Death Wobble

Death Wobble is where the steering wheel shakes, usually at around 45 MPH. The wobble ranges from a slight shake to a violent steering wheel shake that can be felt through the whole truck, forcing you to slow down or stop.

With big aggressive mud terrain tyres a little steering wheel shake may have to be lived with.

King Pin Bearings

For some reason, the Jimny King Pin Bearings don’t last as long as we would like them to and they are the main reported cause of Death Wobble on this forum.

The pre-load on the bearings is set from the factory and if replaced properly with all the correct torque settings etc, in theory the pre-load should be right and there should be no Death Wobble after replacement, if they were the cause or only cause of it.

How to change your Kingpin Bearings

I say in theory as it appears that the theory can take a bit of a battering on this occasion and Suzuki brought out some shims to add to the King Pin in an effort to increase the pre-load on the bearing. Martin has replicated these shims and sells them in the Big Jimny Shop here

The bearing manufacturer for Suzuki was/still is KOYO. If you buy your King Pin Bearings from the Bigjimny Shop you will at the time of writing get KOYO’s, so you know they are the correct spec. They will also be at probably the best price you can get them here

If you have come from SJ ownership, or have worked on an SJ, note that the shims go on the pin it’s self and not around it on the top. On the SJ you add shims to relieve pressure on the bearings, on the Jimny you add them to add pressure to the bearings.

You can check for wear in the King Pin bearings by jacking the car up, putting an axle stand under the axle on the side you are working on and trying to move the wheel with a hand at 12 o’clock and a hand at 6 o’clock. If you feel any play you can help confirm its the Kingpin Bearings by getting an assistant to press the brakes whilst you are doing it, if the play can still be felt then its the Kingpin bearings, if it disappears then look at the wheel bearings.

Transmission oil on your swivels will show they are likely to have failed and have caused the axle tube oil seal to have failed by the excess movement. An oil seal comes with the bearings when bought from the Big Jimny Shop – replace it.

Track Rod Ends / Steering Rod Ends

Worn Track Rod or Steering Rod Ends will have slop in them and cause Death Wobble.

There is a guide on the main Big Jimny website on how to change them [1]

You can buy new ones from the BigJimny Shop, which sells both (OEM) ones and aftermarket made ones.

You need one standard thread and one reverse thread per rod – so 2 of each for the whole car.

Be aware that it is necessary to perform professional wheel alignment (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheel_alignment) after any tie rod end change. Considering that obligatory work and expense after each tie rod end change, and considering the fact that genuine Suzuki (OEM) tie rod ends are the most durable (especially when used in heavy-duty), it is recommended to use OEM tie rod ends. They cost more, but they pay off more multiple ways.

P.S.: It is also possible to reduce some steering play by adjusting the steering box.

Panhard Rod Bushes

These can wear and as they are there to restrict axle movement, any extra movement can translate to Death Wobble.

You can buy replacement nylon bushes from the Big Jimny Shop : [2]

Also the Panhard Rod bush mounting holes can wear to an "oval" shape allowing the rod to move.

Front Wheel Bearings

My experience with front wheel bearings on Jimny’s is that they are quite long lasting, which is handy as they are not cheap but can be bought cheapest on the Big Jimny Shop: [3]

There is a guide on how to change them on the main Big Jimny Website: [4]

You can buy the tool to remove them from the Big Jimny Shop too: [5]

Radius Arm / Trailing Arm Bushes

Mainly the front arm bushes are a contributor / cause of Death Wobble but the rears could sent movement through the car and worn bushes are no good to man nor beast and may be an MOT failure if bad enough. The most common bush to give problems is the one on the chassis end of the front arms.

There is a guide on how to change them on the main Big Jimny website : [[6]

You can buy the original rubber ones from Suzuki, as per the part numbers in the guide, or from other suppliers. ADL BLUEPRINT do them for much less but in my experience they do not last as long.

Alternatively, slightly more expensive in some cases but easier to fit are nylon ones. The best come from Super Pro and can be bought from a number of places – Off Road Armoury, Bits4Vits, Jimnybits, KAP Suzuki. Nylon ones sometimes do not have slots cut in them that the original Suzuki ones have, these can mean a firmer ride on the road.

Cleanliness

This is something that came up in the summer of 2013 and was brought to our attention by Rockwatt who solved Death Wobble cases by a simple front axle re-build using new components when worn but in all cases cleanliness.

By this we mean making sure there is no rust on the hub behind the brake disc for the disc to sit on so that it and therefore the wheel sits square on the hub.

So get your wire brush out!

This cleanliness extends to the sealant used in rebuilding the hub. Do not use too much on the Kingpins themselves as this creates a layer when prevents the Kingpin from seating correctly. Also ensure that the Kingpin itself is rust free.

Swivel Seal

Often thought of by "Landrover" experts to be a key problem, these are less of an issue on Jimny's. The seal on a Landrover is key to keeping the oil in the joint, but as a Jimnys joint is "dry" they act more as a dust shield. However they also serve as a "damper" for the steering so it may be worth changing them if you are getting desperate.

Tyre Pressures

The standard Jimny Front Tyre pressure should be 23PSI. Garages often over inflate the tyres by a considerable margin. Check your tyre pressures!

Wheel Balancing

Seems obvious but you did get them balanced did you?. If you have chunky off-road tyres then balancing beads can help. If you have the 3-spoke "O2" wheels then thse can give issues, try taking these wheels off and rotating them around one stud position.

in the UK, the "O2" branded Jimnys with the 3-Spoke alloy wheels seem to suffer more from balancing issues.

Bent (distorted) wheel rims

Death wobble can be caused by bent (wobbly) wheel rims, either steel or alloy. This was the sole cause of death wobble for BigJimny forum user Bosanek.

In many cases the rim distortions are not visible even to the trained eye, so special machinery is needed for measurement.

Some better equipped tyre service workshops do have machinery for detecting and also straightening bents and distortions in steel and alloy rims. Bosanek solved his death wobble by having his alloy rims repaired in this manner.

Therefore, whenever you go to balance your wheels, you should go to a well equipped and reputable tyre workshop, and ask them to check your rims for distortions as well, and repair them if found.

Disk Brakes

If the problem is more pronouced when gently braking then warped disks may be a problem. Jimnys seem to suffer from disk warping and it can contribute to Death Wobble.

Suppliers and Summary

There are other suppliers of many of these parts – I have mentioned the BigJimny Shop a fair amount above and I support it as Martin runs this forum for us all and it has to be paid for somehow, along with his time in keeping it running.

See also though, in no particular order:

• Bits4Vits
• JimnyBits
• KapSuzuki
• Offroad Armory

I have bought from them all and they are all great to deal with.

One other thing you can do to help it is adding a Steering Damper - available from most of the aforementioned suppliers. I think this is treating the symptom and not the cause but if it helps make your Jimny more pleasurable to drive, so be it.

Taken from the original thread at BigJimny Forums written by Kirkynut

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Page last edited on 13/11/2016 by user Bosanek