[nessness]

Hey all,

After some advice on the items in the title. I've recently purchased a 2012 Jimny. Its got arb front and rear lockers, 2 inch OME lift and BFG ATs. It also had a slight shim between 60-80kms, is this normal?

Oil - I'm thinking Penrite everything?

Self servicing - genuine Suzuki parts and where to get them from? Other brand options?

General maintenance - what should I be doing/ checking reguarly?

Emergency must haves - what does everyone keep in their arsenal?

Tyre pressures - I've gone 30psi in the front and 28 in the back. It has an arb bar with a warn winch, which adds a fair amount of weight. Have had a couple sneaky slips on road and a big one on corregation. Tips on stopping the light rear end wagging all over the place?

Lessons learnt thus far .. Mud is an absolute c of a thing to clean. I'm in central Vic and there is a lot of silty clay around and it just sticks to everything. Any tips on cleaning? I've sprayed Inox MX3 everywhere but I'm thinking Lanox might be the better option.
Jimnys are super cute and bloody capable. What a little wepon! I was super impressed by its off road performance.

Any other hot tips?

Thanks in advance!

[shep]

If you put it in H4 on dirt roads they drive heaps better.

[Gwagensteve]

Tyre pressures sound too high- bfg's are miles stiffer than the factory tyres so don't need increased pressure over placarded figures. This will contributing to a lack of traction.

Oil choice is personal preference.

As for spares, this depends very much on the driving you are doing and the remoteness of your travel. There's relatively few user serviceable parts on the driveline. Fuses, belts and hoses and the tools to replace or diagnose these parts- little else that's field serviceable will stop the car. Obviously some sealant, hose clamps etc.

If you are driving difficult terrain I'd add transfer mounts, universal joints and a short side front axle and CV as you have lockers. Rear axles seem OK although bearing life is short. Rear bearings can't be field fixed so a spare axle is required to trackside replace a bearing, which will require a conversion to sj410 bearing retainers to prevent you needing to carry a whole backing plate installed on the spare axle. This is a fairly expensive job as abs tone rings and bearings need to be replaced to fit the 410 retainers. (Along with modifications to your existing backing plates)

Get rid of the auto hubs if they are still on the car- replace them with Sierra or Vitara free wheeling hubs.

Shimmy is common but mostly curable with vigilance on kingpin bearing preload and knuckle seal condition.

[AckerDackerly]

I know somewhat close to next to nothing about Jimnys... Consumer Reports magazine managed to make that so.

That said, I would check with your owner's handbook (or visit your local Suzuki dealer) about exactly what grade gear lube that you put in the gearbox. GL-5 rated lubricant - which is one of the newest gear-oil lubricants - is bad on yellow/brass parts like synchronisers. It should not be used unless it is actually approved by Suzuki for the gearbox. Whatever the case may be, use only the Suzuki-recommended grade and rated lubricant.

There is no point in chewing up a perfectly good set of synchros...

I hope that this helps (and lust for impossibility of someday owning a Jimny)!

[Gwagensteve]

Yes, well implicit was that choice of brand of oil was up to personal preference, not grade.

[nessness]

Shep - I thought about putting it in H4. Just didn't want to get wind up. However, I might be paranoid. I'm new to this!

Steve - Solid advice on everything. I use to have grocery lists, now I have Jimny lists. It is booked into Pedders next week, lets see what they have to say about the suspension set up and shimm.... As for tyre pressures (they are 215/75/15), it's hard to get my head around the need to have them so low, it even looks low. I'll play around with it and will just have to get use to it They are a heavy duty tyre, after all.
In the emergency kit, I have duct tape, so far haha. That's going to start filling up.

Acker - I will do a little research into that. My brother use to work at the dealership that had Suzuki - might have to hit them up. However, they only had one on display, not sure how expert they are on them. Hope you get a Jimny to call your own, they are fantastic!

Thanks heaps everyone - you all rock.

[Gwagensteve]

Pedders will likely tell you that their suspension parts will cure the shimmy. Which is false.

Read up on the jimny death wobble thread for the answers. It won't involve Pedders.

[nessness]

Oh yes, I am expecting that response. I am curious to see what they have to say though. I will be sure to share the experience

Will do, it's not death wobble and lets hope it doesn't develop into that. Just a vibration at this stage, can still hold the steering wheel without my hands been ripped off!

[Gwagensteve]

I understand, but it's all a matter of degree and its evidence of a potential for the problem to develop, and the source will be the same.

[shep]

I always drive dirt roads in 4wd and have done for 30 years. Current cars are 2013 jimny, 2014 challenger
and 2015 79 series landcruiser, they all drive signifancly better on dirt roads in 4wd and I drive at up to 130kph on dirt.

[fordem]

AckerDackerly wrote:

That said, I would check with your owner's handbook (or visit your local Suzuki dealer) about exactly what grade gear lube that you put in the gearbox. GL-5 rated lubricant - which is one of the newest gear-oil lubricants - is bad on yellow/brass parts like synchronisers. It should not be used unless it is actually approved by Suzuki for the gearbox. Whatever the case may be, use only the Suzuki-recommended grade and rated lubricant.

Whilst this is generally good advice, GL4 oils have been very difficult to locate, and the problem with GL5s and brass is largely a problem of the past, when sulphur was being used as an EP additive - there are now "yellow metal friendly" GL5 oils, check the containers. I've been running Mobil 1 full synthetic GL5 in everything I own, including several Suzukis for a decade and a half with no ill effects.

[nessness]

Went to Pedders today and thought I would share the outcome with you kind folk.

Firstly, I left them with a list of things to check and what I wanted quotes on. One of the things I noted was the shim and wanted them to check kingpins etc. The bloke who gave the results had a patrol with a serious shim and took him a long time to identiy what it was... It was the swivel bearings. I assume the king pins is similar part in a Jim so he was super impressed and couldn't believe the list I gave him was what he would do to trouble shoot.. Also the fact I am female, but he avoided saying it haha. Now for the results... $850 to remove or rebuild the shims - is this normal or way over priced? Would this be the plan of attack to resolve slight shim I have? Or should I start with an alignment and go from there?

Next the shocks. He reckons they are cactus and need to replace all of them. Of course I got the use ours and a couple others I have never heard of. He even asked me if it had been around the clock, mind you it has 55k kms on it lol. Said they can't fit spacers to level it out either. They were fitted when it rolled off the showroom floor, I would think they would have some more life in them.

Brakes need a re-juice. For a flush and fluid replacement 105 bucks. Is this hard to do and is it over priced?

Otherwise it's in good working order. Haha.

Finally, thanks to everyone for advice. Old mate at Pedders was impressed with my list and I couldn't have put it together without guys!

[shep]

Actually take the car to suzuki as there is a warrenty fix for the king pins.

Also back to your original question about emergency must haves, I carry the following.
Both fan belts
A coil
Cam angle sensor
Plugs
3 transfer mounts
Radiator hoses
2x radius arm bolts and nuts
2x shock bolts and nuts
2x panhard bolts and nuts
Headlight globe
Except for the belts I just got cheap EBay parts and it all fits in the under floor jack storage area.
Also standard stuff like tools and cable ties. I try not to carry to much stuff as being over weight brakes stuff quickly

[nessness]

Is this the recall?: https://www.recalls.gov.au/content/inde ... Id/1059285

Mine was built in April 2012, the recall is anything after May. Might not be part of the warranty claim and would be out of warranty too

[shep]

No that is the panhard bolt recall. I would have a chat to suzuki and see what they say