Rear wheel bearing replacement

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Introduction

The Rear Wheel Bearings on a Jimny can be prone to wearing, particularly when used off-road. The drum brake backing plate is supposed to provide protection for the bearing but it is very poor and you can expect the bearing to fail VERY regularly if the vehicle is used in muddy/watery conditions.

Providing you have the correct tools, the replacement work can be a straight forward task.

The symptoms of worn Rear Wheel bearings:

• Grating/Grinding as you rotate a jacked up wheel
• Oil/Grease leaking from rear of drum
• Wheel falling off (yes, really, comes out complete with driveshaft!)

Figure 01 - Typical symptom of failure

Bearing kits

You will need a suitable bearing kit for your car.

Two kit types are available:

• A kit for non-ABS Jimnys;
• A kit for ABS-equipped Jimnys;

Don't know what ABS is? Educate yourself by reading this!

Common notes for both kit types:

• Both types have the same wheel bearing specifications and half shaft oil seal specifications.
• The "only" difference between the kit types is that the bearing retainer in the ABS kit is much more sophisticated.
  • That is why ABS kits are much more expensive than non-ABS kits.
• The fitment procedure for an ABS kit is the same as for a non-ABS kit.
  • Don't try to skimp by using a (much cheaper) non-ABS kit on a ABS-equipped Jimny - it won't fit.

Figure 02 - An example of a non-ABS Jimny rear wheel bearing kit

• The non-ABS kit has a plain bearing retainer ring.

Figure 03 - An example of an ABS Jimny rear wheel bearing kit

• The ABS kit has a retainer ring with an ABS ring installed.
• Some ABS kits have a retainer ring with the ABS ring, whilst other have the ring as an integral part.

I have sold a number of different kits over the years and found the quality of the retainer ring varies, with some cheap kits being very poor quality.

• 

  Figure 04 - Old retainer ring

• 

  Figure 05 - Full ABS retainer

Prerequisites

Before embarking onto any work, first comes the overview of the prerequisites.

Required parts

The table

Required and recommended parts and fluids (for one side / wheel)

Part name	Quantity	Suzuki P.N.	Aftermarket replacements	Comments
Wheel bearing	1 piece	09269-35009	Various	Suzuki actually uses Koyo "DG357222DWC4" bearing under the stated OEM P.N.
Bearing retainer ring (non-ABS)	1 piece	43485-73000	Various	For non-ABS Jimnys only!! This part is usually available in the aftermarket only in a set together with the bearing.
Bearing retainer ring (ABS)	1 piece	43485-76J00	Various	For ABS-equipped Jimnys only!! This part is usually available in the aftermarket only in a set together with the bearing.
Oil seal	1 piece	09283-48007	Various Dimensions: 48x62x9 mm	Seals the differential oil on the rear half shaft from pouring from inside the axle towards the wheel. This part is usually available in the aftermarket already in a set together with the bearing.
Oil seal protector	1 piece	43588-73000	?	Usually does not need replacing, but if you find out that yours is damaged, now you know the replacement part number.
Bearing grease	A fistful or so	?	Maxima 80916 Abro LG-990 (here are more detailed spec's) Various others ...	Sometimes comes together with the bearing (otherwise use a high quality grease which is suitable for the application). Proper grease selection and application is one of the most important parts of this job. Read the notes below the table for more details.

Parts offered in BigJimny Store

The BigJimny Store has the following parts from the above table on sale:

• A "bearing + retainer + oil seal" kit for non-ABS Jimnys;
• A "bearing + retainer + oil seal" kit for ABS-equipped Jimnys;

Notes about greases

General notes about the selection and application of greases:

• The longevity of a wheel bearing highly depends on it being properly coated with a grease which has adequate lubrication properties for the application in wheel bearings, as well as the grease having adequate water, oil, grit and temperature resistance.
• The list of recommended aftermarket greases in the above table is by no means complete.
  • Others are welcome to add their own recommendations to the lists!

Additional notes on Maxima 80916 grease:

• This heavy duty lithium grease is the grease of choice in BigJimny shop.
• It has proven itself very well in practice with several Jimny owners.

Additional notes on Abro LG-990 grease:

• Forum user Bosanek has had very good experience with this fully synthetic lithium grease when used in a CV joint and in a wheel bearing.
• It claims to be particularly suited for bearings and it has a rather high heat resistance (almost 300 C liquifying point) and still claims good resistance against contaminants.

Required tools

• Standard metric sockets and spanners
• Assorted screwdrivers
• Slide Hammer
• Angle Grinder
• Bearing Press

You will have to use a press.

Replacement procedure

Removing the drum

Figure 06 - Jimny rear drum

• First of all secure the car.
• Release the wheel nuts and jack up the car and remove the road wheel.
• This then reveals the brake drum.
• The drum on the picture has a spacer fitted to it.
• With all the wheel bolts removed, the drum can be pulled forward and off the hub.

The handbrake must be OFF, otherwise you will not be able to remove the the drum!

Figure 07 - Using bolts to remove drum

• If the drum is stuck, then first of all check that the brake system (cable, shoes, etc.) is not stuck.
• Then insert two small bolts in the holes in the face of the drum.
• Reach around the back and feel near the top for a rubber bung.
• Remove the rubber bung and insert a flat bladed screwdriver.
• Angle the screwdriver so that the blade is pointing to the back of the car and the handle towards the front.
• You should be able to feel the adjuster wheel.
• Using the screwdriver turn the adjuster downwards a few clicks. Then gradually tighten the bolts you inserted in the front, the drum should come off.

Figure 08 - Drum removed

• With the drum removed, the brake shoes can be seen (covered in mud in this case!).
• As the hub has to come off to change the bearings you need to remove the brake assembly.

Removing the shoes

Figure 09 - Lower spring

• Use a small pair of pliers and remove the small spring that connects across the base of the brake shoes.

Figure 10 - Adjuster Spring

• Use a pair of molegrips to remove the strong spring that joins the top of the shoes with the adjuster.
• Make a careful note of how the adjuster is fitted.
• The rod has a forked end and on part of the fork has a step in it.
• Make careful note of how this fork is fitted.

Figure 11 - Shoe retainer

• Use a pair of pliers and twist the end of the shoe retaining pin until the spring clip is released.

Figure 12 - Shoe removal

• Now the shoes will lift away.
• Take care not to loose the little adjuster arm and its small spring.

Figure 13 - Handbrake cable

• Release the end of the handbrake cable from the arm on the shoe.

Figure 14 - Handbrake cable retainer

• The handbrake cable is held into the brake backing plate by an expanding spring clip around the cable.
• The clip needs to be squeezed, so the cable can be pulled out complete with the clip. A small cable tie can be used to compress the handbrake cable retaining prongs.
• This is not easy to do but will come out with persistence.

PICTURE REQUIRED for Figure 15

• You then need to remove the brake pipes from the cylinder.
• Undo the pipes and catch the drips of brake fluid.
• There is one pipe if you are doing the passenger side and two pipes if you are doing the drivers side.

Removing the Hub

Figure 16 - Backplate bolts

• The hub is retained by four bolts on the rear.

PICTURE REQUIRED for Figure 17

• The hub can now be removed.
• The unit is a friction fit into the axle casing.
• Attach a slide hammer to the hub and pull it out by using the slide hammer action.
• Alternatively refit the wheel or old wheel or brake drum (backwards) and hit the hub from behind to drive it off.

Figure 18 - Rear axle oil seal

• With the hub pulled, you can then see the oil seal and oil splash protector in the axle.
• Hook the old seal out, clean up the axle and push the new seal supplied with the kit into place.

Removing the Bearing

Figure 19 - Bearing retainer

• The old bearing is held in place by a retainer ring which needs cutting off.

Figure 20 - Cutting the bearing retainer

• The best way seems to be to cut it away with an angle grinder.
• I do not know of anyone who has removed it in a different way.

Figure 21 - Stuck inner race

• With the retainer cut away, you should be able to remove the remains of the bearing.
• As you can see in the picture, my bearing had collapsed and left the inner race on the axle .

Figure 22 - Collapsed bearing

• The damage to mine is clear!

Figure 23 - New bearing

• This is what a new bearing should look like.
• Note that it has a built in "spacer" on one edge, this should be to the OUTSIDE of the hub/wheel.

Re-assembly

This section needs completing but essentially it is a reverse procedure of above.

Torque Settings

Full details of the torque settings can be found in the reference data

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Page last edited on 4/11/2021 by user Qwright