leaking swivel joints

Well I was going to change out my kingpin bearing and axle oil seal but I had to stop as there is a dirty big cog on the knuckle joint which wasnt on the how to change out sheet, mine is a 2006 model so it has the ABS unit bolted on to it, I couldnt find the work around quick enough on the forum as the 10 day mot failure was approaching fast. So I had to take it on the chin and go to a Suzuki dealership, so here is the break down.

Kingpin assembly Qty x2 £73.92
Bearing kingpin Qty x2 £48.44
Seal assembly Knuckle Qty x1 £25.32
Labour £150.00
Total £357.22 including VAT :sick:
I know the forum says you dont need the kingpins but the dealership insists, and these are my fith set since new.

Martins Kit £23.00 :blink:

:ohmy:

They would insist, they probably make a packet on every set.

I have my kingpins and swivel seal. just waiting on the bearings and axel seal.

Everything has come out costing £203.48... for both sides.

May well order a shim set or two. I understand that taper rollers require shimming to be at their best.

The shim sets available seem to slip over the pin, meaing more pressure is put onto the bearing. Are shims available to reduce the pressure, ie fitting under the flat of the pin, reducing the pressure on the bearing?

The design is to just fit the bearings and kingpins, whereupon Suzuki's superb machining tolerances mean that everything just works. Very unlikely you would want less preload, achieved by fitting gaskets/shims between the kingpin outer flange and swivel housing.

Most people with oversize wheels & tyres or wheel spacers find that they need more preload at the swivel bearing, so they fit shims to jam the bearing tighter. You can fit a copper washer as a crush shim rather than keep taking it apart.

I forget the required preload, there was a service bulletin about it.

Mine just worked, no shims required

I have a 2003 Jimny hard top, with 37,000 miles on the clock, bog standard no modifications and it just sailed through the MOT. From the service records it doesn't seem to have the kingpins changed, ever.
I keep hearing about the poor king pin reliability.
Question:
1. Is this the case with standard cars or relates to mainly modified cars which put much higher loadings onto the drive parts.
2. Off-road use and water seeB) m to be a main culprit for premature failure, is this correct?
3. What is a reasonable life expectancy on a standard vehicle, used mainly on tarmac?
4. On a long run 18,000 miles in 9 weeks over poor roads what is the likelihood failure? 100% 90% ???

I intend to change prior to start and take 2 spare sets, inc pins, would this seem enough?

teafortwo0789 wrote: I have a 2003 Jimny hard top, with 37,000 miles on the clock, bog standard no modifications and it just sailed through the MOT. From the service records it doesn't seem to have the kingpins changed, ever.
I keep hearing about the poor king pin reliability.
Question:
1. Is this the case with standard cars or relates to mainly modified cars which put much higher loadings onto the drive parts.
2. Off-road use and water seeB) m to be a main culprit for premature failure, is this correct?
3. What is a reasonable life expectancy on a standard vehicle, used mainly on tarmac?
4. On a long run 18,000 miles in 9 weeks over poor roads what is the likelihood failure? 100% 90% ???

When i got mine it had done about 42k and never been offroad, it didn't take long for them to give up after i threw it at any bit of mud i could find! Its not specific to standard or modded trucks as mine was standard apart from the tyres.
Off road use will accelerate wear on all components and certainly does on the kingpin bearings as the water and mud sits in the bottom bearing.
Since owning a Jimny i've read about people having the bearings replaced on 15k Jimny's but i can't see why they wouldn't go on for thousands of miles really, it does depend on the use of the car though.
18k on rough roads - i wouldn't fancy your chances! I used to drive on some pretty poor roads and have since avoided them as they sort of shock the steering when the car drops or crashes into holes and dips. Any wear or play quickly gets worse.