Well the South East had a touch of snow this morning. A bit variable in covering, some places we went had about 3inches, others just a sprinkle. But we had to take LittleJimny out for a run...

 

As I am currently without a car and James will be learning to drive later this year, we have bought a Jimny for him to learn in and then have as his first car, so say hullo to LittleJimny.

So you may recall that in preparing for my replacement lift we discovered some major damage to the rear axle.

So its slowly onwards with the work. Those of you who what the forum will have seen me comment on the problem of corroded bolts and difficult access. The most challenging in a suspension upgrade is the bolt at the top of the rear shocks. This is left in the mud and muck and suffers the constant pounding of the suspension. Typically its rusted in place and the inner steel bush sleeve is cold welded to the bolt through the impact.

When I first "tested" the bolt on the drivers side, there was no movement, so I have been soaking it every day with various penetrating oils. Tonight I decided to "go for it!"

So with my BigJimny Lift Kit coming together and my Offroad Armory Spring Clamps I set out tonight to start the winter rebuild. First a quick look at the ORA Spring Clamp Kit I thought I would do it properly, with Spring Compressors, it was a bit fiddly to get them in and I had to play around with the optimum stretch on the spring to get them in. I...