Changing the kingpin/swivel bearings - questions

Hi all,
My Jimny has developed terrible death wobble so I'm in the middle of changing my kingpin bearings. I've disassembled everything, and cleaned as well as I can. I have a few questions before I start to put things back together though:

1. In Martin's video, when he replaces the axle oil seal, he uses the end of a rubber mallet. Is this necessary? Mine pushed in by hand and seems a tight fit and is sitting nice and flush. I noticed that there's a long, thin metal spring around inside circumference of the rubber seal, and I don't want to risk damaging this by hammering the seal in further if not necessary.

2. The article on the wiki says to pack the CV with grease, but not to overpack. How much is too much?

3. The article and video also say to fill the knuckle with 100ml grease. Please can someone confirm that by 'knuckle' they mean the cup on the end of the axle, as in the attached picture? Also what's a good way of measuring 100ml grease?


4. Also, I've attached a picture of the old bearings. Apart from being filthy they don't look too bad as they are in one piece. Could these still have been the cause of the death wobble?

100ml should be about 100g, so nick off with the kitchen scales, spoon it into a bag on the scales and there you go

Those bearings pictured look about done. I bet the one on the left is from the bottom.

I’m about to tackle this with brakes and wheel bearings let me know how it goes.

Thanks Martin and Riccy for your replies. You're right Riccy, the one on the left is from the bottom. Apart from being dirty I didn't think they looked too bad, so I was wondering if maybe something else was causing the wobble. I'll know soon when it's all back together.

Dano, it's not a bad job just a bit messy. The video on this site is really helpful. The circlip was easy to remove with a £10 pair of external circlip pliers from Halfords, and I tapped the old bearing races out with a small cold chisel. The brakes practically do themselves during the job, as you have to remove the pads and discs to get to the hub. If mine still has the wobble then I will be changing the wheel bearings next, although I will probably take the hub to a garage and pay someone to press the old bearings out and new ones in.

I tackled one side to night along with wheel bearing and brakes. Quite a easy job faily time consuming though. I use a 0.25mm spacer to give the bearings more thrust.

Took for a test drive and has definitely improved still a bit of wobble will do the other side in a day or two.

Just put mine back together and the wobble is still just as bad as it was before. I suppose the next step is to do the kingpins on the other side and see if that makes a difference. The seals are currently out of stock on the BigJimny store so I'll have to wait

I had a similar issue a few months ago - changed all kingpins without much improvement. In the end it was new brake discs that cured it!

Done the other side to day still a very slight wobble but think I can live with it for now. The disk guard rubbed as well witch makes a hell of a noise the wheel brace was perfect for bending it back.

theoldseacaptain wrote: I had a similar issue a few months ago - changed all kingpins without much improvement. In the end it was new brake discs that cured it!

Brake discs are an easy and cheap fix, but from what I've read on here the brake discs only cause wobble under braking. Was that the case with yours, or did it wobble when you weren't braking?

Dano0404 wrote: Done the other side to day still a very slight wobble but think I can live with it for now. The disk guard rubbed as well witch makes a hell of a noise the wheel brace was perfect for bending it back.

I've had this problem after changing a track rod end, I must have moved the guard while swinging on the the top nut or something.

Yes, mine wobbled all the time which led me to the Kingpin bearings first....

Interesting to know, thanks. I've just ordered new track rod ends, which I plan to fit before getting the wheel alignment looked at. If that doesn't work then I'll try new brake discs.