Suzuki Service Bulletin - Jimny Kingpin Shims (Steering Death Wobble Fix!)

In this video we work through a Suzuki Service Bulletin (Q-SN-004) released in 2009 titled ‘Steering Vibration’ on our 2008 Suzuki Jimny Sierra SN413 (JB43). This service bulletin contains a workflow to address Suzuki Jimny ‘death wobbles’ at speed (steering wheel shaking violently), including shimming the kingpins to adjust the knuckle bearing preload.
Swivel hub rebuild video: • Suzuki Jimny Restorati...
Replacing tie rod ends & control arm bushings: • Suzuki Jimny Restorati...
Model shown - 2008 Suzuki Jimny Sierra JLX JB43 (SN413 T6)
Jump to Section:
00:00 Introduction
00:40 Service bulletin workflow explained
02:24 Tools and parts required
03:20 Raising car onto jack stands and removing front wheels
03:51 Removing front brake caliper
04:24 Removing king pin
05:10 Cleaning parts
06:04 Installing king pin shim and reinstating king pin into knuckle bearing
07:17 Disconnecting tie rod and drag rod from steering knuckle
09:11 Removing knuckle oil seals (back side of knuckle)
09:46 Checking starting force on king pin bearings (preload)
11:18 Reinstating knuckle oil seals
11:42 Reinstating tie rod and drag rod into steering knuckle
12:19 Reinstating brake caliper
13:05 Reinstating front wheels and lowering car to ground
13:47 Conclusion and Outro
Suzuki part numbers:
Kingpin shim, 15x24x0.5 mm - 09181-15158 (x4 required)
Leading arm bushing, body side - 46213-76J00 (x2 required)
King pin - 45610-63002 (x4 required)
King pin bearing (knuckle bearing) - 09265-15006 (x4 required)
Tools and consumables used:
Metric socket set - 10, 12, 17, 19 mm
Torque wrench(s) - 7.5 to 72 lb-ft (10 to 100 Nm)
Copper or brass hammer
Steel hammer
Ball joint separator tool (Repco RST157 shown)
Cable ties x2 (approx. 300mm each)
Spring tension gauge or fish scale (suitable for 5kg or 50N)
Oil/grease resistant RTV silicone gasket maker (Permatex Ultra Black shown)
Hydraulic jack
Jack stands x2
Small brass wire brush
Razor blade or gasket scraper
Paper towel or rags
Brake and parts cleaner
Nitrile gloves
Safety glasses
Disclaimer: At 2nd Gear Low, we love working on cars, but we are not trained mechanics. We like completing maintenance and modifications to all sorts of cars and filming it for your entertainment, but we can’t promise that you won’t harm yourself, someone else, your car or your warranty by trying this. Talk to a qualified mechanic if you are ever unsure about any part of a job that you choose to try yourself.

[@victormuna5841]

This is the best DIY Fix on KZbin at the moment especially for Jimmy Owners who have been struggling with death wobble, heck I believe I can do this by myself, the explanation and instructions are very clear. With the proper tools, someone has saved some money.

[@2ndGearLow]

Thanks Victor, we appreciate you watching and are glad to hear you found the video easy to follow!

[@dickanderson3688]

One of the best DIY i have viewed and believe me i have viewed heaps

[@2ndGearLow]

Thanks for watching Dick, we appreciate your feedback

[@marcuschambers4885]

I’m new to this channel, I stumbled on it searching for Suzuki Jimny DIY stuff and what an awesome channel it is. Super informative with a great sense of humour, well done lads. It’s a BIG thumbs up from a 1999 Jimny owner in the UK and have also subscribed. 👍😊

[@2ndGearLow]

Thanks Marcus, great to hear you're enjoying our Jimny videos, and we appreciate you subscribing!

[@paullewis252]

Whilst I don't have a Suzy, I enjoyed your video. (I'm and 80 series guy) Your videos literally show you step by step which is very helpful. Keep them coming. 👌

[@2ndGearLow]

Thanks for watching Paul, glad to hear you're also enjoying the Jimny videos!

[@teo4807]

Bro, what a champ. Great video!

[@2ndGearLow]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@MattBerryCustom]

Great video as always, still yet to do my kingpin bearings as I’m still rebuilding the front axle components but definitely an indispensable video, I also bought a pack of bearing shims when I ordered the kingpins as a precaution. £4 for the pack it would be silly not to. Great job 😊👍🏻

[@2ndGearLow]

Thanks for watching Matt! We appreciate your comment and hope that the job has been going smoothly for you. Happy to report we haven't had any steering wobbles after shimming both top and bottom king pins as per the procedure

[@teddove9483]

I’m new to this channel and i love it, I’ve been trying to find a KZbin video of someone taking the body off the chassis on the jimmy’s, so my question is would you do that because you will be the first to do so on KZbin or anywhere. Imagine the likes and views considering you’ll be the only channel who has done this on video, you won’t do it😉

[@Corevena]

Thanks for all the awesome info as always!!!!

[@2ndGearLow]

Our pleasure! Thanks for watching.

[@FlangeMaster10]

Excellent video.

[@2ndGearLow]

Thanks mate

[@1972alexalexander]

Exeptional work !!!

[@2ndGearLow]

Thank you for watching!

[@duncanmaclauchlan5126]

Great video by the way

[@2ndGearLow]

Thanks Duncan

[@swaziau]

Excellent

[@2ndGearLow]

Thank you for watching

[@lmalesci]

greetings from Italy Florence happy new year 2024 let's hope that 2024 will be better than 2023 as soon as possible! (going back to the steering vibration, I solved the vibration problem on my Suzuki Jimny by overhauling the front axle, replacing the bearings and shimming the pins on the front spindles of the hub holder of the front tires and then I do a good balancing of the front tires and tighten the tire bolts with the cross wrench instead of using the compressed air gun at the tire dealer and then when I go off-road on a rural track with mud I go once I've finished the trip to the car wash and I wash the tires because the weight of the mud throws the tire balancer out of balance and then if you have to fit the steering damper I advise you not to fit it because it's a stopgap and it won't solve the problem of vibrations on the steering!)

[@ascjipeiro]

Otimo vídeo, já ganhou mais um inscrito no canal... Parabéns e continue fazendo vídeos como esse, muito util para todos que adoram o Jimny.

[@2ndGearLow]

Thank you for watching, great to hear you are enjoying the videos about the Jimny. We appreciate you subscribing!

[@lefttrade940]

Great content! really like that you mention socket sizes and torq forces for all the bolts! Did it fix the issue??

[@2ndGearLow]

Hi mate, thanks for watching, and we're glad to hear you appreciate the detail provided. Yes - I ended up installing shims on each of the top and bottom king pins on both sides (4x total) and have not had any issues with steering wobble since then. Replacement of the knuckle bearings and the control arm bushings did help, but the shims ultimately removed the issue entirely

[@duncanmaclauchlan5126]

Cheers for this. I got 3yrs out of last set of bearings which is not too bad considering I am using it in forest roads. I shall keep and eye on them this time around and will try shims next time around - as a temp fix. Can I pose another question to you on separate matter?

[@user-tb4kt5rw3l]

Спасибо большое за видео🤝

[@2ndGearLow]

Thank you for watching

[@artdudivin]

You are my hereo my dear friend ! ;o))

[@2ndGearLow]

Thanks for watching!

[@fullyrc8555]

Did it work then? I have this on mine after fitting slightly bigger wheels and tyres. Sometimes it’s really bad. I fitted a steering damper and it’s only slightly better. Still not ideal

[@2ndGearLow]

Hi mate, thanks for watching. Yes, it did work, we no longer have any steering vibration in the Jimny! Replacing the leading arm bushings improved the situation, but it still felt slightly unstable. We ended up installing one shim at the top and one at the bottom on each side knuckle

[@arielreuven5539]

Great DIY!!! 🙂 What exactly do we need to check at this point: 07:17 , and how we can know the problem goes away? Do we need to install all back and drive the car or just to do the next check description of the starting force check?

[@2ndGearLow]

Hi Ariel, thanks for watching. To check if the problem has gone away, after adding one shim to each side, you would put the wheels back on and take the car for a drive. For some people only one shim on each side will be required to fix the steering wobble, but if not then you would return and add the 2md shim to each side. Best to check the starting force whether using one or two shims before putting the wheels back on for the final time

[@duncanmaclauchlan5126]

Do you put shims in the lower king pins also, or just the top?

[@2ndGearLow]

Hi Duncan, thanks for watching. I ran the car with shims in the top and it was an improvement, then came back and repeated the same process on the bottom. It's driving much better with one shim on each of the top and bottom kingpins - the steering wobble has gone

[@tareqali1327]

When doing this process, should the oil be drained?❤

[@2ndGearLow]

Hi mate, thanks for watching. If you are just installing the shims (as shown in the video) you don't need to drain the oil. However, this assumes you have already changed the king pins and bearings. If you haven't already replaced them, it would be recommended to complete a full swivel hub rebuild (see our video on this - Jimny Restoration Ep. 3) which includes changing these bearings, and then installing the shims during that process. The swivel hub rebuild includes draining the front differential oil to allow removal of the CV/Axle and replacement of the inner axle oil seal. The inner axle oil seal is what seals against the axle and separates the differential oil from the black Molybdenum-disulfide grease in the knuckle housing, which is what lubricates the king pin bearings