[cz_ice]

Hi guys.

Long time no see.
When i had the same problem with my jimny, i have emailed Suzuki Motor Corporation Japan about that issuie with the steering wheel.

In a couple of days i received the answer. They said that thay know about that problem and they gave me a .pdf file which will help me fix my problem.

In my case buying and adding a couple of shims solved my problem.
If you don't want to buy OEM shims, you can get udjustable kingpins from here.
http://item.rakuten.co.jp/apio/1020-01/


Here is the service info file.

Sorry for my poor English.

[Scales]

thanks for the service bulletin mate.

For me, it was Shims & Super pro bushes that made the biggest difference.

Good luck to anyone buying from that Apio link lol.....

[zukenutter]

Of all the fixes I've done adding some positive caster has given the biggest improvement

[bigdogdazza]

Hmmmm my 98 jimny when purchased second hand had stuffed wheel bearings, sloppy tie rod ends, a falcon shock for a steering damper, 225x70 coopers at tyres, shagged suspension, etc etc but NO wobble!. Now I have completely renewed/rebuilt every component there is on a jimny with reputable brand name parts, added 5" lift, 31" bighorns and fark me does she get a wobble up! The only way I have found to combat this drama is drop tyre pressures from 28 to 22 and soften suspension, around 4 clicks does the trick! No wobble whatsoever!? It does tend to slightly affect road speed/power loss, fuel consumption etc and handle like jelly on a plate, but it does the trick.
Oh forgot to mention I ditched the swaybar many moons ago.

[Gwagensteve]

bigdogdazza wrote:

...added 5" lift, 31" bighorns and fark me does she get a wobble up!

5" of lift and this is surprising?

How is your caster?
How is your kingpin preload?

"Fixing" a problem in a car that probably already handles pretty poorly compared to a standard jimny by lowering tyre pressure and shock valving to make it handle even more poorly doesn't really look like a fix to me.

I'm not being a shit stirrer, but clearly something has changed that's contributed to the wobble, and it's something you've changed during the course of your work on the car.

Steve.

[Blakey]

Gwagensteve wrote:

bigdogdazza wrote:

...added 5" lift, 31" bighorns and fark me does she get a wobble up!

5" of lift and this is surprising?

How is your caster?
How is your kingpin preload?

"Fixing" a problem in a car that probably already handles pretty poorly compared to a standard jimny by lowering tyre pressure and shock valving to make it handle even more poorly doesn't really look like a fix to me.

I'm not being a shit stirrer, but clearly something has changed that's contributed to the wobble, and it's something you've changed during the course of your work on the car.

Steve.

if he has done 5" of spring lift i would hate to see the angle of his drive-shafts id be surprised if the front shaft isn't hitting on the chassis cross member

but i would have to say that would handle like shit. 5" lift, soft suspension, no anti roll bar. you must have to take corners really slow cause if your not tipping over from them then you would be bouncing back and fourth on the springs.

[cz_ice]

Scales wrote:

thanks for the service bulletin mate.


Good luck to anyone buying from that Apio link lol.....

NP.

Why so?
I order from apio on a regular basis.
You can contact this email. Yoshi Nakano
Apio Inc.
apioinc@cameo.plala.or.jp
He speaks Eglish.
They ship worldwide.

[zukenutter]

That's a handy email to have. Thanks on behalf of everybody here.

[cz_ice]

zukenutter wrote:

That's a handy email to have. Thanks on behalf of everybody here.

welcome

[Scales]

hmmmm... now im tempted to get some crazy apio parts.... DAMN YOU! lol.

who wants to be the aussie apio guinee pig?

[cz_ice]

Scales wrote:

hmmmm... now im tempted to get some crazy apio parts.... DAMN YOU! lol.

lol

[MrMattyMo]

#double post

[MrMattyMo]

Just thought I'd add my piece to this discussion.

I bought my jimny earlier this year from a forum member, when I test drove it there wasn't a noticeable wobble but he did explain to me that he had come across this issue when he owned it. He had also replaced the kingpins only recently.

I drove it on and offload fairly frequently and no problems emerged until about two months ago....

At first there would be a slight vibration around 60-65kms but after a few weeks it became extremely violent.

I read extensively through this thread, thanks for the info
I replaced the radius arm bushings and the panhard rod bushings following scales's footsteps
After that I drove it on a late night white knuckled thrill ride across Townsville, the wobble was pretty crazy every time I passed between 50-70 kmph. I took it to Pedders in Townsville for the alignment and balance. Definitely recommend their service!

I took it from there straight out offload and smashed it all about and after the 400km round trip everything is sitting nicely!

I also went to my Local Suzuki dealer during this and they were absolutely unhelpful. The first question he asked me was "Have you taken it offroad?"

Never going back there.

[Scales]

did you do the shims mate? that was my 1st step before the bushes. check the service bulletin top of this page.

Yeah pedders are actually not too bad in Townsville They did my bush replacements in the press for 5 bucks a bush. Tried another shop they wanted like 100 bucks to do it, bit of an exception for the rule there!

Suzuki townsville are douchebags... actually that entire dealership (nissan etc) are douche's They have no idea about anything, let alone zooks. took them forever to find me a fuse box holder for my zook. after i even showed them the part and where it was located they still fucked it up... /end bitch session.

[Docka83]

Just did mine yesterday with the overhaul kit. One side was ordinary for a while but when i took it out on the weekend for a bash and when I hit 70 driving home I nearly shat myself it was that violent. Did the overhaul yesterday (no shims) and its like a new car, cannot believe the difference. I have a rtc tough dog steering dampner also. My bushes for the arms are shot too (cracked and split) and it doesn't make a difference.

My 2 cents.

[jimny641]

Mine had it when it was stock but i put a full toughdog 80mm lift kit in springs shocks panhards 3degree caster correction bushers in an never had them since.

[sideways]

cz_ice wrote:

Scales wrote:

thanks for the service bulletin mate.


Good luck to anyone buying from that Apio link lol.....

NP.

Why so?
I order from apio on a regular basis.
You can contact this email. Yoshi Nakano
Apio Inc.
apioinc@cameo.plala.or.jp
He speaks Eglish.
They ship worldwide.

Thank you for that!

[PORL]

Hey guys, I have read this whole section. May have missed a few posts.
I have a 2inch efs lift and 235/75r15
Had the crazy death wobble, replaced left front wheel bearing ( broken) and king pin bearings wheel balance and alignment

Got heaps better. Still shimmying around and hard to drive on the highway.

Fitted a RTC and it's a little better.

When I had the alignment done it was noted that it had neg castor angle.

My question is this, Positive castor is better yes? Do I need to change the rear bushes as well as the front?

What brand does everyone recommend and where can I get them? How much degree should I be looking at?
thanks guys.
Sorry if this was covered but I couldn't find it

[zukenutter]

any castor bushes will be better than nothing, and will probably fix it.
I've never measured my castor angle but it is definitely positive and feels great.

[Mike57]

PORL

Positive castor is absolutely necessary. How far negative was the castor when the alignment was done? I fitted 3 degree correction bushes and got a bit over 2 degrees of correction as I recall. I had a mild wobble after I fitted the 215 tyres and the small extra postive castor fixed it. I am currently fitting shims to my king pins to correct a wobble that developed after I fitted manual hubs. If the shims don't work I will be fitting castor corrected arms.

[PORL]

I can't remember how neg it was I recall he said it was 1 1/2 - 2 deg neg castor (I think) I might just buy the 3 deg castor bushes and cross my fingers.

[droverdave]

Negative castor does not belong on any car! :S

Dumb question, but why do the suzki 4wds run such low castor? is positive castor 'bad' for 4wding?

Coming from a turbo awd car and also a rwd turbo street cars, i want all the castor i can get.

Jump in my sierra, and the bloody thing hardly tracks straight due to bugger all castor.

[Gwagensteve]

It's to keep the steering as light as possible with manual steering. As sierras never had ps and it was not standard on vitaras and jimny's, the steering is set up with minimal caster.

As you increase caster, you're actually lifting the front of the car as you turn the steering. This is what makes the steering heavy.

Steve

[Jimny1]

Not long fitted 215-75's a 2'' lift, castor correction bushes and no wobbles at all up to 110 klms. Rest of the steering is tight as o6 vvt 55k on the clock but the car was only driven on the black top before we got it.

[droverdave]

So in regards to the castor issue on solid diff models.

Assuming the driver is willing to put up with a bit more effort. (in non powersteering)

Why not just increase the castor?

has anyone ever cut off the 'ball' thing on the end of the diff housing (that the king pins go through), and spin it a few degrees and weld it back on. that would have to help with these wobbles?

[PORL]

Lol ball thing

[zukenutter]

droverdave wrote:

So in regards to the castor issue on solid diff models.

Assuming the driver is willing to put up with a bit more effort. (in non powersteering)

Why not just increase the castor?

has anyone ever cut off the 'ball' thing on the end of the diff housing (that the king pins go through), and spin it a few degrees and weld it back on. that would have to help with these wobbles?

Kyzermattingsly (spelling) did this with his.

[superduki]

We have a '05 Jimny with 2" Old Man Emu lift and 215 Maxxis mud tyres fitted and it wobbled when we bought it like that. The car has 45k on it. I balanced the wheels, and tightened the steering box as it was loose anyways (suspect from the wobble and continious* (spelling) driving with the wobble evident), and I bought a set of the adjustable castor bushes from eBay and fitted them on the weekend. Now drives 95% better. Our kingpins have never been checked or shimmed yet. I had to remove the drivers side arm twice to set the castor correctly, but it was certainly worth it.

My missus is the main driver of the car and hated how 'skittish' it feels on the road and over train tracks etc, which I told her had some to do with the fact it's such a swb (coming from a '94 Corolla), and her first drive to work and back was a pleasant one, she reckon's it's pretty spot on now.

Interestingly enough, I found it interesting the owners manual tells the you the castor spec in the specifications chapter. I checked it compared to the specs on our wheel aligner hoist at work and it was spot on.
The spec is 1'55deg.

Cheers, Superduki.

[Mike57]

Slight change of topic but I added the 0.5mm shims from Suzuki (they were quick to get) to the drivers side and ended up with quite a high starting force to turn the wheel (about 8kg when Suzuki state MAX 4.6KG - with no shims it was at 2kg). I am waiting for the BigJimny shim kit to arrive which has the 0.2mm shims in it. I will get them in as soon as they arrive and report the results. I am aiming to achieve the 4.6kg recommednded by Suzuki. My car has done less than 20,000 km so I view it as pretty new. The only thing that bothers me is that the drivers size was sort of lumpy when moving the hub around but the passengers side was quite smooth (pre shims that is). Not sure if this means I have a damaged bearing or not. Has anyone else had any experience with this?

If the shims don't work I will be going for castor corrected arms which is what Gwagensteve actually recommended in the first place. Have gained some trial and error experience now and giving this quite a bit of thought I am tending to think that losts of positive castor (maybe 4 degrees) is the way to go. The extra castor will actually put tension on ther king pins where as neutral castor will allow them to slop about more freely if they have any slop in them to start with. Correct me please Gwagensteve if I have got this wrong.

Mike

[zukenutter]

Mike, I'm a believer in positive castor, It'll firm the feel dramatically and make cornering a pleasure, but too far positive would have to start having adverse effects.