Jimny and the cheap stuff..

Read the debate on the drop links thread and thought I'd continue on my own here

Not sure how to begin with this.. But here goes.

When I started using this forum we had Bigjimny, Jimnybits and Bits4Vits to go to for Parts for the Jimny. Reasonable quality at reasonable prices. Now we have vitmods, black raptor, 4x4 art, plus a lot of private sellers of more or less shady lift kits and what not.

And the generel rule seems to go in one direction. As tall as possible as cheap as possible. So many owners are using all sort of lift blocks, either for springs and shocks or just as a body lift. None of it with a lot of thought put to it.

I understand we all are different, with different budgets, different use of Jimnys and what not. But what I'll never understand is why cheap is the most used word when Jimny upgrades are mentioned. Without any thought to how it behaves, road safety and such.

Some kits are now tried and tested over years, like the Rough Country and Pro Comp shocks along with springs of unknown origin. But it seems to work ok.
But not a single person seems to be interested in knowing what this Black Raptor stuff is all about? And what about the 4x4 Art stuff? To me it's just cheap shitty things with shiny colors. Sorry.. but can anyone for sure know if it's any different? And the same goes for many other suspension kits sold for the Jimny.

All this has made me thing why no one would be interested in trying the opposite. Offer good quality suspension kits tailored to each specific vehicle. Like Fox, Bilstein or King shocks. Not necessarily a lot more money than Trail Master or OME shocks, but something very different. And very easy to rebuilt and gets parts for.

Hope this is not too provocative as this is not the main intent. Just trying to get my head around some of the things discussed here...

Your thoughts?

Tom

I agree with a lot of your points Tom. On a lot of the Facebook groups all people seam to ask is how high can I go, how big can the tires be and how cheap without a thought of how this is going to affect the performance/handling of the vehicle.

This will likely be an unpopular opinion on here but: I think the issue is the Suzuki Jimny is seldom the owners 'dream car'. People dream of a modified Defender, G wagons, Wranglers or Land Cruisers, These types of vehicle suited for overland travel, where people historically spend mega bucks.

The Jimny is, again in my opinion, more likely to be purchased as a pay&play toy (a tasks it performs very well) or as a stop gap until they get their dream. These types of ownership ethos do not lend themselves to big spending.

Tom, I think your comments are more reflective of the attitudes on the facebook groups than this forum. I get the feeling most members here are perhaps a little more grown up and are enthusiasts rather than people looking for a cheap off-road toy.

That said, I can completely relate to what you are saying. It seems very few people have any idea about vehicle dynamics and what makes a good off-road vehicle. Recent discussions about shock relocators have highlighted that. It's all driven by achieving a certain look as cheaply as possible rather than thinking about what actually works best. Nobody even considers buying a locker or lobster box until they have 5 inches of lift, 31s, a 69 inch light bar and a snorkel. I also see lots of lifted Jimnys with less articulation than standard.

If I had the money I'd like to do some comparisons of different setups, starting with tests of the different lift kits available then looking at tyre sizes and types. With no reference data for how different setups perform, people rely on their peers and, on facebook at least, people's opinions are usually worth what you pay for them.

Busta your comments made me giggle :laugh:
and Tom you have some valid points

Jack

I guess that so long as what is done by means of modifications is not actively dangerous then each to their own. I wouldn't want anything on my car that wasn't specifically designed for it or that didn't afforded a dynamic improvement even if only minor.