Red Dustbin

Good to hear your vacuum hubs work fine what are they then

Front wheels locking mechanism that engages when you put the car in 4 wheel drive. Many people report it breaking due to loss of pressure, stuck pipes etc.

Thanks for that, going to see if mine are working

Started fixing the kingpins, prompted to do it by increasing oil leak from front hubs.

Learned the hard way to get a set of rusted bolts removal tools and to buy all the bits and little parts in advance as everything I touch on the car is rotten and falls apart. No wonder as most of components are still 13 years old, rusted through original equipment.

Getting four hub bolts off took me six hours, at the cost of broken screwdriver and snapped pair of new mole grips (Halfrauds ones- don't buy them, they may snap in your hands without much effort). Finally knocked the washers out with a chisel, allowing more grip on the stuck, mangled bolts and used a pair of ancient German molegrips borrowed from my plumber neighbour. The bearings were in bad shape, still working however, but the bottom race was cracked into pieces. There was about 2-3 mm of play in the wheel but car never had the slightest wobble. Go figure.

Saying that, advancing from fixing bicycles to fixing cars, I find working on the Jimny quite simple (many thanks to Mr Lines and his "how to" articles).

A lot of people are removing the 4 bolts on the back of the hub when there is no need to.

You can change the kingpin bearings without completely dismantling the hub. Just remove it as one unit

Yep. Now I know. I'm still trying to replace all the rusty fittings, when I do any repairs. Makes it easier next time and I believe it will make the car be more reliable in the long term, just gives me more piece of mind.

I'm still amazed how this poor, little thing stood up to neglect from previous owners and careless car mechanics.