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Introduction

Although Jimny can be used for deep water wading or plowing through mud bogs if you install transmission breathers and the snorkel, bear in mind that Jimny has relatively poorly designed front wheel steering knuckles, which are prone to water/mud ingress.

Some technical notes

• A steering knuckle contains kingpin bearings, a constant velocity joint, and two seals - one towards the axle and one towards the wheel hub.
• The axle contains the halfshaft and the differential.
• The wheel hub assembly contains the wheel bearing, the vacuum chambers for the front wheel hubs, etc.

• Water (especially dirty water) and mud grind the kingpin bearings, CV joints, seals, etc.

• Worn kingpin bearings are the main cause of notorious "Death wobble" issue, which plagues the Jimnys and Samurais worse than any other vehicle model.

• Replacement OEM CV joints are available from Suzuki only together pre-assembled with halfshaft at a horrendously high price.
• Aftermarket replacement CVs are produced only by a handful of manufacturers.
• Jimnys made after 2005 typically have a different CV joints compared to older Jimnys, and those CV joints are (as far as it is known) made by only one aftermarket manufacturer, Herth+Buss.
• Good luck obtaining them!

Solutions

• It is very hard to prevent water/mud ingress in the steering knuckles.
• Use of some hardcore sticky waterproof grease on the kingpin bearings and in the CV joint can help to deter water and mud for a while, but that's it.

• There is not much more that can be done to defend the steering knuckles against water and mud.

Conclusion

When a Jimny (or any vehicle for that matter) is in deep water, so is your wallet

• Based on the facts, it's best to keep Jimny away from mud bogs and deep water.

• If you want to get really filthy on a regular basis, use a Toyota Land Cruiser, Mercedes G-Wagen, Nissan Patrol, or something else that was 3-6x more expensive than a Jimny when it was new.

• Otherwise, be ready to become a trained expert at working on Jimny's front wheel assembly.

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Page last edited on 1/12/2017 by user Bosanek