Is may dad about to be mugged off?

My dad recently bought a 03 plate jimny and all was good, he took it back to the garage (witch he had used a lot in the past as have i) for a clutch replacement as I told him it didn't feel right. He also wanted it to feel more stable and look a bit better, so out went the steel wheels and in with some 5 spokes from a 07 plate and some 30mm wheel spacers and just because he likes to be different something funky with the headlights.

Now the spacers have brought out the death wobble witch I was expecting, so I said that he kingpins will need doing, now the garage is trying to sell him a steering damper kit

However since the clutch replacement the 4wd is not engaging (light flashing on the dash) I told my dad it may just be a vac pipe split and it may be a coincidence, but the garage is trying to tell him there's a new kit out that gets rid of the air system. Now IV been out of the 4x4 scene for a while but what is this new system? Last I checked you had 3 types of hub, auto(standard), manual, and permanently locked from the SJ. I think there going to fit manual hubs witch he can't use due to arthritis in his fingers.

Anyone got any ideas? Thanks

Hi,
I am not aware of any other hub option on the Jimny. As you say, fixed, manual or vacuum operation. It's possible the clutch replacement has damaged the switch or wires to 4x4 selection lever.

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I'll stop now as I am not 100% sure what the none push button type has.
But it's possible it's something that got disturbed during the clutch replacement, worth a look before you throw away the vacuum system.

Yes they are susceptible to rusty vacuum pipes, but if the garage knows this is the problem why not just replace the pipe? Manual hubs tend to be fitted when you can't find the problem or just don't want to look. Everything can be fixed, usually it's time and cost that factor the route, but if your father can't operate manual hubs then manual are not for him.

Wobble - a damper will mask the problem if it's caused by kingpin bearings, I have a damper fitted as it makes the Jimny steering feel more like a "normal" vehicle. Its a personal thing if you like them or not, but I have not lost self centering of the steering as reported by some. That said my Jimny is 100% standard, so modifications may alter the experience. But even with the kingpins fixed it may go some way to make the Jimny " feel " more stable for him.

Good luck
Mike

Not the most informed but I went through this for the first time when I bought my first Jimny Feb 2019.

My kingpins were knackered so that was the very first thing we (me and my dad) did - it was obvious as the seals had gone too, so I replaced everything I could with a kingpin kit from eBay - seemed to do the job and fix the death wobble. I had a Renault Megane before, so smooth light power steering was still familiar to me. I did buy a steering damper which helped take some of the rough out of the steering once the kingpins were done. It wasn't a night and day difference, but every little helps. It was the standard black raptor kit from JimnyBits - around £60-£70 I think?

I would persevere with the vac system if your dad can benefit from it. Mine came with manual hubs pre-installed (1999 Jimny - vac system probably gave up many years ago) and I know from my experience of the playing with them in Feb/March 2019 they are a bit stiff in the wintertime and it's just generally a bit unpleasant to have to get out the car when it's slinging it down with rain or you are parked in mud.

I've seen a lot of people replace all the pipes with off the shelf equivalent piping and it didn't take them too long - but they do seem to be quite sensitive if they are even a tad corroded.

I'm with the others here, doing the clutch may have disturbed the vacuum pipes for the 4 WD, now this could be a n easy fix but it could be time consuming thus costly in a garage, so maybe they thought fitting a different system would be cheaper and easier....They probably would know about any issues.

If adding the spacers has introduced death wobble, surely the best solution is to remove them?

Wheel spacers for stability... it doesn't really work like that on a vehicle with live axles. The body roll comes from the springs, which go between the axles and the chassis. The axle always stays perpendicular to the road, regardless of how wide you make it, so spacers won't change how much the body rolls. Best to not bother with spacers!
There is no other type of hub than those already mentioned.
Re. 4wd light flashing. It's unlikely to be a trapped or broken wire as there are only 2 wires between the transfer case and the vacuum control system. If either of those is broken, the car won't get any signal to engage 4wd so there would be no reason for the light to flash. 75% of the time it's a split hose. 20% of the time it's a wheel bearing gone. 5% of the time it requires a more in depth investigation.