My 02 x-type has a bad problem with the rear tires. I wear out a set of tires in 6000 miles on the rear, the front is okey. The alignment shop tried to make an adjustment but could not get it near specification and said that I should take it to the dealer's. Dealer said lower control arms and rear upper control arms (dog bones). I changed all 4 arms with new bolts and same problem. Right now I'm running on the left side -3.3 camber and
-0.72 toe-in and on the right side -2.8 camber and -0.52 toe-in. Everyone said nothing looks bent, as far as I know the car has not been damaged in any way. I've heard about shims or something but I'm not sure where they would go. Ideas ?

 

gozoom, it is the toe that is killing your tires. The camber has a little bit to do with the tire wear, but nothing like what the toe does. In short, your tires are both pointing towards the center of the front bumper. To the left tire is trying to turn the car left as the right tire is turning the car right. As you can imagine, the tires fighting like this is going to eat them up in a hurry.

The alignment shop should be able to adjust the toe back into spec with no issues. I want you to do a check for me. Walk out to your car and stand behind the rear bumper. Using a camera, take a picture of the underside of your car, focusing on the center of the car. What I am wanting to see is where the two arms meet at the center of the car. If you look, you will see a bolt on each side that the big lower arms attach to. If you notice, they have a lopsided washer to it. I bet you will find that the washer is not at the minimum thickness (center to edge) and it is somewhere inbetween. If this is the case, then your alignment shop is full of @#$%!!!!!! I hate to speak negatively about a shop, but that is the short of it.

Now, to fix your camber issue, I would tell you to look at: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...rol-arm-88530/. This is something that I found will work on our cars and in your case, should allow you to adjust the tires to get the camber to where it needs to be. As for the toe, like I said, I want to see the pic of the underside of your car. I think they are pulling your leg some.

 

On modern suspensions, negative camber is also a factor in suspension travel.

For example, for each inch of wheel travel "UP" the suspension geometry will induce 0.7 degrees of negative camber (just an example)

If your rear is sitting lower, you will have more negative camber. Same goes for the front.

 

I'm sorry I miss spoke, the rear tires are not toed in, they are toed out. Of course the result is the same. I have to agree with both of you. I believe that the toe is causing fast wear and the camber is causing uneven wear(aka: on the inside). I took your advice, and took pictures but have not been able to post them, but trust me when I say the bolt is toward the outside of the cam (aka: lopsided washer) at it max pushing the rear of the back tires out increasing toe in and it is still way out. I even tried lowering the car in order to push the new lower control arms out further trying to get the toe right, realizing that I would be causing an increase in tire wear on the inside of th tire. It was not just one alignment shop, it was the dealer also who could not get the toe set. I'm just not sure of what to do next. I do not mind spending the money on the car, if I can fix it.

 

As I mentioned, lowering the car will only make it worse.

 

If you meant worse by camber, yep, but by lowering the I'm changing the geometry to make the lower control arms more parallel to the ground instead of being raised in the center where they mount to the body. This changes the angle and makes the distance between the two mounting holes greater and changing the toe angle but not enough. I'm grasping at straws here.

 

I figuerd out uploading that picture that you wanted to see of the lower control arms and it's adjustment. The guy at the aligment shop said that I should put the car on a frame strightner and tweek it till it right, but I'm not so sure.

 

Fixed my problem by replacing the rear lower front control arms. No other adjustments were needed. Check the bushings.

 

gozoom, based on the picture that you put up in the above picture, the only thing that I can say that would help you out is to replace the lower forward arms. Maybe someone before you installed some arms that were from a different year Jag or happened to find some arms that were close, but not quite right. if your car was hit, what you would find is that one side would align with no problems and the other would have serious issues or in extreme cases, you end up with one side and the toe out one way and the other side with the toe out the opposite way (causing the car to track down the highway sideways).

 

Just replaced mine with OEM. Are there aftermarket ones that are longer?

 

thermo, the adjustable upper link you said was from a 03 volvo s40, what link do they call it? left,right, upper, lower, front, rear,

 

that looks like the ticket

 

gozoom, the link that you are referring to is called a rear adjustable camber arm. I got the pair for $113. NOt too bad considering that the factory ones will run you $100 each.

Yes, the Volvo arms are just a tad bit longer (about 1/4" when adjusted all the way down). But, with a slight modification, they fit on the Jag with no issues. Been running around for 3 months with them on.

 

Mazda Ford Volvo Rear Upper Control Suspension Adjustable Silver Camber Arm Kit | eBay

This is where I got mine. Put them on yesterday. Need to also do my front lowers then get the alingment checked. Took about an hour to do.

 

Gozoom, sounds like you are having the same issue as I am, rear tires are getting chopped, local Dunn tire shop said that I need to get new forward control arms and bolts. by the sounds of it there are two on the lower in the rear of these cars and the forward rear lower is the one that goes bad. Since it sounds like you already replaced to happen to know the part numbers of the parts as I need to get them myself. Thanks for the help and let me know if this fixed the problem, my shop claims they have to cut the old ones out as the bolts have seized up.

Daniel
02 X-type Black Sport

 

I went from a 225/45/17 to. 245/45/17 front & back & now my tires last like you wouldn't believe . Plus it gives the car a full wide Stance which I like.

 

Well, the next set of tires now have 16000 miles on them and they still look like new. Most parts I got from partsgeek.com as they have most parts, but bolts. I did get the upper front (dog bones), rear lower control arms and bolts from Jag. Jag prices were spot on with aftermarket on those parts. The upper rear was a Mevoteck adjustable control arm for a 2002 Ford Focus (5419-05046204) for about 70 bucks. I ended up cutting most of the bolts with a 3" cutoff wheel. Good Luck

 

I should tell you that those upper rear adjustable arms are a tad bit longer but if you remove the locking nut and just use the clamping bolt the alignment comes out fine.

 

I had an issue with rear wheels toeing in. The rear control arms had been replaced but by non genuine jaguar ones and were slightly larger. This caused the issue and rear tyre wear. In fact jaguar parts are not as expensive as I imagined and replacing them with genuine ones solved the issue.

 

I have replaced rear lower forward control arms still eating up my tires fast plz help