Budget vs premium swivel seal (BigJimny shop)

Hi all, looking to do my kingpin bearings and I see there are two options in the shop for the swivel seals - a budget and a premium OEM option.

Budget: www.bigjimny.com/store/kingpin-bearings-...seal-kit-budget-seal
Premium: www.bigjimny.com/store/kingpin-bearing-w...it-premium-koyo.html

Is it worth the extra ~£20 a side for the OEM Suzuki ones or should I just go budget? From what I understand these seals aren't super important and are mostly just to stop dust and a little bit of water ingress. I may be mistaken on that though.

Thanks!

Water ingress is what kills the bearings.
So I would choose the better seal.

But again could be just a fortnight in life span difference too...

Kingpin bearings on a Jimny seem to fail very quickly and given the length of job personally I would (and did) fit the best.

Martin would be the person to know if there is any real difference.

Along with a new seal I would order replacement bolts for the seals, they aren’t expensive and mine were covered in crud and rusting.

Also if your car has ABS the bolt holding the sensor in snaps really easily, both mine did. However, it’s very easy to drill out and replace, I found some stainless steel ones for mine.

Robin

Yeah, I've been doing some Googling and it seems like some schools of thought are "well, water is getting in no matter what you do so just accept it" whereas other people talk of sanding, filling & painting their swivel housing in an attempt to make the surface smooth.

My mind is telling me to get the OEM ones but the Scotsman inside me wants to be cheap

And yes @DrRobin - I'm going to replace every bolt I remove and have accepted that drilling out the ABS one is pretty much just part of the process. I read that if you buy an extra swivel seal bolt then that fits as a replacement! Not 100% on that though.

Hi, thanks for your question

The premium seal is a genuine Suzuki seal and the budget seal is an aftermarket one.

As everyone says, it's more of a dirt and dust cover than a seal and a really can't say which is longer wearing, that's because I have only ever fitted genuine to mine

I have added pictures. Depending on your device and the way it displays pictures the genuine ones are on the right or on the bottom.

The main ring on the Suzuki version is a different design, it is split. It has a felt lip and cutouts in the inner lip to aid steering. The budget is a plain metal pressing. The rubber section on the genuine is quality rubber which is pre greased in the correct position. The budget is a plain ring with some sort of glittery finish.

The inner ring is a simple pressing although the Suzuki one is more rigid which suggests its better quality metal.

I would suggest the budget is for an off roader and the premium is for a road vehicle

Martin

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GandHisJimny wrote:

My mind is telling me to get the OEM ones but the Scotsman inside me wants to be cheap

And yes @DrRobin - I'm going to replace every bolt I remove and have accepted that drilling out the ABS one is pretty much just part of the process. I read that if you buy an extra swivel seal bolt then that fits as a replacement! Not 100% on that though.

No one likes paying more if they don’t have to, or is that because I am a Yorkshireman, often described as a Scotsman without the generosity.  I thought Martin’s write up was very comprehensive, thanks Martin, perhaps you should pin your description to the shop/wiki?

I think that the ABS bolt will be slightly longer than a seal bolt, but again ask Martin, he will know.  They drill out very easily, one of mine just came out with a fairly small drill bit and the thread was fine, just gave it a good clean.  The other was stuck good and solid and had to go up in half drill bit sizes until it disintegrated and came out.  The threads on that side were caked, so I ran a tap through first with some cutting fluid to clean the hole out.  If you haven’t got a tap or cutting fluid you can do the same with a small piece of rag and some oil or thread release.  Then run a bolt through several times to push the muck out.  I put mine back in with copper slip/grease.

Robin

Amazing, thanks Martin! I think I'll opt for the OEM ones since my Jimny is predominantly a road vehicle with only occasional off-roading. Sounds like it's more justifiable to go cheap if you're burning through kingpin bearings because you're in the mud, off-road etc.

And yes @DrRobin, I've been through Martin's videos and they're really helpful. My only real concern is breaking off seized bolts - the job itself seems not too complicated (still the most mechanical thing I've done on a car though!). I'll get some bolt extractors & left hand drill bits before I start. Also hopefully leave the ABS bolts nicely greased for the future.

One final question - is the Maxima Waterproof Grease good for the CV joint too or do I need something else? I imagine so given it's popular and nobody mentions otherwise.

You don’t need left handed drills for the ABS bolt, it’s open at the back, so will just drop out of the rear. The seal bolts are blind, but all of mine came out, even if the heads were crudy.

I used the Maxima waterproof grease for the kingpins and the CV. Follow Martin’s advice and don’t overfill with grease.

A number of bolts were seized on mine, including the brake callipers bolts and the lower kingpin bearings, both needed a lot of encouragement to come out and the lower kingpin bolts needed a blow lamp. Then one of the lower kingpins was stuck and I had to turn it back and forth to get it out.

I helped another member near to me, his was much easier, but my advice is have some 6 sided sockets, a long socket bar and when that doesn’t work a lump hammer.

Robin

Forgot, I had to drill out two of the steering split pins as they were ceased in place so ordered a small pack of those.

Robin