Re:Suspension Lift and Ground Clearance?

sniper wrote: All the lanes I drive are legal and you'd be surprised how many of them are quite challenging, even impassable to your car.... YouTube Parkamoor & Gatescarth Pass, you'll see how challenging they are. Multiply that considerably in Wales, where winches are often needed. All on legal lanes.

Thanks. I have done many many lanes in Wales and other places. If they are impassable or require winching, then I would suggest that by and large you probably shouldn't be there.

Lambert wrote:

300bhpton wrote:

Lambert wrote: You are right. No amount of suspension or body lift is going to have any effect on the available ground clearance of a live axle vehicle for the simple fact that you are not raising the lowest point of the vehicle. The only way to do that is by fitting bigger tyres. Which is what the lift allows you space to do.

Respectfully I would disagree.

Take a situation like this:

The underside of the vehicle is grounded, due to insufficient clearance. A suspension lift would most certainly afford more clearance here and likely prevent damage or getting stuck. As a suspension lift would raise the chassis and body (and all those bits attached like the transmission and transfer case) and prevent them grounding.

That's a particularly poor example though isn't it. That's a long wheel base wrangler and was always going to struggle with that kind of terrain. A Jimny wouldn't ground out on that because of its shortness and general lack of size allowing it to navigate an entirely different line that wouldn't involve it driving over a rock as big as it is.

I don’t see what that has to do with the price of biscuits.

It’s just a random pic off Google. I couldn’t give a flying whatsit what vehicle it is. The example was when the body/chassis are grounded. A “suspension” lift would increase the clearance. Therefore, suspensions lifts do increase clearance.

If you are that picky I suspect I could find a picture of an 80” Land Rover beached. They are even shorter than a Jimny

Lets cut the BS, suspension lift raises the chassis height. Giving it better clearance over uneven ground. But doesn't raise the axel / diff height.

300bhpton wrote:

Thanks. I have done many many lanes in Wales and other places. If they are impassable or require winching, then I would suggest that by and large you probably shouldn't be there.

JB74W SZ5

I'm confused. Does the "Off-roading" begin in part 2?

I appreciate the feedback from experienced Jimny owners on this thread. Based on that feedback my opinion is that a suspension lift would change the driving characteristics of the vehicle, that money would be better spent on some quality off road tyres & other basic gear (guards/recovery gear/Tyre inflator etc).

A gen.4 with a set of MT's fitted would go pretty much anywhere, it's probable that the terrain will force the driver to reach their limitation before the Vehicle reaches it's own limitations.

There's off roading, then there's hardcore rock crawling/bashing... if your hell bent on the latter you probably bought the wrong vehicle.

I think it is definitely a reasonable approach to leave your suspension stock, and you will still have a capable vehicle. I was persuaded by the same points on this forum when I got my Jimny, and as a result I focused on modifications that wouldn't affect handling characteristics - I bought upgraded standard height shocks (Monroe) and new springs, good all terrain tyres and bits like manual hubs, a snorkel and a roof rack. Going from old shocks to new ones made an enormous difference to how my Jimny handled, and I was confident I had made the right decision. A couple of years later I got the itch to get a suspension lift, and went with a Trailmaster Comfort 2" lift from this site. I had read good things about it, but was very apprehensive about how it might affect handling and also reliability as my Jimny is my daily driver. In the end, I kicked myself that I hadn't done it sooner. When driving sensibly it has made absolutely no discernible difference to vehicle handling - I had to drive reasonably cautiously on wet twisty roads before, and I still do now, but nothing has changed. It's feels a little slower to accelerate, and my fuel economy is slightly worse, but the ride comfort is actually much improved and it is undeniably better off road.

I don't think there is a right or wrong answer here - my Jimny was a reliable daily driver and a capable off roader with standard height suspension and it still is both of those things with the 2" lift. If I could go back in time I wouldn't bother with the Monroe shocks and would go straight to a 2" lift, but it is very much a personal choice. Whatever you do you'll have a great little Jimny!

Thats a very sensible approach furo. Makes total sense to consider a 2" lift kit when the OE suspension needs a refresh! But on a new vehicle money is better spent on other supporting modifications (as you have done)

zukebob wrote:

300bhpton wrote:

Thanks. I have done many many lanes in Wales and other places. If they are impassable or require winching, then I would suggest that by and large you probably shouldn't be there.

JB74W SZ5

I'm confused. Does the "Off-roading" begin in part 2?

It was all green lanes apart from the beach, so firmly ON road. Green lanes are part of the Queens highway. It was to demonstrate that lanes in Wales are not impassable or require a winch. And to also demonstrate that if they are, you probably shouldn't be there.

If you want off roading look here





However this is WAAY off topic....

Lambert wrote: Ok so you lift your truck and now you have all this air under the chassis and life is peachy except that now you've got your swing arms and propshafts running much steeper angles and they are also no longer hiding most of the time inside the line of the chassis. I could be wrong but sitting a large proportion of the weight of the car on a propshaft is not going to do it much good.

Suzuki did not design the Jimny by accident but instead spent much time, effort and money creating a car that drives down the street without being a death trap while still being able to venture out into the wilds far beyond where the average person would believe possible without the need to it's wheels on stilts.

I think maybe you need to keep things in perspective. The op was asking about 2" lifts and the like

DAGZOOK wrote: I appreciate the feedback from experienced Jimny owners on this thread. Based on that feedback my opinion is that a suspension lift would change the driving characteristics of the vehicle, that money would be better spent on some quality off road tyres & other basic gear (guards/recovery gear/Tyre inflator etc).

A gen.4 with a set of MT's fitted would go pretty much anywhere, it's probable that the terrain will force the driver to reach their limitation before the Vehicle reaches it's own limitations.

There's off roading, then there's hardcore rock crawling/bashing... if your hell bent on the latter you probably bought the wrong vehicle.

There is some logic in this. But I'm not sure it is the best approach. As it really depends what you are wanting to do with the vehicle.

The stock suspension is fine, but you can feel it is on road tuned. I think in standard trim the Jimny handles well and hardly leans at all on road (I have no idea what people are doing when they say it does lean.....????? )

However I would say the damping and spring rates do give a bit of a jolty ride off road. Compared to my Land Rover going over the field, down the lanes or over our off road section. The Jimny is a lot more bouncy and less controlled.

It also doesn't flex overly well and is way too prone to lifting a wheel off the ground.

So, if you plan to hardly ever go off road and when you do, if it is just a mild lane. Then I think the stock setup will be fine.

Combined with the TCS the vehicle is definitely capable out of the box and will you through the rough stuff. But it may not do it in the most relaxing and comfortable way possible. And that is the real crux of suspension upgrades. How easy and pleasant it is to deploy the vehicles capability.

As for tyres. I know they are a cost, but I'd separate them out from the discussion. Appropriate footware should always be used, for yourself and your vehicle Therefore, if you require AT's or MT's, that is what you should run. The stock tyres are heavy on road biased, but in fairness will probably get you further than most will think when you head into the mud.

Other things you may want to consider. While the TCS does work wonders, it does require you to use more throttle and/or speed. And the petrol engine and setup of the Jimny means it won't crawl at idle like a Tdi or V8 Land Rover does. This means on technical terrain you either:

-run greater risk of stalling
-have to go a bit quicker than ideal
-slip the clutch to prevent stalling or going too quickly when the TCS engages

The auto Jimny would probably suit the TCS setup a lot more for technical off road use. But I still prefer the manual overall.

An example of how easy it is to stall:


And another:


It is under pretty specific conditions that this is an issue. But off road you may encounter them more often than you think. In the wet it isn't such a problem as wheel slip occurs easier. It is in the dry that it is more of an issue. In both of the clips above the driver could have gone quicker, but you may not always be able to do and still be presented with the same sort of obstacle. In the 2nd vid if they had kept on the throttle a bit more it would have got through, but a wheel that high in the air normally lands quite hard and just isn't a pleasant way to off road most of the time.

Even at low speed on milder terrain, a wheel landing hard after being in the air can be unpleasant. This was at or just over tickover speeds, i.e. as slow as the vehicle would reasonable go.



I say all of this, because the stock suspension does pick wheels up in the air a lot. Most/all of the mild lifts will also give you more supple and flexy suspension. So, more comfortable off road. But also picking wheels up a lot less. Therefore less crashiness and less use of the TCS, which in turn means less chance of stalling or needing to go quicker.

Watch this vid, you can clearly see how much more wheel control the modified suspension has over the stock off road. And how they lift their wheels off the ground far less:



Ultimately my point is. If you want to enhance the off road capability of the vehicle and are likely to use the vehicle off road. An appropriate suspension upgrade could likely feel like it transforms the vehicles capabilities.

Plus a small lift will help prevent grounding the low bits that are a bit vulnerable on the stock vehicle (as I posted earlier on of my Jimny).