Took the 'vert in to my local indie for shuddering under braking. In addition to a warped front rotor, he found a couple of knackered bushings in the rear lower control arms. Recommended replacement. I ordered parts, and was shocked by the cost. Is it possible to simply press out the failed bushing and press in a new one? I've seen the threads on poly bushings and am seeking advice.

thanks

 

Well, first of all you have to be able to buy the replacement bushes. As I understand it, they are not sold as spares by Jaguar. You also have to be very, very, carefull if you swap bushes because the lower arm is an aluminium casting, not a forging, and you could end up cracking the casting. Way to minimise this risk is to heat up the casting to about boiling water temperature.The expansion coefficient of aluminium is about double that of steel, so the bushes wil press in/out much easier.

I had a quick look on the SNG Barratt website, and they supply OEM wishbones for about £72 less than the part via Jaguar.
https://www.sngbarratt.com/English/#...assembly/34754
However, you can buy the original Lemforder bushes separately
https://www.buycarparts.co.uk/contro.../jaguar-f-type
Then there is Powerflex bushes. These are not all that expensive, just make sure you buy the ones for road use, not track
https://www.powerflexsuspensionbushe...3--89658-p.asp
Most shops nowadays prefer to just swap the whole arms out. Why ? Because there is the warranty and litigation risk if bushes are replaced only. Not only that, but as always labour is charged, for the whole job, and swapping bushes out will be much more labour-intensive so there may be no saving when the final bill is calculated.

 

Mine is also shot on multiple points, looking for the best alternative but not much is out there in term of upgrade.

Rock auto carries certain parts that are ridiculously cheap, Andy a few parts are oem only.

 

Thanks for the quick responses. I had not considered labor cost of fitting new bushings. I sourced new control arms Jaguar Virginia Beach-ironically one of the cheapest options. Rock was also a good source for other needed parts. FCP Euro for brake rotors.

 

Speaking of control arm bushings, I was at my private shop yesterday having another issue dealt with [some suspension rattling after lowering] when one of the techs pointed out to me what he thought was excessive lateral movement of the front tires upon banging on them with a rubber mallet [indicating what he felt was excessive bushing wear]. The car has 12.5K miles and has no handling issues.

My question is: How do you know when your control arm bushings are worn? Can the car be symptom-free and still need work? As I am the second owner [bought at 8K miles], I know the car was always driven kindly [and never tracked] and is still in near mint condition inside and out.

Any info would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

 

I bought the lemforder control arms for my jag XF (which is the OEM manufacturer) for vastly less than the dealer price for the official jag ones. I think it was from FCP Euro if I remember right.

 

I just had to replace the upper shock tops and the spring isolators - the bushings had crumbled. I only have 26,500 miles. I have since learned this is not uncommon at all across the line of Jaguar. the missing bushings did not cause any audible clunk, the the change in camber from the missing material caused excessive wear on the inner edge of the front tires. Once replaced, the alignment was back to where it should have been except for a little excessive toe (which wears the outer edges).

 

Thanks for the info. The top spring isolators are amazing flimsy as we had looked into that issue vis a vis my rattling issue after lowering, but control arm bushings are much more substantive.

After I posted above I did some research on control arms bushings and discovered that they generally last about 90-100K mi [which can obviously vary greatly depending on a number of variables]. I also discovered that the way you check the integrity of the bushing is first through visual inspection looking for cracks and deterioration and then by using a pry bar to see how much control arm movement you can illicit with moderate effort. One video suggested that anything over an eighth of an in might indicate excessive wear.

The overt symptoms of worn bushings seems to be: 1. Vibrating steering wheel, 2. Uneven wear as the tires will not stay in alignment 3. What is described as a "popping" sound, 4. All of these would be more pronounced on hard acceleration or braking.

 

This is part of the annual MA state inspection.