UK Suzuki Jimny

[Jersey4x4]

Hi all!

I am from a little island called Jersey in the UK Channel Islands and drive a equally little Suzuki Jimny
!!
I want to turn the Jimny into a mini Overlander (if that is possible!!) and tour europe once i have got used to long distance driving

Learning to drive on a island means the longest journey i have undertaken is a 45 min drive around the island... And have never gone over 40mph...

Maybe i am jumping into the deep end but i am starting small and working up... Not adventurous but first trip is in a few weeks to France and see how the little thing dose at motorway speeds fully loaded

Then step upto the lake district for a week then venturing deeper into Europe depending on how it gose!

Anyway! Heres the Jimny!

Specs:

+3.5 inch Suspension Lift
195/70/R15 Insa Turbo Sahara (soon to be changed)
Installed Second Battery
Cb Radio
Heavy Duty Tubular Bumper
Ebay Ali Roof Rack (not to sure of the make but it was £45!)
X2 Front Spots
X1 Rear Work Light

Thats it for now but i have just ordered a Weaco Coolbox for the trip

Thanks

JJ

 

[digitaldelay]

Nice! I love those little Jimnys.

Jason

 

[Jersey4x4]

Nice! I love those little Jimnys.

Jason

Cheers They are small but very capable in the right hands!

 

[Warn Industries]

Awesome! I love Jimnys. Total unobtainium here in the U.S., but I'd love one.

- Andy

 

[Brendon]

Well, how many people will be on your upcomming adventures? I did a 4-day trip with myself and 1 friend in my 1993, two-door Tracker(sidekick in UK?). It was a little tight, but I didn't have a roof rack. My best advise would be to get creative on storage. For example, I removed the rear interior panels opening up the fenders from the inside. Perfect for odd shaped/flexable items. Heavy stuff down low. Looks like there's a little room in the engine bay for fluids/tools.

Good luck, get a couple "practice" trips in. You'll learn a little more each time.

 

[Jersey4x4]

It will be the two of us, me and my girlfriend so we don't mind being a bit close (i think)

I beleave your talking about a Suzuki vitara the bigger brother of the Jimny, not much bigger but still a difference

I have removed the rear seats so I have a normal sized boot now plus roof rack space

Tent, chairs, Ali camp kitchen, Ali table, Inflatable mattress and other big bulky items will be on the roof

Clothes, supplys, vehicle spares and fluids, electric coolbox, tools, sleeping bags and other water senceitve items in the boot

And other quick need items like passports tickets snacks France travel kit maps GPS etc etc in the front cab

Should work out ok I think.... :/

 

[mike r]

If i could get one here i would, nice car.
We met a guy that was traveling the world from jersey last year in a defender that was also a great car.

I moved to the states 6 years ago from nottingham and miss the small diesel 4 wheel drives

 

[WagoneerSX4]

I LOVE Jimny's! Only car I would trade my SX4 in for. But alas, that will never happen. I forget what crash test they failed but they failed so badly that Suzuki said it would take way too much to redesign it for the North American market. Stupid safety standards. They're getting pretty ridiculous.

 

[Jersey4x4]

They are a great little car off road abit small for extended trips...

So the first lot of expedition equipment came down today

The Fridge

The Cargo Net

Really pleased with the fridge only had it on for about 30mins and it had already cooled its self down to a nice cold temp however it dose draw alot of power....

Thank god i ordered a Battery Monitor so it cutts of if the Batt level gets too low

 

[zukimoo]

those little Jimny's are super cool. They stopped importing the samurai's in 92 over here so we don't get new ones. I ran a Samurai on some pretty long trips (for these areas) and I had mounted two tool boxes under the hood for the tools/fluids.

If you are only two then the back is a lot more roomy than you might think. Building a few shelves in the back will make a huge difference because you won't be digging through everything when you need a small item. I found that if I added a lot of roof weight it was a little off in the handling and that was very apparent on the highway with the big trucks passing.

I ran a dual batt system that had all the accessories tied into the second batt and the main batt only had the original samurai/jimny work load. This way my rig always had starting power. A good high output alt is always good too.

On the old rig I had two small tanks build and mounted under the rig for a little bit of air and always had the plans on mounting the ac compressor onto the tanks to fill them up. Another air trick is to overfill the spare tires and had a double ended hose to retrieve air from the spares.

They are little but running a few short trips will show you a lot about what you need and what you don't need.
When I head out on long trips with the samurai or the LJ now I use side roads and back roads so keeping highway speed is never a huge issue.

 

[Jersey4x4]

Well we survived the motorway journey! The ATs really helped I think

If anyone was looking to camp around 45 mins away from St Malo (the port that the Jersey ferry docks at) then Les Ormes is the best bet

Cant speck French? Everyone on campus specks English (including a few native English speaker's too!)

Have a look on the website for all the details but they do really offer a lot http://www.lesormes.com/en/

Anyway! today we took a drive down to Dinan which is just along the coast from St Malo

Really nice town that looks like it comes straight from the medieval times all the buildings are as they were hundreds of years ago (pics below)

Tommorow we are planning on doing a few activates around the site itself then heading to Cobac Parc which is a big water park

Not really the over landing adventure you guys where looking for but I find the little Jim struggling to keep up on the motorway miles and felt really vulnerable to side winds... Its a shame really as the Jim really makes up for this on the rough stuff but I cant see myself in it for more then a hour or two before getting completely fed up with the handling and road noise...

Its a sad thought but maybe I might have to look at something more suitable... A trusty Landcruiser comes into mind as it keeps the trusty Suzuki reliability while retaining its off road capability and still being something I see my self doing thousands and thousands of miles in

I do this with a really heavy heart as I do really love this true last small off-roader but its getting to small for me

Anyway as I am typing this my phone should of finished uploading the pics... Hopefully enjoy

On the boat just about to set wheels in France

Arrived at camp just setting up (notice the colour matching SJ wheels... )

All set up now this is going to be home for the weekend

Food on the go

One of Dinan's Medieval streets (very very very steep!)

On the way home using the back roads... (not intentually btw) This is a D road I am sure is means Destrutive as the Jims Rough Country suspension was struggling!

And this is how I leave you now... Enjoying local French cider and the open fire... Oh and the free WIFI

 

[Gren_T]

Hi Good to see your making the first steps, dont worry about the vehicle go a little slower get off the autoroutes and away from the trucks if you travel on the local roads the vehicle wont be an issue.

Bonne Route..

Gren

 

[JamesW]

I have one of them too,The lift really ruins the ride,not that it is anything great standard,but lifted makes a bone shaker out of it! It's possible to get different stiffnesses of springs

Mine had bigger tyres on it,made a good difference to the ability to cruise,it got slower to accelerate,but nothing too bad. Also soaked up some of the bumps.

But I will agree with you that it isn't the ideal car for long drives,you feel like you've been beaten up after an hour and a half in it

 

[graynomad]

I've got a Jimny and love the thing, I too removed the back seats but I made a custom storage compartment for the space

Plus a shelter for the back

More pics and details about the stuff we added here

http://www.robgray.comt/graynomad/issues/issue_052/index.php

Scroll down to Sun 14 Jun.

It's a great little rig but I have to fess up, I've just bought a Cruiser and am about to sell the Jimny. Why? Because I need something I can live in for several months at a time in all weather and a tent doesn't cut it for me so the little fellow will be going to a new home shortly.

 

[Ray Hyland]

Great little Jimny. Where are you taking it next?