Kirkynut's Jimny (aka Daddy's Tractor) - The Evolution continues...

kirkynut wrote: Oil and filter changed today for Castrol Edge 5w30 fully synthetic, which was half price in Tescos the other week.

Oooh, I hope it still is cos I could do with some of that!!
Nice looking motor my friend.

Sorry John, it's not been on offer for a while now!

MOT passed with flying colours!

The Mrs Beemer only just passed due to rust the other month, so we planned to scrap it before next year's MOT, however the rear nearside brake calliper is seizing and I don't want to put a new one on a car I'm about to scrap!

So I think the Jimjam might get pressed into daily use soon, at which point these tyres are going to annoy me I think! They're great for the mud plugging I bought them for but now I'm using it on the road more and only on lanes, they're a bit unnecessary.

I'm quite into driving it at the moment, regardless of the noisy tyres.

I have kingpin bearings to replace on the mother in law's best friends Jimjam tomorrow morning. I think it's the first time the kingpins will have been out since they were put in at the factory in 2004, so it's going to be a bit of a job getting the top one out I'm sure!

Kirkynut

We'll the Kingpin bearing change went well on the mother in law's best friends Jimjam. They must have recently been changed but by an incompetent.

Firstly I found that the wheel bearing nut was barely tight. It should be a million NM. Then when I pulled the half shaft out the oil seal came out on it, so had not been pushed into the axle properly, if at all.

I know my step father in law filled the front axle with oil a week before but I'd rather he didn't. I think he thought it rotates all the time. There was little left in the axle as it had all pissed out of that end of the axle with no seal in it. It gets messy enough when the seal leaks but take it out and it's messy on another level.

It had SKF bearings in, indicating they're not original and the dust seal seemed new.

Nonetheless, I had a set of Koyo bearings from the Big Jimny shop in stock and fitted them as I don't know the history of the old ones and was doing this for free, so the £25 she owes me for them is nothing to what a garage would have charged.

I then threw a spare radio in it as the one that came with it didn't work but the cage in the car is a mess, so I've got to fit it properly at some point and replace the nearside speaker which doesn't work.

I managed to do this job whilst maintaining working vacuum hubs and without inducing death wobble.

I had to check the same incompetent had not been at the other side too but they'd not!

I suspect I have gained responsibility for maintaining a second Jimny!

Standard ones drive nicely though I've found! It's a long time since I drove a standard Jimny before this.


Kirkynut

I've had a metallic clicking/pinging noise when I take up drive for a while now and was not sure what it was. You can get this is the radius arm mount bolt holes have ovalised, leading to the bolt moving in the hole. I'm one for overtightening nuts and bolts though, so albeit I've had to nip them up before, unlikely.

The next likely culprit I thought might be the prop uj's on the rear prop. I've been checking them for play for a while though and there's not been any, until now.

So one night last week, after I got our 2 year old to sleep, I whipped off the rear prop. The uj on the diff end was binding. It was knackered and clearly the source of the noise.

Now I wanted to do these myself as it is one job I've never done. I have a vice and now a 12T press so thought I'd take the old ones out to measure and order the correct ones that night. Or so I thought.

I couldn't get the buggers out. So I took it to a mate at a local garage who has one of those Land Rover things, so he'd know how to shift a stuck uj. I have no heat either.

The issue I had was I have a Samurai front prop on the rear, due to my Rockwatt Rocklobster transfer box. I had to do some reasearch as to what uj's I needed. They are standard Jimny ones if you are in the same boat.

I got them locally as I wasn't sure what I needed but I have the same part as Martin sells in the Big Jimny shop, with the grease nipple this time. So I can try to save these from the same fate as the old ones, which incidentally needed cutting out as even heat wouldn't work.



Here we go, all done and now fitted.

I haven't posted a picture of my X Lights on the back, acting as work lights and manually operated reversing lights, so here they are:



Kirkynut

After about 8 years of loyal service, my Numax battery has died. They have stopped making the one I have but there seems to be a few companies that have them still in stock online.

I heartily recommend Numax as a joint starting and winching battery. My Jimny sits for over 10 days minimum without use, often more. Then it has always started and winched when needed. I mean 8 years when treated like that!

Kirkynut

Those lights are REALLY neat.

Max Headroom wrote: Those lights are REALLY neat.

Cheers. They're not very effective at the moment though, what with the battery being as dead as a dodo!

Kirkynut

New Numax battery has just arrived and been put on charge. Here's to another 8 years of loyal service I hope.

The only thing is that when the last one arrived, I had to put the fluid in it. This one came with it in. So how long has it been stored wet? Will that effect its lifetime?

Kirkynut

Edit: All charged up and now fitted - all ready for the sneaky second winter - like we had last spring!

I've just renewed my insurance and have changed back to Adrian Flux. I had to list all my modifications so as I have compiled a definitive list I thought I may as well post it here:

1. 3” suspension lift using Big Jimny springs, Rough Country +2” shock absorbers, KAP Suzuki HD adjustable panhard rods, Off Road Armoury Castor Correction Radius Arms and Super Pro poly bushes
2. Anti-Roll Bar removed
3. Extended braided brake hoses
4. Rockwatt Rocklobster transfer box with 4.1-1 ratio to correct gearing for larger tyres with speedo correction ring, using Samurai front prop-shaft on the rear and mounted in a Rockwatt Rock Bucket with bolt through mount
5. Custom made metal winch bumper bolted to front chassis with Superwinch EP9000 winch, plasma rope and hawse. Recovery hoop welded to bumper
6. Off Road Armoury heavy duty metal bumper – rear number plate moved to spare wheel mount disc with light, original rear lights mounted in bumper in original location
7. Custom external roll cage mounted to custom welded on rock sliders that are welded to the chassis and onto rear bumper
8. 215/80/15 Malatesta Kaiman tyres on original steel wheels
9. Fixed front hubs replaced free-wheeling hubs. Associated vacuum pipes removed and blocked
10. Extended transmission breathers
11. Front driving lamps on brackets switched with main beam
12. Waffle boards and ground anchor bolted onto roof of external roll cage
13. CB with external cage mounted aerial which is used for the car radio aerial via switching box
14. Sony CD Radio to replace original radio
15. X Eng cage mounted lights on rear of cage acting as work lights independently switched via their own relay
16. Extended rear wheel mount on back door to mount larger spare wheel with larger tyre
17. HD fuel tank guard
18. Front brake disc stone guards removed
19. Scangauge 2 engine gauge and DTC reader
20. Towbar with recovery hoop welded to it
21. Strengthened front lashing eye to act as an extra recovery point

Kirkynut

I had a bit of time today before I had to pick our boy up from the child minder's after a hospital appointment, so I pulled the panels out which are originally covers for the OE front speakers. I've mounted bigger speakers on these covers though in an effort to improve sound but they still sounded tinny and with no depth.

I had some inch thick foam as packing for something electrical I saved, so popped that behind the panel and speaker. It pushed against the back of the speaker nicely and I used a bolt to self tap into the hole that little plastic rivet goes into to secure it in place nicely.

The result is a far better sound, albeit not 100% as I only have Pioneer speakers there, which were quite cheap.

I think I'll upgrade them and maybe add an MDF mounting ring to stiffen it up a bit more, which will also improve the aesthetics of the fitting.

I might even go all out and add rear speakers, a cross over and tweeters.

None of that is worth doing before I change my tyres though. I bought the Kaimans many years ago for when I was mud plugging through our local club's off road site when I was really into hard core off road stuff.

Things have changed though and those tyres are very noisy now! People look round to see what's coming down the road because they are so noisy! They've worn oddly too! My boy is pointing out that some blocks have worn lower than others in the picture below:



So the car feels like it's driving on 50 pences! As I roll to a stop at a junction you can feel the car going up and down on the different height blocks of tread!

I want some different wheels for the new tyres though. I've a few ideas but want something a little different to the norm.

Tyres will likely be MAXXIS Buckshots as they seem to be keenly priced, they're a new Mud Terrain and not a remould and they're available in 235/75/15 that I'll be plumping for to replace my 215/80/15's that are extreme remoulds, so a little bigger than the size they're sold as when new.

I might even have the white writing on the outside!

Part of me wants BFG Muds as I want quality and quietness from them but people are telling me that the Maxxis are not loud. I've had Kumho KL71's before but want something a bit grippier off road.

I'll balance them will balancing beads, as is my liking.

Kirkynut

I had buckshots on my Maverick for a while. They were quite loud. They were a bit of a hand full in the wet. They didn't really get any further through the woods where I helped a keeper any better than his trooper on all terrains. They were also prone to losing tread blocks on some of the more rocky lanes further up Dales.

Had some Maxxis 764's (fairly noisy), Cooper STT pro are good, but I prefer the Toyo open country on J999MNY currently. Soo quiet for a mud tyre