[pete_79]

Hi Guys,
Looks like our Jimny has developed a bit of a shudder, nothing dangerous yet, but it's annoying and needs to be fixed before it turns into something dangerous. Hoping someone here can point me in the right direction.

It started when we had the new tyres rotated the other week, we had bought 5 new tyres so did a 5 wheel rotation and they put the brand new tyre from the spare on to the passenger side front. A few days later we did a run on the highway and noticed a slight shimmy at the magic 70-80km mark, but then at highway speeds it was a much more noticeable shudder though the whole car.

I took it back and got them to rebalance all tyres, sure enough one tyre was way out of balance they said. I notice the brand new tyre is now on the passenger side rear.

The next highway run a few days later I feel there is still a shudder, not as bad as before, but still there and pretty noticeable.
I tried knocking back a gear 100km to see if it is a gearbox/drive line issue. The shudder is still the same regardless of the higher revs.
I tried taking it out of gear and coasting down hill at 100km in neutral and the shudder is still the same with idle revs at 100km.

Last night I took the front tyres off to have a look at the rotors, they touch the pads for half a rotation, but I can freely turn them a full rotation by hand. The driver's side is worn a bit more then the passenger's side, but no big groves and they don't seam to be warped or buckled.

Anything else to check before I start pulling apart the front end?
What's the best way to check Kingpin bearing are loaded correctly?
And would a loose kingpin or wheel bearing cause the driver's side rotor to wear more then the passenger's side? (picturing the wheel wobbling and rubbing on the brake pad)

This is a vibration though the whole car, not just a steering wobble. I can feel it more through the gear stick and the door trim then the steering wheel.

[zukenutter]

What's the mileage on your Jimny?

[pete_79]

zukenutter wrote:

What's the mileage on your Jimny?

Only 19,500 kms

I've read all the wobble threads around, but this is a vibration at higher speeds.
Just found and downloaded the maintenance manual. Also found a 'how to' for the kingpins and found that I should need 4.5kg of force for it to start it to move (assuming this is with the steering arm removed).

I've checked all weights on the tail shafts, all still there. Haven't dropped the uni's out for a proper check yet, but they look ok.

[zukenutter]

Have you tried swapping the spare back on the tailgate? Could be a problem with that wheel tyre combo.
Do you have any dent in the tailgate? When mounted, does the spare angle a bit towards the ground?
Mrs Zukenutter had someone bump her from behind when she still drove my Jimny, the door was a bit dented but what we hadn't noticed was that the spare rim had been buckled slightly.

If you can't notice any pulsing in your brake pedal I'd doubt that the rotors are an issue.

My Jimny had a 70km/h shudder off the dealer floor. Also I have noticed that when I rotate the tyres I usually have a shudder/shimmy for a week or so afterwards as the tyres wear into their new location.

pete_79 wrote:

I took it back and got them to rebalance all tyres, sure enough one tyre was way out of balance they said. I notice the brand new tyre is now on the passenger side rear.

This makes me suspicious of the spare

pete_79 wrote:

The driver's side is worn a bit more then the passenger's side, but no big groves and they don't seam to be warped or buckled.

Problem with ABS ?? Yes it could be a KP or wheel bearing issue causing the uneven wear but I'd be surprised if that's the actual cause on such a low mileage Jimny

pete_79 wrote:

Anything else to check before I start pulling apart the front end?
What's the best way to check Kingpin bearing are loaded correctly?

What sort of tyres have you fitted? Do you have a lift? Any other mods? Is it still under warranty? How much off roaring has it done?
I would address the smaller issues first before attacking the hubs/KPs/Bearings.

pete_79 wrote:

This is a vibration though the whole car, not just a steering wobble. I can feel it more through the gear stick and the door trim then the steering wheel.

Gear stick is mounted on robber bushed so it doesn't take much to shake it around etc etc.

[pete_79]

Thanks for the feedback mate.
Looks like you're on the money, put the spare back on the tailgate and it's much better. I'm putting it down to the tyre-rim combo.

There is a dent in the tailgate, but that's from me slamming it shut a couple of times....

Next time I go for a rotate and balance I'll get them to swap the rubber off the spare to a different rim (they're directional tyres so have to flip the spare to use it on the driver's side anyway).

The guys that did my tyres where brilliant. I went in today to get a high speed balance done before I started pulling things apart to check the wheel bearings. This was the second time I went back about these tyres and they couldn't do enough to help me. The guy that drove the car up on the ramps thought it might have been a diff issue so he offered to come for a run around the block to check it out with me. We quickly ruled out the diff, so got on to some open road to give it a run at higher speeds, looksnlike it was the spare that was the problem.

Thanks again for your feedback Zukenutter, much appreciated.

[zukenutter]

Glad I could help. Sometimes simple inconspicuous faults can send us on wild goose chases.
Great that it ended being an easy fix … You owe me a beer