Replacing kingpin bearings, seals, tie rod nuts.

Hi Robin,

Thats great - I have added some of the bolts for the seals and other bits onto my order so I can replace them. The Suzuki garage that diagnosed the car last week also said;

Drivers side swivel hub leaking gear oil. Needs Kingpin repair with seals and fasteners Inc tie rod nuts. I'm not sure if I buy the nut or a new tie rod?

I'm also unsure what the Split Pins for Steering Rod ends look like. They don't seem to be available on the Jimny Shop.

Thats great - I definitely don't have any form of heat/blowtorch and I don't have a breaker bar. I'm guessing this is something you attach to the end of your socket set to gain better weight/leverage?

Thanks again for your help...

Chris.

 

Hi Chris,

The oil seal on the drive shaft between diff and hub is included in the kit. The swivil seal is really designed to keep the muck out, not oil in and the grease is so thick it doesn't come out.

The steering rod ends are threaded in to the steering rods and have a check nut, these are used to adjust the steering, so I hope they don't mean those as this will mean wheel alignment after changing. The ends of the steering rods have a ball joint on them and this is held in place with a nut and split pin.

I doubt any of the steering rod ends need replacing, but you have to take the ball joint apart and the split pin will need replacing.

I can't see the split pins in the Jimny store, I bought mine from eBay, but the item doesn't seem to be for sale now.

Anyway they were pack of 10 2.5mm x 38mm Cotter Split Pin A2 stainless, I should have some spares, or something like eBay item 274948917277

I can sort out a blow torch, breaker bar, ball joint splitter, circlip pliers etc to get you going.

I sent you a personal message through the site, that has contact details for me.

My guess is assume that the brake discs and pads as well as the steering rod ends are okay, if we find wear they are an easy enough job to do as a follow up job on another day as the brakes have to come off for the Kingpins.

Robin

Well, with the human help of DrRobin and advice and offers of more human help from Lambert, I managed my first big job on the Jimny this weekend. Starting pretty much from scratch, apart from a selection of sockets etc. that I use for bicycles, and after a very helpful list of tools from Dr-R, that I needed to add to the box, and a fair few nights of YouTube videos, I got set to on the job Friday and Saturday.

To give a bit of a background I had a fluid/oil/grease mixture seeping out behind a perished rubber swivel hub seal which made me initially ask the garage to give me the lowdown. Too many lowdowns and prices to replace everything either side as one job made me attempt a go it alone job.

Safe to say - firstly, I enjoyed it a lot, which is surely the main thing, I thought about throwing the towel in a lot which is surely the normal thing and I learned an awful lot in 48 hrs, which was the best thing. 

We replaced the Kingpin bearings, races, oil seal and swivel hub seal and replaced bolts for everything that came off.  Got the kit from the online shop here - no problem, all arrived perfectly (Thanks).

First thing I noticed was when the Kingpin bearings dropped out they were actually really both ok - good level of grease no rust and no silt, mud or crap on them. However I'd got new ones so replaced them with newer waterproof blue grease that's available in the shop, but the bearings and KP bolts that were there were really OK.

Dr-R suggested the oil seal may have been the culprit coupled along with the failed swivel seal that meant some form of fluid was escaping onto the hub. We replaced everything anyway and I'm super pleased I've even taken on a job like this after only having the Jimny since January. 

The hardest bolts to release for me were the brake ones (the big 17mm ones). The kingpin bolts came out ok actually and the swivel dust/muck seal bolts (the 8 small bolts that hold the seal in place) were also OK to release - I did wire brush and WD40 penetrant oil them all for a good chunk of time too, which I think helped. 

The ABS sensor sheared off immediately but Dr-R drilled that out and tapped a new thread to hold that in place. Getting the ABS sensor back in was actually a bit tricky as it has a plastic overcover that wouldn't go back in but we managed in the end.

We followed Martins video and other guides around grease etc... Thanks.

Hoses reconnected + brakes and tightened everything up, then checked the 4x4 and the brakes. OK

I'd not have been able to do this job without the Forum and the support of Dr Robin who came to help in his Jimny along with lots of tool, advice and another pair of hands - and initially Lambert (thanks for the offer of the same in Harrogate).

My advice as a complete beginner is that time wise, if you're new to the game, add on a lot more time than the more experienced Jimny mechanics will take as we are not experienced. (I'd never really took a wheel off a car, so was starting pretty green) and get the little extra tools that you always think you'll never need, as you definitely will, and ask as many questions on this forum as you can Asking is learning!!

I'll have a think about any things we found tricky over the next day or so and post any thoughts as they arrive. Apologies I didn't take any pictures as I was too busy making sure I did everything in the right order.

Thanks again and I hope everyone enjoys the Big Jimny Meet tomorrow.

SirJamesRusty