Mongol Rally - Request for Guidance

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen of the BIG JIMNY Forum,

I am travelling 10,000 miles solo from London to Mongolia in July. You can find out more info about my journey here: www.mongoliers.com

I have bought a trusty Suzuki JIMNY 2002 to complete this journey. Currently I am making minor modifications to the vehicle.

I would like to ask the Forum for recommendations to help me on this journey.

Any suggestions will be gratefully received!

Kind regards,

Jamie

Hi Jamie

Scott Brady from expedition portal did it in a jimny a few years back, he also did a rather good write up of the trip.

Hope this helps
Mark

First of all. make sure all parts are in the best shape possible. Suspension bushings, bearings, brakeparts and such.

Also, how much load are you gonna carry? No need for a massive lift and huge tyres. But if you're gonna carry a massive load, perhaps consider stiffer springs. I'd go for suspension parts from either Old Man Emu or Trail Master.

A friend did the trip in this Jimny a couple of years back. The co-driver actually carried on to Russia before returning to NI.

Thanks Mark!

I will look up Scott Brady and find his write-up of the expedition.

Kind regards,

Jamie

Hi TomDK,

Thank you for this.

I am stripping out the car to reduce weight at the moment.

The load will be minimal, however I will be taking 4x Jerry cans and a 30 Litre water container, which will provide some weight.

I am purchasing replacement bushings, bearings, and replacing the breaks as they are a little squeaky!

I have thought about putting some wheel spacers on to lower the centre of gravity and reduce the chances of a roll. Is this a sensible idea or will this cause problems down the road?

I am definitely going to upgrade the rubber to suit the off-road terrain I will encounter. Do you have any recommendations for JIMNY tyre suppliers?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Kind regards,

Jamie

Hi 11/60,

Thank you for the helpful advice.

Could you recommend a list of critical parts that I should take on such a journey? I confess to being a total amateur in this regard...

Kind regards,

Jamie

Hi WB,

I am considering the drive back through Russia - as the shipping costs for the car are $1000 (and it has to be picked up from Lithuania) and the flights are costly as well.

Although this may double the total mileage of the journey...

Kind regards,

Jamie

I would steer clear of such things and keep everything as standard as possible. Wheel spacers tend to put a bigger load on wheel bearings, with premature wear to follow. Not advisable where you're going in my mind.

Pretty sure the red Jimny in the photo was kept standard, and only problems I remember mentioned were flickering oil light in Turkey (resolved by using heavier oil) and a broken spring (replaced or repaired in the middle of nowhere by friendly locals).

(cut and paste into browser)

Did it back in 2010 with a daewoo matiz. 0.8 45hp engine.. lol
Biggest problem was some steep hills in Mongolia that it didn't have the engine power to get up. And bribing officers in Ukraine. That country was way worse than Russia. Make sure you bring toilet paper! Bring fuses, wires etc. Our cooling fan for the engine died. I wired it to the seat heater switch so I could turn it on and off on demand. Russia and Mongolia can be hot during summer. Mongolia is also very cold during the nights, so bring good clothes. We filled the car with shit, didn't use 20% of what we had with us. You'll need way less than you think. Zip ties, tape, fuses, a couple of spares.

Many of the eastern countries only have 92ron petrol. No Norwegian cars are tuned for that, but it was ok. Jerry cans is a must!!

We didn't have any flats. Had 3 spares. Had to give em all to an english team we met on the mongolia boarder. All the british teams we spoke to had shit tires

Doing it solo? Thats cool! I had a mate with me, but he didn't have a license, so I drove from Norway to Italy to Mongolia.

And lastly, remember to stop and enjoy the areas you go to. I regret not stopping more often at places that aren't tourist magnets.