We recently had an email from one of our followers, Dave Smith. He had some questions for Les on the preparation of the Jimnys. We thought it might be of interest to other followers and Jimny fans ....
From Dave ...
Hi
there. Brilliant adventure and welll done to Les and co on a lasting
the course!!! I've really enjoyed reading the blogs and listening to
the adventure. Our family have 3 Jimnys and have covered in excess
of 250,000 miles in them over the last 13 years! One question I do
have - please could you tell me more about the modifications carried
out to prep the Jimnys. What make and size are the tyres? Did the
Jimnys only have a plus 2" suspension lift only or did they
have castor corrected radius and trailing arms to compensate for the
lift? Were longer shock absorbers used or standard ones? If longer, who supplied the springs and shocks as I'm interested in preping one
of my vehicles for a simialr although shorther type of adventure. Did
Les and co have any problems with the front wheels rubbing the inner
arches with the bigger tyres fitted under articulation or cornering?
Are there any modifications which they wish had been carried out
looking back in hindsight? Hope you can hep with the above questions
and well done - superb story. Many thanks, David Smith.
From Les ...
Hi Dave, nice to see that you have been following our progress as we have been travelling around the world. Just for the record, the journey was made into four Stages. Stages 1,3 and 4, I was accompanied by two friends. Stage 2 the cameraman and myself drove the vehicles as we had no takers for that part of the journey. I was the only one that drove the whole distance, and when I say that I paid the price I mean it. When we arrived at north Bergen just outside New York I was totally drained and shattered. I guess the other two guys were the same. The flight home and jet lag just about pushed me over the edge, it is taking some time to get myself back together.
That's enough about me, lets talk about the Jimnys. My decision to use the Jimnys was the right one, my task was to see if we could drive the low cost Jimnys around the world and bring the vehicles and the crew back safely. That I believe we have done. I am not sure that we could have achieved this with any other vehicle. The guys at Suzuki who designed the little off roader knew their stuff. Strong,100 percent reliable and comfortable to drive over long distances, the fuel consumption was around 30 mpg on average.
Hi Dave, nice to see that you have been following our progress as we have been travelling around the world. Just for the record, the journey was made into four Stages. Stages 1,3 and 4, I was accompanied by two friends. Stage 2 the cameraman and myself drove the vehicles as we had no takers for that part of the journey. I was the only one that drove the whole distance, and when I say that I paid the price I mean it. When we arrived at north Bergen just outside New York I was totally drained and shattered. I guess the other two guys were the same. The flight home and jet lag just about pushed me over the edge, it is taking some time to get myself back together.
That's enough about me, lets talk about the Jimnys. My decision to use the Jimnys was the right one, my task was to see if we could drive the low cost Jimnys around the world and bring the vehicles and the crew back safely. That I believe we have done. I am not sure that we could have achieved this with any other vehicle. The guys at Suzuki who designed the little off roader knew their stuff. Strong,100 percent reliable and comfortable to drive over long distances, the fuel consumption was around 30 mpg on average.
It all depends on what you intend to do but if I was contemplating doing the same journey again I wouldn't do so much preparation it is not necessary. To get the best from the power available from the engine you need to keep the weight down. We were too heavy, you don't need heavy steel bumpers and bull bars on the front, one spare wheel and 10 litres of fuel just in case. You can always up-grade the spec just in case, if you think it necessary. I will at some time be producing a general specification, but so you don't think about things you don't need this is what I will start to put together.
First, all you need is a standard Jimny. If you intend to travel the roads that we did then you will need to fit upgraded springs and shocks, but if you will not be running heavy you may not need them, so don't rush out and buy them.
Having the rear left lower shock absorber repaired in Russia
The standard tyres will do if money is tight
but it depends on what you want to do. Perhaps if you can let me
know what your intentions are I can help you more. If I was going to
do the same journey tomorrow I would use the standard Jimny but focus
on crew support and comfort for the duration of the journey, I can
tell you how I would do it but I would need to know what sort of
journey you are proposing. Kind regards Les
From Les ...
If anyone one else following The Ultimate Challenge has questions for Les don't hesitate to contact us through the website. If you happy to share your questions we'll publish them here on the blog.
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