[Morcs]

Hi guys, 1st post

Just ordered a 40mm lift kit (the cheap one with ultima shocks and king coils), currently got 15mm coil spacers on standard suspension to restore stock arch clearance with my 215/75s.

My questions are, can i fit the 15mm spacers with the 40mm kit (without worry about brake lines etc..), and what are the advantages / disadvantages of doing so?

This is my Jim so far, owned since new
https://goo.gl/photos/UVxoRuBsuNUyGWVA6

[Jezza86]

castor. so you'll have 55mm of lift, and your king pins will be tilted forward, and this can result in death wobble if you dont have the right inital torque on the king pin bearings.
having been through this myself i would sugest doing nothing and chopping guards

[Morcs]

40mm lift on its own should be OK without castor correctors? only when going over 50mm it might cause problems and becomes an absolute necessity?

[Jezza86]

bottom line the further you go away from factory specs the more problems you will have. some factory cars also wobble brand new from delivary.

[Gwagensteve]

You do realise the use of coil spacers to recover arch clearance is cosmetic only, yes? It's not doing anything to increase actual tyre clearance.

215's clear stock. There's no hard limit on when things like caster correction are required- the erosion of handling and the negative effects of lift increase along with lift height.

[Morcs]

Gwagensteve wrote:

You do realise the use of coil spacers to recover arch clearance is cosmetic only, yes? It's not doing anything to increase actual tyre clearance.

215's clear stock. There's no hard limit on when things like caster correction are required- the erosion of handling and the negative effects of lift increase along with lift height.

Yes i realise that, it was cosmetic in maintaining factory arch gap when changing tyres.
Clearance wouldve been tight on front bumper without them, even with spacers, plastic mudflaps had to go.

Ill fit the 40mm kit without adding in the spacers, ill sell them with my stock shocks (which only have 6000kms on them too)

Although i understand the reasoning, general consensus on castor correction on bigjimny is under 2'' lift they arent needed, unless of course one doesnt like how the steering feels.

cheers for the input

[GraphicX]

i have that kit & the front springs sagged 25mm due to my bull bar. i fitted 25mm coil spacers & it leveled the car perfectly, i'm guessing even without the bull bar you'll experience some sag from the fronts.

[Seth2013]

GraphicX wrote:

i have that kit & the front springs sagged 25mm due to my bull bar. i fitted 25mm coil spacers & it leveled the car perfectly, i'm guessing even without the bull bar you'll experience some sag from the fronts.

I second this - hang onto the spacers, you never what sort of sag/suzuki lean you will end up with.

[Morcs]

GraphicX wrote:

i have that kit & the front springs sagged 25mm due to my bull bar. i fitted 25mm coil spacers & it leveled the car perfectly, i'm guessing even without the bull bar you'll experience some sag from the fronts.

Good info cheers!

How was the kit in general? Road handling, and flex off road?

[GraphicX]

the kit is terrible. the king springs are fine, although the fronts sagged with the bull bar as said. the shocks are not suitable for the jimny at all, far too hard, literally don't give at all except when you're off road (you will feel every little bump in the road). i've changed to dobinson shocks in the rear & it's excellent now, eventually i'll change to both dobinson shocks & hd springs in the front. when i removed the rear shocks one had already lost a fair bit of pressure & stopped extending, the lower bushes were also torn right through on both as well & that was after less than 10 months of use.

[Morcs]

GraphicX wrote:

the kit is terrible. the king springs are fine, although the fronts sagged with the bull bar as said. the shocks are not suitable for the jimny at all, far too hard, literally don't give at all except when you're off road (you will feel every little bump in the road). i've changed to dobinson shocks in the rear & it's excellent now, eventually i'll change to both dobinson shocks & hd springs in the front. when i removed the rear shocks one had already lost a fair bit of pressure & stopped extending, the lower bushes were also torn right through on both as well & that was after less than 10 months of use.

Bugger. mines already been shipped...
Wish id asked this a few days ago, wouldve gone my original plan of a set of ES1000s

[Morcs]

double post

[GraphicX]

apparently the entire dobinsons kit is excellent as another alternative & they offer the up rated front springs as mentioned. you can swap bits out though as you go, from memory the ebay kit is pretty much the cost of just the king springs but you get shipping & shocks as well so you haven't totally blown your dough.

[Morcs]

Well I don't even need the lift for what I do, hence spending more isn't worthwhile, just figured overall must be better than stock with peace of mind of being less likely to damage anything underneath...and looks count

[Morcs]

GraphicX wrote:

the kit is terrible. the king springs are fine, although the fronts sagged with the bull bar as said. the shocks are not suitable for the jimny at all, far too hard, literally don't give at all except when you're off road (you will feel every little bump in the road). i've changed to dobinson shocks in the rear & it's excellent now, eventually i'll change to both dobinson shocks & hd springs in the front. when i removed the rear shocks one had already lost a fair bit of pressure & stopped extending, the lower bushes were also torn right through on both as well & that was after less than 10 months of use.

Went to have the kit fitted today.

Fronts apparently are far too long and wont keep the springs captive - they would literally fall out at full extend.

The shocks looked about 100mm longer than stock, and would need to be around 50mm shorter to keep springs captive.

Did you experience anything of this sort? Ive had the supplier check their listings and apparently correct, unless my 2014 is different to 2012 and previous.

[GraphicX]

never had those issues, but yes the front shocks are far too long, i've broken a front shock mount on the front housing due to them bottoming out. i can't picture the spring coming out as the sway bar will stop it articulating enough to spit a spring when flexing.

it is a very simple job to fit them & if you have some tools you can do it yourself (nothing better than working on your jimny). i'd be planning to at least swap those shocks out in future & just make do with them until you have the finances to do so. personally i ordered my new front shocks yesterday & have had the new rear shocks in for a fair while now (as the ride from the rear was the worst !!!!).

[Morcs]

GraphicX wrote:

never had those issues, but yes the front shocks are far too long, i've broken a front shock mount on the front housing due to them bottoming out. i can't picture the spring coming out as the sway bar will stop it articulating enough to spit a spring when flexing.

it is a very simple job to fit them & if you have some tools you can do it yourself (nothing better than working on your jimny). i'd be planning to at least swap those shocks out in future & just make do with them until you have the finances to do so. personally i ordered my new front shocks yesterday & have had the new rear shocks in for a fair while now (as the ride from the rear was the worst !!!!).

Cheers, i got a better result, supplier is going to take them back in exchange for a set of tough dogs at no extra cost.
Great result as i was expecting to have to replace the shocks with some decent ones anyway.

I live in an apartment nowadays and nowhere to work on cars and bikes anymore

[GraphicX]

that's an awesome result ! the king springs are great so you're good there, apparently the TDs are firm but in a good way & a lot of people have them & are very happy with them.

make sure you post some pics.

[Morcs]

Wheels on today, 15x7 ROH black trak 2's

[Morcs]

Hi guys, so an update.

Fitted the 40mm kings lift springs, and tough dog shocks.
Front sags a fair bit - 30mm difference from ground to top of inside arch.

Its going back tomorrow to finish off with wheel alignment, and ill make use of the 15mm coil spacers i have to level.

My question is, should i stack the spacers to make 30mm or is it much safer to just go 15mm and deal with the slight front end bias?

[GraphicX]

when were they fitted as everything may yet to settle down. i'm a little puzzled why they've sagged so much in the front as you don't have a bull bar or dual batteries/winch etc. could it be that the back end is actually sitting higher than +40mm ? personally i'd fit the 15mm spacers, give it some time & make a decision from there.

if you like, measure from the centre of your wheel to the wheel arch & i'll do the same & we can compare notes. i have 25mm spacers in the front of mine but also a bull bar, light bar & 1.6 litre engine.

[Morcs]

I gained 50mm on the rear, 20mm on front (compared to standard shocks on 15mm spacers)

Will go with just 15 on the front today. Will take measurements tonight, cheers!

[Morcs]

Pretty much level now.

Height from wheel centre to top of inside arch is about 47cm. Only a few mm difference between front and back

[GraphicX]

my height from wheel centre to inside arch is about 460mm all the way around (465mm on the passenger front i think, classic jimny lean). good that yours is sitting level with just the single spacers, i'm not sure how well it'd go stacking them.

[nessness]

Hey all, thought I'd bump this post up rather than starting a new one.

I've got a jimny with an ome 40mm lift, 215 bfg at's. Done the alignment, still has a slight vibration. Took it to the mechanic who seems to think its a caster wobble and should fit shims. However, I'm a little reluctant to do it as it will just off set the load.

Queue .... caster correction. 2 degree casters or? It is even needed with this size lift?