The Great Roadway Bazaar

[Scott Brady]

Boarding the plane- First stop France

[07 Elephant]

Bon voyage!

[Hltoppr]

Looking forward to updates!

Stay safe and have fun!

-H-

[Scott Brady]

Off to a good start. As always, the South of France is beautiful

[DiploStrat]

Have a great trip!

[FourByLand]

Safe travels. Enjoy the adventure!

[Scott Brady]

I took delivery of the Jimny yesterday in Provence and drove back to Cabannes. It is much better than expected (overall). I am going to take some pictures of the few modifications and post them up later. The truck was prepped by 2B 4x4, who is the same team that prepped my Outback Challenge race truck- good guys.

Pictures soon- promise

[LC4Dakar]

You have the title (or V5 equivalent) in yours' or Chucks' name, don't you?

The American team from San Francisco on the current Mongolia Charity Rally only has the V5 partial the seller gives the buyer, nothing with their own name on it, and they are having border crossing problems in the Balkans. God knows what they will do when they hit Russia or Kazakhstan. I found Russian border officials tend to be professional but very picky. Mass quantities of baksheesh?

[Redline]

Looking forward to some pics

I took delivery of the Jimny yesterday in Provence and drove back to Cabannes. It is much better than expected (overall). I am going to take some pictures of the few modifications and post them up later. The truck was prepped by 2B 4x4, who is the same team that prepped my Outback Challenge race truck- good guys.

Pictures soon- promise

[Scott Brady]

I have been spending a few days in the South of France with my friend Patrice and his family from Outback Imports. Patrice helped coordinate many of the modifications to the Jimny. 2B 4x4 installed the mods.

As discussed earlier, this truck is kept intentionally simple, though I felt a few critical upgrades were required.

1. LT tires. +1" size
2. HD Suspension and new shocks. +1"
3. Skid Plates
4. Lighting
5. Interior lashing
6. F/R recovery points
7. Interior power distribution for charging camera batteries, powering laptops, etc.

The vehicle started its life in Spain, and is a 2001 Jimny 4x4 with a 1.3L, 80HP gasoline, fuel injected 4 cyl. This truck was actually assembled in Spain. The vehicle has a traditional ladder chassis and a two-speed transfer case with 2.02:1 ratio, which is proving to be not near low enough on initial testing. The wheelbase is only 80", though it handles surprisingly well with the coil suspension and new OME shocks.

Detailed Factory Specs Here:

Its best angle . The departure angle is actually pretty impressive


Pretty clean and simple. I actually like it


It is actually a hybrid convertible/hard top. The front section can be easily removed, which I expect Charlie and I will do often. The small windows in the rear should help with security (I picked up some cheap window film too.)


Protecting the low-hanging bits was a priority. Trips like this are not about extreme trail performance, but there are still many hazards, like rocks rolled into the road, pipes, concrete pylons, etc. The Rasta skids are nicely made and look stout.


Axle skid and brace


The belly pan is nice too. Rasta makes a full compliment of parts for this truck. In fact, it is impressive the total array of accessories for the Jimny.


SuperVision sells some interesting LED lights into Europe. They are small and light, eliminating the need for a serious bumper or mounting hoop. The outer two are fog/cornering and the inner two are euro driving. Light coverage is good on initial testing, but distance seems a little lacking. I will report in more detail once I get them aimed better. I can also see them working well on a moto.


There are several advantages to the smaller lights, which includes light bounce and theft. You can hardly tell they are there without a close look. At 10w each, the drain on the charging system is minimal


2B also installed an OME 30mm suspension system with a +350lb rating. The shocks are the firm valving and the truck is handling the weight of the gear (and me) well so far. Stability is good given the 80" wheelbase, but I am still quite cautious in the twisties. It is a long way to Mongolia.