, please...PM or WhatsApp if you prefer...

Thanks,

Chris

Hi Chris,
My weight reduction comment may need a little more explanation.:laugh:
I had a vintage (very old) CI Sprite 4 berth which served us proud during our "parenting" years, but now it's only me and the better half we wanted smaller car and everything else. So I reduced the weight by swapping it for a Teardrop "caravan"
It's 350kg unladen and basically a very comfortable sleeping compartment (sleeps 2) with a kitchen on the back. The tent covers the kitchen and provides a sitting area. It's got electric, TV, central heating (including the tent) and our Jimny can tow it all no problem. I guess we are adding 600kg to the vehicle AUW with the stuff we carry, with about 360kg of this on the tow bar.
So it's comfortable and warm camping!

Here is camp Jimny all set up, you can see the caravan sleeper in-between the tents.


If you want to know more about it pm me and I will send details.

Hi, Mike...hope you're both safe and well

If my brain hadn't been in lockdown along with the rest of me, I would have remembered you had a teardrop !!!
I could have saved you all the keyboarding !!

Some of the boys on here will remember I had one of these, too, in Ford Focus ST orange...
...wish I still had it now, too....we only went back to full sized caravan for the benefit of the on-board loo....at our age, the absence of one became a bit of an issue !!!
But agreed, everything else about it was brilliant...all the mod cons and media, full galley, etc....

....for reasons I'll not go into on here, we bought one of those portable chemmy loos....might think about an awning etc., having seen your pic...hmmmm ????

Thanks for the response, Mike, take care, stay safe.
Kind regards....