M/T's on s standard Jimny and other Q's

Dear All,

I am new to this forum having been running an SJ until now. It's blown it's head gasket and is indicating it's not wanting to do the long distances on the road and then hardcore off roading and then driving home again!

So I am considering getting another Jimny and using that instead.

I had one before and found it no good as standard for what we wanted to do as it was grounding out on the radius arms in ruts with 205/70/15's on it.

I was told that you caould not put M/T's on a standard Jimny without lifting it and didn't want to spend the money on it at that time so sold it.

Now the SJ has died I am having to re-consider.

Rhino-Ray has told me that I can use 195/80/15 M/T's on a standard Jimny with no problems.

To test this theory, today I took the wheels off our SJ with 195/80/15 Colway M/T's on them and out them on my partner's mum's Jimny.

Ground clearance was greatly imrpoved as the diameter of these is about 1.5 - 2 inches larger, but the clearance of the tyres in the wheelarches look too tight and I felt that the arches would get could and ripped apart.

Please can you tell me the deal with this please folks?

Can a standard Jimny run 195/80/15 M/T's with no arch trimming or not?

Also.... How strong are the halfshalfs on Jimny's? Do they snap when treated roughly or are they as strong as out SJ's?

Also.... Do early - ie:the cheapest to buy Jimny's have ABS?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

Rob

Well the standard tyres on a Jimny are 205/70/R15.

70% x 205 = 153mm or 6 inches.

6 inches + 6 inches + 15 inches = 27 inches - therefore the diameter of the standard tyres is 27 inches.

Your new tyres are 195/80/15

80% x 195 = 156mm or 6.1 inches

6.1 + 6.1 + 15 = 27.2 inches

So, as RhinoRay says you should be able to use the tyres with no problem as there is hardly any size difference.

However, tread pattern and size makes a difference, perhaps your old tyres are worn and the newer tyres are newer. Perhaps its a particularly chunky tread that is causing the problems.

The other issue could be rim offset. I don't know what rims your Colways are on, but if the offset is more offset to the outside of the car (I cannot remember whether this is positive or negative offset?) then perhaps this will cause them to rub?

Some people claim that the Jimny is weaker than an SJ in the shafts/bearings area. My Jimny certainly gets through bearings like they are going out of fashion but I have yet to trash a CV joint on the halfshaft which is a symptom of running very large tyres and having a heavy right foot. I have never heard of anyone snapping a halfshaft as the CV joint goes first!. I have bent a rear halfshaft somehow. So I would say it was no real difference to my SJ410 in terms of needing continuous transmission maintenance, but note mine was a Spanish SJ410, not an SJ413.

ABS was an option on the earliest cars and standard on the latest. The problem with Jimny ABS off-road is not that its dangerous, but the ABS Coding wheels are fitted to the shafts and need to be smashed off to change the wheel bearings and as I said above, wheel bearing changing is a Jimny owners weekend hobby. Therefore on an ABS Jimny every wheel bearing change needs a new ABS coding ring - doubling the cost of the materials.

And, of course, send me pictures of anything you do!

Thanks

Martin

Thanks for your quick response!

I had done the same maths as you and was therefore suprised at what I saw when I put the 195/80/15's on the Jimny as they should be 10mm slimmer but when laid out on the floor next to the 205/70/15, they simply weren't. Then factor in that they were, with the M/T tread about 1.5 inches larger in diameter, they were a great deal larger than I thought.

The tyres on the Jimny at the moment are the standard Suzuki issue Bridgestone Dueller road tyres and the M/T's , as I say are COLWAY remoulds.

It could be that I am looking at them with too much worry in my mind but I don't think so, they looked too big in the arches without a suspension lift being fitted. I couldn't do any tests to see if they catch as I don't think my partner's Mum would be happy with me ripping off the plastic arches from her 07 plate Jimny!

I thought about offset too. I can't remember which way - or + is either but it doesn't matter as I measured from the centre of the wheel, where it would toch the hub to level withe rim and measured this depth to be about 75mm on both wheels,give or take with my un-steady hand.

As such, I don't think it's a venture I'll be taking on.

I would like a jimny, I really would, but our SJ hasn't needed any new bearings yet and has been through some yucky stuff and done plenty of miles with me at the helm!

Thank you for re-assuring me about the half shafts, seems a shame about the CV's though!

Like I say, I want a Jimny and I want it to do what our SJ does, but it seems like it's a great deal more expensive and time consuming to run than a good old SJ. Shame the good old SJ ain't getting any younger though!

Thanks for all your help in answering my questions.

Rob

I didn't risk it in the end and bought a ready modified Jimny with 215/15 Colway MT's on it already that have most of their life still in them.

When I put my SJ wheels and Colway 195/15 MT's on a standard Jimny they did look a bit tight in the arches but I couldn't experiment with rubbing properly as the standard vehicle was my girlfriends less than a year old jimny and she wouldn't have apprieciated it if it didn't work!!!

It's good to know from someone that has tried it that it does work. I don't think I'd like to run one like that though as even now with a 3" lift and 215/15's my radius arms get caught in ruts. I could get slightly bigger tyres I think but on the whole there's no need and the Colways are doing a good enough job to not justify spending money.

It's a shme Insa turbo Special Tracks don't come in 215/15's though.

Kirkynut

If you have a set of tyres for normal road use, why not buy slightly larger 215/15 tyres for off road use?

You will find that your vehicle will still travel at a respectable speed - mine still does 70 mph and gets tere with no issues what so ever. The advantage is not getting stuck so often when your radius arms touch down in the middle of ruts, both on green lanes and on pay and play sites.

Insa Turbo do the Sahara in a 215/80/15 which is a bit more of an aggressive tread without getting silly - I mean I'd quite like some Insa Turbo Special Tracks as the grip they seem to be giving our friend's SJ compares to their old Recip Trials is out of this world - but are better of on an off road site really, although they use their on the road with no drama.

Otherwise - Recip Trials are a good choice but hey are getting a little more expensive now they've established themselves.

Decisions decisins...

Kirkynut

This forum does not handle pictures very well so if you are having problems then email the pictures to me and I will sort,

Martin

Yes, a 215 will fit standard Jimny wheels and they are ideal for it if they are steel as they are less likely to get damaged beyond repair with a big hammer.

My spare is on a standard steel wheel and in some ways I wish all my wheels were steel, I have 4 alloys and a steel spare. Perhaps when these tyres wear out I'll consider selling the alloys and buying a second hand set of steels as I'm not worried about the showy side of the alloys too much. They do look nice though.

You'll not have any clearance troubles with 215/80/15's at all on a lifted Jimny. Mine is lifted 3 inches and I still have the plastic mud guards in place which I wanted to prevent mud getting in the hole inside the front wings. I don't see why I would be any different with a 2 inch lift and I believe from this forum that there are many people with 2 inch lifts successfully running this size tyres and possibly bigger!

Again though, if you are yet to buy the lifting bits, why not go to 3 inches? Getting in is not difficult, even for the shorter people I give lifts to and my KAP kit is great on and off road and I've now removed my anti roll bar.

As I say ... decisions, decisions ...

Kirkynut

I was watching those steel wheels you won on ebay for £5.50 ooky_123, What a steal!!!

Kirkynut