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Considering a Jimny

Posted: Sat Sep 30, 2006 5:22 pm
by Ev
G'day all,

Had a mate buy a zook recently, and he hasn't kept quiet about how much he likes it, so it got me thinking as I was in the market for a 4x4 myself.

So I've started considering an '06 Jimny, as the thought of a 4L 2-tonne Wrangler guzzling the juice didn't appeal, and an economical 1.3L 1-tonne car that's light on the juice and high on off-road potential did.

One thing has me scared though, and I think this may be an error. But whilst checking on one of the Suzuki sites it claimed that the front suspension on an '06 Jimny was a MacPherson strut setup which is IFS isn't it? Wouldn't this also mean it's a Monocoque body?

Is this site wrong?

Here's the link
http://www.suzukiautoco.com/content/car ... &page=spec

On the other hand this site says it's a rigid axle on both front and rear

http://www.suzuki.com.au/downloads/spec ... _jimny.pdf

The '06 model of the Jimny hasn't gone down the road of most other 4 wheel drives these days, catering for the road and sacraficing off-road ability?

:) Thanks in advance for any information

Posted: Sat Sep 30, 2006 5:35 pm
by Gwagensteve
EV,

No, Jimny's are coil and live axle front and rear, even the '06

Having said that though, You will need to be pretty realistic about what you want/expect the car to do.

Jimny's are not as well suited to off road work as sierras, and probably even vitaras to tell you the truth.

Whilst they can be modified into surprisingly capable cars in the right hands, they do have a range of limitations. The path of building a more capable jimny is not as well worn as either the sierra or vitara. Wheelwell size, gearing, and suspension flexibility/geometry are all significant issues with the Jimny.

Bear in mind that they were really designed for an urban market, keep the desire to run big tyres at bay (stick to maybe 30's) and stick to the car's GVM (they are rated for around 400kg of payload, inlcuding driver and all fluids) and you will happy with it, I am sure.

just my 2c worth.

Steve.

Posted: Sun Oct 01, 2006 1:14 am
by Ev
Interesting, thanks Steve. Food for thought ;)

Posted: Sun Oct 01, 2006 12:59 pm
by mightyjimny
Having said that though, You will need to be pretty realistic about what you want/expect the car to do.

Jimny's are not as well suited to off road work as sierras, and probably even vitaras to tell you the truth.

Whilst they can be modified into surprisingly capable cars in the right hands, they do have a range of limitations. The path of building a more capable jimny is not as well worn as either the sierra or vitara. Wheelwell size, gearing, and suspension flexibility/geometry are all significant issues with the Jimny.

Bear in mind that they were really designed for an urban market, keep the desire to run big tyres at bay (stick to maybe 30's) and stick to the car's GVM (they are rated for around 400kg of payload, inlcuding driver and all fluids) and you will happy with it, I am sure.
depends on what youre after though. if youre going to heavily modify it then maybe a jimny is not the best option. but if youre the average person just out to have a bit of fun on the beach or fire trails then with a few basic mods theyre pretty capable.

Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2006 1:57 am
by evanstaniland
well i think it just depends on how much money you can throw at it, some people might have seen these pics before but ill put them up anyways.
it looks damn capable but i think money will play a big factor!!!

Image

Image

Image

Evan...

Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2006 9:46 am
by icekayak
Here's another site worth looking at:
http://www.project-tinfoil.co.nz/

All about Stu buding up a Jimny for winch challenges, and still being road legal.
Good site details what he did at each step and why, and the $$$ (in NZD) involved also.
There are plenty of better trucks out there and no one will ever claim Tinfoil is the best thing since slice bread, what has resulted is the classic club truck, you can knock it about and still take it to town, and in this case compete too.
Base:
Image

Almost Done:
Image

Final Result:
Image

Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2006 1:04 pm
by Squik
Not as good as Sierra's and Vitara's eh?....

Guess what just took out event honours at Zukana this weekend against a whole bunch of Vitara's and Sierra's, some of them big bastards with lockers......

A JIMNY! :armsup: .....my Jimny in fact, with Podge at the wheel :armsup:

Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2006 3:19 pm
by grimbo
Squik wrote:Not as good as Sierra's and Vitara's eh?....

Guess what just took out event honours at Zukana this weekend against a whole bunch of Vitara's and Sierra's, some of them big bastards with lockers......

A JIMNY! :armsup: .....my Jimny in fact, with Podge at the wheel :armsup:
Where did it say that they aren't as good as Sierras or vitaras. it said they aren't as well suited to offroad work but can be made into suprisingly capable vehicles in the right hands. So as you mentioned driven by Podge it was a capable vehicle but he probably could have also done well in a similarily equipped Sierra. the difference being the Sierra would have been easierly modded than the Jimny.

Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2006 3:23 pm
by Squik
grimbo wrote:
Squik wrote:Not as good as Sierra's and Vitara's eh?....

Guess what just took out event honours at Zukana this weekend against a whole bunch of Vitara's and Sierra's, some of them big bastards with lockers......

A JIMNY! :armsup: .....my Jimny in fact, with Podge at the wheel :armsup:
Where did it say that they aren't as good as Sierras or vitaras. it said they aren't as well suited to offroad work but can be made into suprisingly capable vehicles in the right hands. So as you mentioned driven by Podge it was a capable vehicle but he probably could have also done well in a similarily equipped Sierra. the difference being the Sierra would have been easierly modded than the Jimny.
Just havin' a dig ;)

Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2006 9:46 pm
by Ev
:lol: Amusing conversation. So would the concensus be that the Jimny is a capable vehicle with some slight modification, but less capable stock then the Vitara and Sierra?

Also is it realistic to believe the Jimny may become like the Sierra is now in terms of aftermarket support and modding knowledge, or are there fundamental flaws in the Jimny's design preventing this?

Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2006 11:22 pm
by evanstaniland
Squik wrote:Not as good as Sierra's and Vitara's eh?....

Guess what just took out event honours at Zukana this weekend against a whole bunch of Vitara's and Sierra's, some of them big bastards with lockers......

A JIMNY! :armsup: .....my Jimny in fact, with Podge at the wheel :armsup:
post up a pic of the zook :D

Posted: Tue Oct 03, 2006 8:49 pm
by Squik
Photo by Robb Cox:

Image

Posted: Wed Oct 04, 2006 7:25 am
by moose
this car at TT06 !!! :D
"look out for that ....................!!!!" :rofl:

Image

Posted: Wed Oct 04, 2006 9:08 pm
by Squik
You are a WENCH Moose :finger:

Posted: Wed Oct 04, 2006 10:02 pm
by ofr57
the recovery hooks look low on the photo spuik :?
anyways looks tuff :D

Posted: Wed Oct 04, 2006 11:15 pm
by brianstevens
Hi there,

I bought a Jimny about 2 months ago an I love it. I drive about 1000k a week and I like to play on the fire trails and do a bit of camping on the weekends, so it suits me down to the ground.

I've had some difficulty with mods though....eg the front guards and chassis are slightly different on the 06 so I can't get a snorkel or ARB bull bar.

But it's got a +40 OME lift kit and a nice set of sunraiser wheels to make it look the part.

It's a great versatile car and it does well off road so I say GET ONE!!!

Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 6:04 pm
by mugginsmoo
brianstevens wrote:Hi there,

I bought a Jimny about 2 months ago an I love it. I drive about 1000k a week and I like to play on the fire trails and do a bit of camping on the weekends, so it suits me down to the ground.

I've had some difficulty with mods though....eg the front guards and chassis are slightly different on the 06 so I can't get a snorkel or ARB bull bar.

But it's got a +40 OME lift kit and a nice set of sunraiser wheels to make it look the part.

It's a great versatile car and it does well off road so I say GET ONE!!!
ithink someone has been telling you "porky pies", the front guards are the same as an 05 and that is the same as the early models. as is the bull bar mounts.
someone else has been told this, and then still fitted these mods, re: jimny.se....

Mitch

Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2006 9:08 am
by brianstevens
Interesting……..the person/s that said it wouldn’t fit was Liam at Big Balls Motorsport (snorkel) and Dave at ARB Artamon (Bull Bar).

I offered my hard earned cash for their snorkel and bull bar and they both said, “No thanks, they don’t fit”.

http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/PHP_Modul ... 2006+jimny

I’m glad to hear that other people have still been able to get these items because I really want a snorkel on the car, but if the people that sell them say no, what am I to do. And I have to wonder why they would say no; Liam in particular is known as an expert when it comes to Jimnys as he did a lot of the work on Squiks beast above.

Being new to the game I’m stumped…….what do I do now?

Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2006 3:19 pm
by grimbo
asked my brother who works at ARB and he wasn't aware of any issues with fitting ARB bullbars to an 06 Jimny.

Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2006 8:55 pm
by Squik
Hmmmm....looking at pics of the new Jimny, doesn't appear to be any major changes.....and if Grimbo's bro' is at ARB, he'd know.

If in doubt, go to the APIO website, they are pretty up on what's available.

Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2006 9:25 pm
by Podge
brianstevens wrote:Liam in particular is known as an expert when it comes to Jimnys as he did a lot of the work on Squiks beast above.
You've been ill informed (on both accounts)!!!

Posted: Sun Oct 08, 2006 6:59 pm
by brianstevens
When I bought the Jimny I did it under a lease and I really wanted to get all the extras included in the price......I'd be pretty pissed to find out now that the couple of items I had my heart set on actually would have fit.

Liam and Dave you've got some explaining to do!! :x

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 2:09 pm
by grimbo
my brother who works at ARB has found out about the Jimny bars and here is his response

"We've just been advised that the Jimny bar only suits up to 10/05 and at this stage there are no plans to make a new one."

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 4:25 pm
by brianstevens
Thanks for the follow up dude, that's good to know ;)

Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2006 9:14 pm
by todders
I have a 06 jimny and just had a ARB winch bar and winch fitted no probs. Fitted by ARB townsville.

Posted: Wed Oct 18, 2006 10:56 pm
by brianstevens
U sure it's an 06?????

They sure as hell won't put one on mine. They even had the bumper off and still said NO WAY!

Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2006 9:02 am
by gecko270
Just buy it and fit it yourself. The only thing that has changed on them is the engine and 4wd system. Still the same chassis and pannels

Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2006 3:49 pm
by todders
Positive its a 06, built in may. I have Only had it 3 months brand new from dealer.

Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2007 11:30 am
by brianstevens
It’s funny, when you mention to people in the 4wd industry that the people in the online forums have said that something or other can be done they tell you “don’t believe what you read there, they don’t knowâ€