Parts for your 1987 Suzuki Jimny-Steering bushes

1987 Suzuki Jimny steering-bushes — are they actually a thing?

Short answer: steering-bushes aren’t a relevant, stand-alone service item on a 1987 Suzuki Jimny. The 1987 Jimny (SJ410/SJ413/Samurai family) uses a recirculating-ball steering box with a pitman arm, drag link and tie rod ends, rather than a rack-and-pinion setup that would typically use rack bushes. Technical documentation backs this up: the Suzuki SJ413/Samurai Factory Service Manual (Steering section) specifies a steering gear box and linkage with ball-jointed ends, it doesn’t list “steering bushes” as components to replace. The Haynes Suzuki SJ410 & SJ413 Owners Workshop Manual likewise details the steering box, pitman arm, drag link, tie rod ends and steering damper, again with no call-out for rack or idler-arm bushes. Suzuki parts catalogues for the SJ413 (Group 48 Steering) show an upper/lower steering column bearing or bush inside the column tube, but that’s not what most people mean by “steering bushes”.

Why that matters: if someone’s chasing play or shimmy and searching for “steering-bushes”, they’ll come up empty for this model because the Jimny’s steering slop usually comes from other wear points. On these leaf-sprung, solid-axle trucks, the common culprits are:

• Tie rod and drag link ends (ball joints)
• Steering box wear or incorrect preload, and loose box-to-chassis mounting bolts
• Kingpin bearings and wheel bearings at the front axle knuckles
• Steering damper (including its small eye bushes)
• Leaf-spring and shackle bushes, which can let the axle wander and feel like steering play

There is a small bush/bearing inside the steering column that can wear and cause a squeak or column wobble, but it’s not a typical “service bush” like a rack mount. For a tidy, straight-steering Jimny, the smart move is to inspect and replace any sloppy tie-rod and drag link ends, check kingpin bearing preload, adjust the steering box correctly, confirm the damper’s in good nick, and make sure spring and shackle bushes aren’t flogged out. Fresh wheel alignment and balanced tyres will finish the job nicely.

Technical references: Suzuki SJ413/Samurai Factory Service Manual (Steering section), Haynes Suzuki SJ410 & SJ413 Owners Workshop Manual, and Suzuki SJ413 parts catalogues (Group 48 Steering). These sources detail the steering box and linkage architecture and show no rack-type bushes for this model year.

Popular questions

Does a 1987 Jimny have steering rack bushes?
No. It runs a steering box with a drag link and tie rods. If there’s free play, look to the tie-rod ends, drag link end, steering box adjustment and mounting, kingpin bearings, and the steering damper. Leaf-spring and shackle bushes can also mimic steering vagueness.

What causes vague or wandering steering on an ’87 Jimny?
Most often it’s a combo of worn tie-rod/drag link ends and loose or tired kingpin bearings. Add in an out-of-adjustment steering box, a weak damper, or flogged spring bushes and it’ll wander. Sort those items, set toe correctly, and make sure the tyres are balanced and at the right pressures.

How do they check the steering column bush on this model?
With the vehicle parked, gently rock the steering wheel and watch for the column moving inside the shroud or any scraping/squeak. Excess lateral play points to a worn column bush/bearing. It’s a smaller job than front-end joints, but worth fixing if there’s noticeable wobble or noise.