Re:DrRobin's Northumberland Jimny

300bhpton wrote:

Me & my brother fitted the kit. Think we started about 10-10:30am in the morning and finished about 5pm that day, with a lunchbreak. You could do it quicker, but we didn't rush and hadn't done a Jimny before, so had to figure some bits out.

This was 4 springs, 4 shocks, extended brake lines, including a new front subframe and the LED headlight adjsuter.

The next weekend we fitted the castor correction bushes. Which only took a couple of hours.

Insurance was no problem, no additional cost, just listed on the policy. I'm with LV.
 

Thanks for the info.  I was going to ask if castor correction bushes were required for a 2" lift (or 1.75" for the Pedders)?

Robin
 

300bhpton wrote:

DrRobin wrote:

Manxman wrote:

If you are planning on having a set of dedicated trial tyres, you may want to think about whether there is really a benefit in running expensive tyres like BFG MTs - the likelihood of wrecking a tyre is much higher, especially in quarry sites, so you may be better with a cheaper alternative and treat them as disposable.

Personally I have used more aggressive tyres for competition work where the rules allow - I'm currently running Malatesta Kaimans (essentially a copy of the old Simex pattern) on my Gen 3 - they're incredible in deep mud and also shrug off rock damage very well.

Just a thought...

 

Generally remoulds are the tyre of choice for trials events, as much more aggressive tread patterns are available. In muddy conditions they will easily beat names brand MTs like BFG KM3, General Grabber X3 or Toyo MTs.

The best tread pattern can vary for different terrains to some extent. Not sure what size you'd for your Jimny. In Japan they seem to run 6.50 x 16 which is a size you can get in mainland EU, but pretty much no chance in the UK. A 205/80R16 is quite close, which is what I'd like. but you'd probably want a lift and 16 rims.

As a rule I find tall narrow tyres work best in the UK off road and usually offer better turning for trials sections.

On my Land Rover I trial with a set of 7.00 x 16's, while for general use I run 33.10.50R15's.

Sadly remould tyres and decent aggressive ones are not easy to get in the UK currently, so choice is a bit limited.

Something like this would be a good trialling tyre:
tyresdirectuk.co.uk/products/215-75r15-1...-sahara-2?taxon_id=8

Also available in a size up:
tyresdirectuk.co.uk/products/235-75r15-105q-insa-turbo-sahara

Almost 40 years ago when I started my motoring experience, you were taken to one side and told never to fit remoulds, they aren't as strong as radials, the tyre will break apart, you will come off on a corner, crash and die and it has stuck with me ever since.

However, you are saying that remoulds are good for trialling and the Insta Turbo's do get a good write up.  Given that they will be used as a second set mostly off-road with only a 20 mile trip on-road it kinda makes sense.

You mentioned that tall narrow tyres suit a Jimny, this is sort of counter intuitive to what I have always thought, a wide tyre to spread the load, but I know a narrow tyre works well on snow as it cuts a track to where there is grip, so possibly mud/soil is the same?  Plus I assume you get a fair bit of grip from the side walls (side tread)?

I will already been looking at Special Track but the choice is 195/80r15 or 205/70r15, the first are taller, but will look at the Saraha's now you mention them.

Don't worry Lambert, I am still just looking.

Robin
 

The way it works with a taller narrower tyre is that as you air down the tread contact patch gets longer and acts like a track more than a wheel which is generally more versatile than a wide tyre as they tend to be good when you don't want to break the surface such as sand or swamp.

Lambert wrote:

The way it works with a taller narrower tyre is that as you air down the tread contact patch gets longer and acts like a track more than a wheel which is generally more versatile than a wide tyre as they tend to be good when you don't want to break the surface such as sand or swamp.

Ah, that makes sense, thanks for the explanation.

Robin

I was given a similar message back-in-the-day regarding remoulds, though I understand that tyre technology has come a long way since then and tyre manufacturers now pass more stringent requirements. That said, I would still opt for a premium new tyre over a remould, especially for fast long distance motorway work.

For trials and laning, and general hacking about including events, I have no reservations using remoulds and have done for many years - I've never suffered any ill effects (even did a 2000 mile trip up to Iceland running Insa Turbo Special Tracks on my Defender - they were noisy on the road, but coped brilliantly on the volcanic rock, which I think says a lot).

Wide vs narrow is a regular debate TBH and depends on the terrain you'll mostly be using. This is worth a watch if you have 15 mins free:

Fremington Edge, Part 1 of the Reeth to Ripon 4x4 tour with Trails and Tracks on Sunday 20th October.



A truly cracking lane, not made any easier by the really wet weather.

Robin