A Detailed Guide To Camping with a new Suzuki Jimny

If you’re thinking about camping in the new Jimny here’s everything I’ve learnt so far. This is all based on real life camping experiences. I’ll update the guide as I try new things and hope it helps you 🙂

We bought the Jimny to have a small daily driver that was capable of being adapted to an off road micro camper. Convenience, comfort and maintaining the drivability of the Jimny are all key factors in achieving the best set up. Of course doing so at reasonable cost is important too.

I’m not linked to any company mentioned in this guide. I’ve bought everything in full with my own money.

The guide is in 6 sections.

1. Car camping in the Jimny
2. Roof top tent
   • Roof load limit
   • Mounting position
   • Load bars
   • Full rack systems
   • What’s it like to drive?
   • What’s it like off-road?
   • What’s it like to sleep in a roof tent?
3. Awning
4. Recommendations
   • Reducing the weight
   • Upgrading the ladder
   • Reducing the weight of a full rack
   • Aerodynamics & wind noise
   • A more comfortable tent mattress
   • Modifying the awning
5. Current build
6. Final thoughts

Car camping in the Jimny

I’ve written an article dedicated to sleeping in the Jimny. It’s great fun and you don’t need to spend a lot of money to try it for yourself. Here’s video to help you decide if you want to try it.

Roof top tent

A roof tent was always our goal for the Jimny.

We ended up buying the lightest weight roof tent we could find within our budget. This was the Front Runner Roof Tent. It’s decent tent even though it’s one of the cheaper ones on the market. Coming in at 43kg, it’s one of the lightest too.

I’ve seen other Jimnys with heavier tents so it shows what can be done.

For now we’re happy with the tent we have as it’s a good balance of weight, convenience and comfort. We get some extra benefits that help with the overall build we’re aiming for too. More on that later.

If I had a larger budget and wanted to mount the tent off the side of the Jimny I’d go for the new iKamper X-Cover Mini (due for release in 2020) or the Sky Camp Mini if I were to omit the side awning due to the extra weight.

Update: I’ve since made my own DIY roof tent.

Roof load weight

The elephant in the room before we start is roof load limits. How much weight the car can carry on the roof, including the fixtures and fittings.

Less is more has never been more relevant a phrase when it comes to roof load on a Jimny.

The owners manual does not list a roof load limit. The official Suzuki roof load bars are rated to 30kg, and this seems to be the load limit consensus. Some dealerships have quoted 40kg limit many say 30kg.

I personally believe the limit listed on websites and quoted by Suzuki staff is carried over from the previous generation Jimny that has plastic mounts in the roof which limited its ability to bare weight. Please don’t take this opinion as fact. It’s a touchy subject for some owners and if you decide to exceed the 30-40kg suggested limit you’re doing so at your own risk.

If you’re planning to do proper off-roading I would not recommend doing so with a roof tent on.

I’ve written an article about roof load weight, I strongly suggest you read it before buying any kit to load on the roof of your Jimny.

The generation 4 Jimny has strong rain gutters when combined with a quality rack system you can load a decent amount of static weight. We’ve had upwards of 220kg static weight (not while driving obviously).

The more weight and height you add to the roof the worse and less safe it will be to drive the vehicle.

I’m exceeding the load limit and the Jimny is not supposed to be used in this way. All I’m doing is passing on my own experiences. Therefore, take what I say here with caution and do your own tests to discover what is is best for you and what you’re comfortable with.

A good rule of thumb is to store anything of weight inside the vehicle to keep the centre of balance lower to the ground. If you’re insistent on roof tent camping as I am then read on but please take roof weight seriously.

Mounting position

Side mounted or rear mounted?

Side mounting seems to be a more popular method of fixing a roof tent to vehicles. We decided to buck the trend and mount the tent off the rear. Here’s why.

1. To create shelter over the rear door.
2. The width of the tent in this position sits well on the Jimny.
3. Airflow is better when driving with the ladder stretching down the car not across it (even better if you remove it).
4. It allows for an awning on either side of the Jimny (bonus, you can then connect it to the tent to create a superb batwing style shelter).

We mount the tent so the back edge is in line with the end of the roof. This is to allow space to open the door without it hitting the ladder.

Another cool feature is the tent cover will roll up neatly and slot into the space between the roof and the tent. Most people I’ve watched set up their tents remove the cover and store it in the car. I’m not a fan of that for 2 reasons, firstly it can dirty and wet and secondly you’re working with limited space in a Jimny.

Be careful to fold it around the aerial without damaging it. You can remove the aerial but I’ve not found it a problem.

Load bars

Our first setup was the Thule Squarebars and the low profile 150cm feet. This was to keep the weight low and to test how the Jimny will handle on the road.

Initially we used 2 load bars and it actually felt great on road with very little impact on handling.

• Front Runner Tent – 43 kg
• 2 x Thule Bars – 6 kg
• Total weight = 49 kg

Unfortunately, for 2 people sleeping in the tent 2 bars didn’t feel strong enough. We collectively weigh 150 kg and the bars are rated to 100kg. So we added a 3rd bar to help support where the main weight is distributed.

This was much better. The setup and positioning above is recommended if you go for 100kg rated load bars with 2 people sleeping in the tent. 3 load bars brings your total roof load to 52kg:

This set up uses 2 front runner load bars. There are many good quality load bars on the market and I can only give my opinion on ones I’ve used. They’re super strong and the feet sit great in the Jimny’s rain gutters with no damage or denting overtime.

• Suzuki Jimny Load Bar Kit

Front Runner recommend that you use their tent brackets to mount onto the load bars. Personally I would save your money and use the metal brackets that come with the tent. Or do what I did and drill holes directly into the slats for the tent bolts to drop into.

The tent and loads bars come to 50kg.

Full rack

We tried the Front Runner Slimline II 3/4 rather than the full sized rack to save weight. Initially we liked the idea of being able to have modular rack system to mount other things when we’re not using the tent too.

However, we’ve since removed the Slimline II rack and are running with the load bars only. I realised that part of my purchasing decision was (ashamedly) for how it looked. I’d convinced myself we would use the rack when the tent wasn’t on but that’s never been the case. So I swallowed my pride, accepted it was a vanity purchase and switched to the load bars only.

Regardless, the rack is great if you need one. It weighs 22 kg so it’s quite lightweight and the full rack runs at 27kg. For reference the measurement from the ground to the top of the rack when mounted on a Jimny is 69 inches (1755mm).

If you go with the Front Runner tent brackets they sit within the rack height when the tent is removed and the tent lies flush with the top of the rack when mounted. Total load with the 3/4 rack and tent is 65kg.

What’s it like to drive?

In my opinion the road manners of the Jimny are good with less than 60kg load on the roof with stock suspension. This is purely from personal experience. Plenty of Jimny owners are driving (and off-roading) with more roof load than that but I couldn’t recommend it. With upgraded suspension upwards of 80kg feels ok to me as long as you drive sensible and don’t do any challenging off-road tracks.

I love tweaking my set up and with our ultralight setup it’s hardly noticeable that there’s a tent on the Jimny (excluding serious off-roading conditions). This might be because I’m used to it. I prefer to run as light as possible, but it’s your call. Regardless of what you decide, you ought to adapt your driving style to the conditions and weight you’re carrying.

• We don’t speed down the motorways.
• We increase our stopping distances.
• We take corners at a sensible pace.
• We try to balance weight evenly in the boot space.

We prefer to drive between 60-65 mph (96-105 kph) for longer distances. Reduce to 55 mph (88 kph) you will see a noticeable improvement in fuel economy. At 65 mph (105 kph) in the automatic you are just above 3000 rpm and the engine is slightly louder and more thirsty.

On a trip with longer distances involved the SZ5 UK spec automatic gives us approximately:

• ~35 mpg (8.1 Litres/100km) at 65 mph (105 kmph) ~3k rpm.
• ~38 mpg (7.1 Litres/100km) if you stay below 60 mph (96 kmph).

UPDATE: I get around 30 mpg on the very latest configuration of the Jimny and it’s 4 years old at the point of writing this.

With the 40L tank I’m glad there’s petrol stations littering the UK as it feels like you’re always filling up!

I actually prefer driving the Jimny with 2 passengers and the roof tent on. Because it feel less ‘kite like’ in high winds and more solid on its feet.

What’s it like off-road?

I’m super impressed with the Jimny off road even with the tent on. You can see that on moderately rough terrain the Jimny eats it up. Be to clear I’m not an experienced off-road driver. There’s different levels of what people class as off-road driving. My use is towards the very mild side of the spectrum. With the tent on and a decent amount of equipment in the back it feels ok to me.

Watch some action from a trip in the Yorkshire Dales.

What it’s like to sleep in a roof tent?

Simply put, it’s awesome.

It’s giving us the best night sleep we’ve ever had camping (depending on how drunk you get) and it’s easy to set up.

The Front Runner tent takes approximately 5 minutes once you get the hang of it. With 2 people it’s quicker. Granted, it’s not 60 seconds like iKamper but it’s not terrible to setup. We’ve done a lot overnight trips and it’s been worth every penny so far.

Here’s my favourite camping trips so far.

Awning

If you’re willing to add a more weight you can choose to add an awning. I debated this decision for a while before getting one. My main concern is always additional weight and the benefit of the item. I’m so glad we did though as we are surprised how good it is in practice.

We went with the Darche Eclipse 1.4m awning from Trekoverland.com.

The reason we chose 1.4m was its low weight (8 kg) and it’s just big enough for our needs. You could easily decide to go for something longer but this awning is ok for us. A 1.6m would fit perfectly across the length of the Jimny roof if you want to take advantage of the full length of the roof and line it all up. Obviously 2.0m awnings will have overhang.

We mounted it on the passenger side, aligning it with the back of the tent. It’s awesome and looks great on the car. Especially with the black front runner tent cover to match it all together. The awning is mounted to a rack or load bars with the 2 brackets that come with the awning.

LOAD BARS

• Front Runner Tent 43 kg
• Front Runner load bar 7 kg
• Awning 8 kg
• Total = 58 kg

ROOF RACK

• Front Runner Tent – 43 kg
• Front Runner 3/4 Slimline II Rack – 22 kg
• Awning – 8 kg
• Total = 73 kg

UPDATE: I’ve replaced the 1.4m awning with a Darche Eclipse 180 Rear awning to offer us more length in exchange for some extra roof weight. This new awning provides full clearance to open the passenger door. The 1.4m awning restricted this a small amount. We also plan to add the full tent style awning walls to this in future.

Recommendations

This might sound like overkill and yes I’m a weight nerd.

Always consider is how to reduce the roof weight and overall payload, every kg counts. Second is improving aerodynamics. Finally, we’ll look at quality of life improvements, what we can do to make the setup quicker or more comfortable.

Reducing the roof weight

It’s easy to reduce the tent weight from 43 kg to 37 kg. Follow the modifications in my article for creating an Ultralight Roof Tent set up. The main element to reducing weight is the ladder. Similar can be achieved with other tents on the market.

Upgrading the ladder

Roof tent telescopic ladders are hard to find in the UK so I modified a 2.6m telescopic ladder I ordered from Amazon. It was a lot cheaper than the telescopic tent ladders I’ve seen online. How the ladder is fitted is detailed in this article.

These ladder greatly improves upon the one you get with the tent. They’re wider, easier to use and more sturdy.

Reducing the weight of a full rack

This is an easy task, simply remove any slats that aren’t used under the tent. You don’t need them and in the case of the front runner 3/4 rack it reduces the weight to from 22kg to 18kg.

Aerodynamics & wind noise

Depending upon what rack or load bars you choose you may have whistling and annoying wind noise.

With the front runner rack we had awful whistling over 20 mph. It sounds like a boiling kettle and isn’t much fun on a trip. Choose to either mount a proper wind deflector or try to close the gap between the tent and the rack. This should eliminate the noise.

When we ordered the rack we were sent the wrong sized wind deflector that mounts below the rack at the front. I wondered if mounting it to the top of the rack at the front, upside down would stop the whistling. As luck would have it, it worked!

It may require some trial and error but these little touches really increase the pleasure factor on longer trips.

Note that you get zero wind noise when mounting the tent directly onto the load bars either Thule or Front Runner load bars.

Running only roof load bars

If all you plan to store on the roof is a roof tent then it’s crazy to use the full racks. Instead just use a strong set of load bars.

A more comfortable tent mattress

The standard mattress in the Front Runner tent is okay and many roof tents adopt the same 2″ foam mattress concept. Unfortunately we were waking up multiple times during the night with sore hips. They’re not very warm either as no insulation is factored in.

You can’t underestimate how much difference a comfortable, insulated mattress makes. I’ve written an article about sleeping in the Jimny and the 2 mattresses we use for that set up are the same ones we use in our tent.

Here’s what they look like in action. Being essentially expedition style inflatable mattresses, they’re warm and mega comfy. With ear plugs to block out any noises we get a far better nights sleep than we did with the tent mattress.

Modifying the awning

If you decide to mount your tent off the rear of the Jimny and want a side awning too, this tip worth considering.

I had an idea to create a bridge between the side of the awning and the tent. I’ve written an article on creating a custom awning extension to achieve this. This was a fun project and I’m astonished it actually worked. I’ve since remade the first prototype out of matching material to the awning.

In heavy rain the extra coverage makes a big difference. A 1.4m awning may be small but with this extension it’s ideal for keeping us dry when moving from the side to the rear of the Jimny. Extending the longest end to 2.7m!

Old build that used a tent you can buy

The video shows the tent and bars only, that’s why it says at 44kg. We add 8kg with the awning, bringing the total roof load to 52kg.

• Front Runner Tent – 37 kg
• Front Runner Load Bars – 7 kg
• Darche 1.4m Awning – 8 kg Darche 180 Rear Awning – 13kg
• Total weight = 52 kg 57kg

Set up demo

Final thoughts

Sleeping in a roof tent or inside a car is something you need to get used to. This might sound weird, but you get less broken sleep as you become more accustomed to it. Strange but true.

My advice would definitely be to try sleeping in the Jimny first as it’s the cheapest way to get out enjoying an adventure. It’s a good fun and the perfect solution in really bad weather. Don’t forget your ear plugs!

If you’re willing to invest into your Jimny camping experience and can justify the cost, we wholeheartedly recommend a roof top tent. Several trips per year ought to justify the expense.

I hope this guide has helped you in your future Jimny adventures. I’ll try answer any questions you have so feel free to comment below.