[mcguinness91]

Hey guys (and girls)

I have a question regarding king pin shimming.
I have never actually had a hub apart before so I am kinda guessing how it all fits together.
I am currently troubleshooting a steering wobble and doing an overhaul on the hubs with new seals, bearings and king pins.
Are shims used as a part of new king pin assembly or are they a band aid for old ones?
If they are needed for the new assembly is there anywhere that I can purchase them or can the old ones be reused?

If this sounds a bit special, be gentle haha kinda learning about these as I go.

Cheers,
Adam

[want33s]

Shims are used to adjust the preload on the bearings.
As the bearings wear, shims can be removed to regain lost preload.
Usually when new KP bearings are fitted you'll need at least two shims each side.
Old shims can be re-used without drama. New ones are available from Suzuki or www.suzistore.com.au

[mcguinness91]

Sweet as, when you say you should need 2 shims each side. Assuming that no one has altered the factory set up, how many should I expect to find in place already?

[want33s]

In an untouched Sierra you will have at least one shim for each kingpin, sometimes more.
Every diff housing is slightly different and every bearing is too so some cars may have only had one shim per side while others may have had 3, 4 or 5.
When I do KP's I assemble with one shim under each kingping cap and adjust from there by adding to loosen the swivel or removing to tighten it.

The KP's should be set so the swivel hub is not sloppy loose but not so tight you can't move it BEFORE the wiper seals are bolted up.

[mcguinness91]

No worries thanks heaps for the help

[want33s]

I took a few pics of a diff I just happened to have ready to remove bits from.

This diff is from an 88 WT LWB but all leaf spring Sierra's have the same kingpin setup.
The kingpin bolt heads still had the orange Suzuki paint on them so I'd say they haven't been touched since new.


Upper kingpin had 2 shims.


Lower kingpin had 1 shim.

[Scales]

always wondered how the sierra shims were different to the jim ones (removing to increase load instead of adding), thanks 33, makes sense now!

[want33s]