Bertbuckie's Jimny

Hi all, just joined to see what its all about and hopefully get some advice if and when I need it
I just bought a jimny 1999 jlx with 120k, years mot and 6 months tax for £1350 - very clean car, fsh, few scratches here and there from fingernails and a slight bit of rust under the bonnet on the brackets at the front grill. Imaculate inside

I have so far driven it 100ish miles, cant fault it! A nifty little 4x4 which suprised me tbh altho I have to admit I prefer to only drive it at 50mph.

The only thing wrong is a squeeking from the front drivers wheel, probably the bearing which I will check asap.

Ohhh, and today when I went to use 4x4 the light flashed at me. After I moved a little it went in no problem, is this normal ?

Anyhow, just thought Id say hi but Id better get back to ebays jimny section lol.

Bert

welcome along mate, you MUST show pics and tel us where your from lol!

lol, sorry no pics yet....its dark and ive been partying since i got it yesterday morning - its totaly standard tho.
im from macduff - aberdeenshire - 29 years old
Bought it because it was cheap, localish ( 100 miles or so ) and the wife has told me no more running my bike in the snow lol.....it was a scary passtime tbh!
i need to paint the wheels black as they look crap lol
ohhhh, its green.

I forgot to ask as well, Im new to 4x4's and was told that the jimny is very easy to roll. Is this true and if so how can it be avoided ( appart from by sensible driving )

dunno if there "easy to roll" but fitting spacers to widen track will help, or fit wider modular steel rims (cheap)

I just read your thread biggaz.... nice mods
I fitted spacers to my signum....handled a lot better, I was just looking but there out of the question due to price just now
how cheap is the modular wheels option? I dont intend lifting her however in the future I would like ( wife permitting ) a snorkel, bull bars at the front, steel rear bumper, a winch, roof lights....and one day perhaps a stereo in her lol
Theres some cracking examples on this site....
Altho I dont offroad, and perhaps never will ( who knows ) I would like the ability to, especially round here with the snow as where I plan building a house the road for 4 miles doesnt get gritted or ploughed. Also id like to be able to help family members who get stuck in the future
One other question, my insurance ( the cheapest I could get ) for me and my wife with 7 years ncb was £600 however in april I loose 6 points. How do you insure them once there modded for reasonable prices ?

They are easy to roll, the combination of rearwheel* drive, short wheelbase and a relatively high centre of gravity catch a lot of people out. This is good news for replacement engines transmissions and axles, as the scrapyards are full of them

Avoid any situation where it may slide sideways at the back by driving carefully and you will have no problems.

I suspect what happens is the owner looses the back end, through too much throttle/carrying too much speed into a corner, and when the back wheel hits a kerb, or a ditch they highside and flip over.

*only use 4wd if the roads are slippery enough for a wheel to spin easily, otherwise the CV joints break when you go round a corner, as the front wheels need to travel at different speeds to the back, and they have to slide.

I forgot.

Fitting spacers will help knock the wheel bearings out, and may cause the dreaded steering wobble at speed, as can wider wheels and tyres, likely through the different offset, so be careful.

IMHO the best mods for offroading would be mud tyres and a decent low ratio transfer box: a Rocklobster.

(Then I am what I used to call an Old Fogie now so I don't prettify anything any more :laugh: )

Thanks facade, I did try 4x4 for 8 miles today, however it was very wet roads ( just wanted to try it tbh ) but I only intend using it in the bad snow/ice.
I dont really travel in it at over 50-55mph.... Im too scared haha but thats fine.... its not a sports car so I didnt expect it to fly.
I might save until I can get a decent spacer kit, ie eibach. I was very impressed with the one I have on my car from them
Is there anything else to help prevent this problem? My wife drives the jimny

Just go carefully round islands, watch it pulling out of junctions in front of traffic in the wet, take care on country lanes, and generally on greasy roads.

They are not dangerous, just more difficult to handle than the RAV4, Panda 4x4 and the Terios, partly because people think "its got 4wd so it wont skid", and try and drive it like a hot hatch (do people still call them that?)

(TBH a Terios would make a much better road car for the winter, but I couldn't find one that wasn't made of weld underneath for sensible money.)

Im more than happy with the jimny, especially for the price... £1350 for one with a years mot etc you cant really go wrong
Its not meant to be a hot hatch lol, Ive had my fair share of fast cars ( hence the 9 points for being an idiot ) but I need something that will actually work in the snow and get me to work
Ive been watching some vids of them in the snow, they seem more than adequate for my needs

Well, I ordered a stereo for her - 1st mod since she didnt have 1.
Great expense!!!!
£10 delivered from ebay lol
just a jvc cd player thing, KD-G161 basic but will do the job