[bone]

hey guys, im finally the owner of a little jimny. clearance is currently an issue, so i want to put a lift in it. there are so so many options out there (suzisport, outdoorauto, toughdog, ome, efs) i need something that will articulate well, cause we all know four wheels on the floor = forward momentum. i will be putting a arb steel bar up front pretty soon also... now tyre size im unsure of, most probably 235s to get some diff clearance (drive with big trucks, who leave big ruts) so need the suspension to accomidate this.... ive done a search, but just want to get everyones personal experience, both good and bad, in one spot. thanks crew

[bone]

also, how high can you lift before you need to run castor correction bushes, adjustable panhards, ext'd brakelines etc

[Schnerb]

i got this kit off ebay which is a 45mm lift. it consists of extended ultima shocks and king spring coils. apart from the dickhead mechanice fitting the wrong rear spring to the wrong side (drivers side is longer in the rear than passenger), im very happy with it. it cost me 600 delivered to my door. probs one of the cheaper lifts without resorting to spacers. now i run 235 maxxis bighorn MT and i have some scrubbing issues. i had to cut out a bit of the front guard, but that cant be seen really (did a nice job). but its still rubs a little on the rear of the front guards. i thought about giving it a 2 inch body lift to get it up high enough, but for now i deal with it, it only happens when the springs are compressed really.
if you ahve the cash, i would go the 80mm tough dog lift with the 235's. with that much lift there should be no issue.
otherwise there is a mob in england that make a 4.5 inch lift. its about 2400 aussie plus shipping. but would be awesome outdoor armory, i think is their name... might be offroad armory.
cheers
Chris

[Fatzook]

stay away from tough dog. WAY too harsh for road use.

[Schnerb]

beagleONE wrote:

also, how high can you lift before you need to run castor correction bushes, adjustable panhards, ext'd brakelines etc

i believe its 2 inches before you gotta mess around with that stuff

[Benz]

did a 40mm ome lift in mine
set me back around $900 and put the kit in myself
only went up to 215/75 as it's all i need really.
but the car rides heaps better on-road and even better off-road =]

need more then 40mm for 235's but i'm sure you know that =]

edit- yep any more then 40mm and you need to mess around with castor correction bushes, adjustable panhards, ext'd brakelines

[bone]

Fatzook wrote:

stay away from tough dog. WAY too harsh for road use.

thats what i was afraid of, big bore shocks for big trucks.. not so good for little zooks..... thanks for the replys thus far, keep em coming

[lordviper556]

Fatzook wrote:

stay away from tough dog. WAY too harsh for road use.

i got a tough dog 80mm kit in mine and i think it rides well on road, i got no complaints about the kit at all.

if your going over 40mm you will need the caster bushes and panhard rods. i would also extend the brake lines as when i was fitting my kit they become pretty streched even on flat ground. i got the snake racing lines for about 180 i think.

[squizzytaylor]

Lovells 50mm here, needed caster bushes also went with lovells shocks, a brilliant ride on the road. Good price too.

Geoff

[atari4x4]

good to see you finally got a zook beagleONE, maybe PM zuknutter as he has a well sorted jimny?

where was that shot taken in your Avatar?

[gman]

I'm running 60mm toughdog springs with rancho 9000 the springs are very soft and lets the axles travel to the bump stops front and rear when crossed up. toughdog shocks are not valved to suit the Jimny they are way to hard with the rancho's the softest setting will allow it to ride like a boat great in the bush but dangerous on the road (but fun) and the hardest is like a toughdog shock but is great when fully loaded with camping gear for on road travel. I ppl often comment on the wheel travel when I'm been followed in the bush.

I've been running it for about 160000km's and 7yrs
highly recomended setup

[bone]

atari4x4 wrote:

where was that shot taken in your Avatar?

just out the back of the farm man, nothing to special hey. thats about the extent of the track haha. ahhhh, i hate this dilemer. i dont wanna buy the wrong kit cause im not made of money

[dm90]

hey,

just so i dont start a new post on the same topic, i might butt in here.

I also have a stock Jimny, i went 4wding on the weekend and scraped a fair bit and even bent some stuff underneath. so now i need a lift.

i was told almost $1400 for a 40mm lift with Dobinsons suspension, $1300 for a 40mm lift with OME and havent heard back from the tough dog dealer here.

i am not sure what to go with but i want as much lift as possible without going overboard or making the jimny unstable.

i was thinking TD 80mm. then put some 235 bighorns on it, that should give me a decent amount of clearance.

does lifting it 80mm increase the chances of rolling significantly???

[zukenutter]

The lift you install depends on the reasons you want it.

If you just want extra ground and tyre clearance chuck in a set of 40mm springs with your stock shocks and run a set of 215/75R15 tyres.
Cost = $400 for coils and fit them yourself it's pretty easy.

If you want to run 235s you'll need 60mm and trim the inner lip from the flare. I left about 3mm of the lip front and rear. Also had to remove the mudflaps to ensure no rubbing at any point of axle articulation. You don't need panhards or brake lines at this height but if you can afford it they would be of benefit. Definitely need castor correction though.

Over 60mm you'll need all the goodies. I ran mine at about 75mm with no panhards. Wasn't a problem but the axles were off centre quite a bit and probably put undue stress on the control arm bushes.

I'm currently running a set of Outdoor Auto 75mm progressive rate springs and 15mm spacers. At the moment I'm still running the same Tough Dog shocks that I've had for about 8 years, the rears are shot and need replacing but the fronts are still going strong. I don't remember them
being overly firm when new but currently give a good ride and work well off
road. I'd like to try some adjustables when I upgrade.

I chose the Outdoor Auto adjustable panhards as they are quite heavy duty and easy to set up due to the fact you can adjust the length while it's bolted up. Also Outdoor Auto's rear shock mount relocation brackets are well worth including on lifts from 60mm or more as they allow the shock to pivot with the axle.

[bone]

gman wrote:

I'm running 60mm toughdog springs with rancho 9000 the springs are very soft and lets the axles travel to the bump stops front and rear when crossed up...

this is sounding niiiiiice. how do you find the 60mm lift as far as stability is concerned? i ask cause we drive a lot of steep terrain, and dont want to put her down for a sleep

[lordviper556]

ive had no problems so far with my 80mm kit, just rember to try and keep is as flat as possible to lessen the chance of going over. i dont think you need to worry 2 much unless you go over 80mm.

dm90 i paid about 1500 for my 80mm tough dog kit and that had the shocks, sprigns, panhards and caster bushes. the panhards are way more heavy duty than the standards.

[dm90]

at the moment i do have the money to burn so i think i will go for the 80mm TD and 235's. the ride must be better then stock on road.

i was originally just gonna go for 40mm lift and run 215's but i want my Jimny to look tough and i want that extra clearance to do bigger obsticles.

lordviper: is that price installed??? or did you do it your self? if so is it hard to do?

[lordviper556]

that wasnt fitted. place i got it from wanted about 350 to fit it but i imagine that would vary depending on the workshop.

its not to hard if you have a knowlage of cars and the right tools. it took about 5hrs all up to do mine but i had to drill out the rear shock mount on mine casue the bolt sheard off so i lost a couple of hours to do that. hardest part was setting the panhard rods to get the diffs sitting right.

if you have the right tools (dont need much just a few spanners and sockets, rattle gun would be good) and you know a bit about cars i say give it a go. pretty much all you have to do is take the wheels off undo the panhard rod, then top and bottom shock bolts then lower the diff with a jack so the springs fall out and then reverse the prosses. caster bushes are are bit tricky as u need a press to put them in so maybe just fit the springs and shocks then get sombody to do the bushes for you. just be careful you dont stretch the brake lines to much. you will need a longer set if you go 80mm.

[zukenutter]

lordviper556 wrote:

i had to drill out the rear shock mount on mine casue the bolt sheard off so i lost a couple of hours to do that.

I did the same with mine the first time I swapped shocks. WHen I fitted the rear shock brackets it had seized so instead of forcing them and breaking them again I took it to pedders and for $20 they hit them with the oxy to loosen them up.

[bone]

any other jimny owners want to weigh in on the convo? im still struggling with what path to take and thanks to all the crew that have responded so far, much appreciated (EDIT - DOES ANYONE KNOW A PART NO FOR THE RANCHO SCHOK THAT WILL FIT A JIMNY WITH A 60MM LIFT? I CANT FIND A LISTING THANKS!)

[BAZZOOK]

40 MM OME FROM ARB $848.00 FIT YOURSELF.

[Bugsta]

My setup...

50mm Suzisport springs
longer Suzisport shocks
50mm Suzisport body lift kit
235/75/15 Federal Couragia M/T tyres
Castor adjusted and lengthened radius arms
cut guards

I believe that the castor adjustment is a must for road handling in any lift say above an inch. I did an experiment and left the sway bar off for a week. Handled like an old holden on cheese cutter tyres! (I own 3 so trust me). With the new arms, even without the sway bar, I hardly notice when I don't have it on. (A bit like my ex not wearing a bra)

I also reckon, with these size tyres, and even with the extra body lift, cutting guards is an absolute must, else they hit with the slightest bump.

Just my experience.

[bone]

random side note bugsta, where did you get ya rear bar from?? thanks again all for the replys