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1) Can this ball joint be replaced in situ? It would appear the lower ball joint is available separately, but not the upper. It sure would be nice to press it out versus pulling/replacing the entire arm assembly, which also requires removing the struts for access to the two long pivot bolts. This upper ball joint is right out in the open, so it's kinda aggravating having to do so much teardown.
2) Do the two long pivot bolts have adjustable cams/bushings for alignment? Not seeing any mention of it in the manual, but want to be sure before disassembly.
The upper ball joint is not available as a separate service part, so the upper suspension arm must be replaced as an assembly. The long bolts are easily removed once the strut is out of the way. Use a short 17mm box to fully tighten the nuts once the vehicle is on the ground.
Camber on the pre-facelift X200 is achieved by elongated body mounting points for the lower control arm.
get a pair of arms out of a wrecked 15 XF or 15 and up XJ
60 bucks at most will outlive the car
As the late Arte Johnson would say, "Very Interesting..."
I compared part numbers on Rock Auto, looking at my 2002 V6 and a 2016 XJ. With some brands, such as Delphi, it shows the same part number for both models. (My car is before the VIN break.) But other brands show different part numbers. I'm not sure why that is.
If I were to track down one of these elusive OEM parts, is there something special about it? My originals have gone 20 years and 380k miles, so I can't complain.
As the late Arte Johnson would say, "Very Interesting..."
I compared part numbers on Rock Auto, looking at my 2002 V6 and a 2016 XJ. With some brands, such as Delphi, it shows the same part number for both models. (My car is before the VIN break.) But other brands show different part numbers. I'm not sure why that is.
If I were to track down one of these elusive OEM parts, is there something special about it? My originals have gone 20 years and 380k miles, so I can't complain.
same stuff.
they changed to internal torx stud instead of external hex head a long time ago.
Hi Karl,
your thread reminded me that THIS is a DIY Guide I had planned to write, but I did not yet get around writing it...
So here just a few remarks:
I saved myself (as usually) quite a bit of money by "going the path less travelled": I got myself a huge amount of all kinds of grommets, because it is standard that those grommets are buggered on the S-Types, but the bushes behind are mainly OK. Even some ball joints. There is a trick about those upper ball joints - I do not think anybody came up with this idea before I did: No they cannot be replaced and they are most likely "falling around loosely" after you remove the upper arm (I think it is called) where they sit in (and it is an expensive part), BUT what I did: I placed the complete part into a hydraulic press and VERY carefully pressed against the flat side (so not against the ball joint) and by doing so I made sure that the surrounds of that ball joint at "tight again" and it is no longer falling around there like a dead Dodo. Next a new grommet and Bob is your uncle.
No need to buy the complete vertical link either, as the lower ball joint can be replaced. But it is not easy - and depending on the degree of corrosion, it might drive you mad. If you want to see a video of how difficult it can be:
I got to know that guy from Vienna because of his videos and I am the one he refers to in that video - the one, who challenged him to get the ball joint off. Well, he did it in the end, but really not the way I did it - but then, I had less corrosion. And btw: Do not remove all those parts from the Jag first and try to remove the ball joint afterwards as he did... I used a solid ball joint puller.
So you definitely need a hydraulic press for that - a strong one. And I had to design a new lower part for my hydraulic press, b.c. the press was actually in the way the way it was designed.
Hope that makes sense. Btw.: I think your ball joint faces downwards on your '02. The ball joints on my '04 & '05 are facing upwards.
Got the new upper control arm installed over the weekend. Not a bad job to do, but a few little things to consider:
1) I replaced the struts at the same time. For that task, you'll need the proper spring compressor. I'm going to start a separate thread on that subject.
2) When you separate the ball joint from the top end of the spindle, be prepared for the spindle to flop outward. Have a piece of wire or something similar to secure the spindle. If you don't, it will pull on the brake line. I had a bit of a panic trying to hold the spindle with one hand and rummaging through my tool box for a piece of wire. The lower control arm and spindle dropped down several inches, so I wasn't able to just lift it up and loosely reattach the ball joint.
3) Have a hydraulic floor jack handy to raise the lower control arm and spindle for reassembly. It took quite a bit of force to raise it, more than I was expecting.
4) The sway bar links were the only thing that gave me any trouble. The nut unthreaded partway and then jammed. The end of the shaft had a hex to grip with a wrench, but it rounded right off. Vise grips didn't grab well enough, either. I had to cut the foolish things off with an abrasive wheel in a die grinder.
5) The two long pivot bolts pass through the shock tower, with the bolt heads facing in towards the strut. Each bolt has a protruding anti-rotation finger under the head. This means you can't unthread the bolts from the wheelwell. You still have to hold the bolt heads, but undo the nuts from the outside of the shock tower. Here's a picture of an aftermarket brand showing the bolts:
6) For the nuts, I recommend a ratcheting box end wrench. 17mm, IIRC:
7) Those anti-rotation fingers do no good once you've loosened the nuts a couple of turns, so you have to somehow hold the bolt heads. Super long arms to reach around the fender would be quite helpful here, but no such luck. A helper would be the next reliable option for this step, but no one else was home. I ended up using a socket and breaker bar, angled through the open hole at the top of the shock tower where the strut fits. Not ideal, but it worked. Best to plan for a helper if at all possible.
Other than these minor hiccups, this was not a difficult job at all. In theory, this should not change the alignment. It's nice to have the clunk gone. One unexpected bonus: I was getting a slight shimmy in the steering wheel and that is gone, too.
You can also let the bolt heads rotate until they hit against the strut tower the other way and then you can remove the nuts without needing to hold the bolt heads. Or you can have a helper hold the bolt heads from inside the wheel arch.
Getting to the inside nut on the RH side can be difficult as there isn't much access. I've often had to use a 'stubby' box to tighten them once the suspension is at normal height with the vehicle on the ground.
Forgot to mention I went with a slightly different style of sway bar links. The main reason I picked this brand was it was available right away locally. All others were special order, several days away:
I'm not a big fan of O'Reilly's, but they had the kit in stock. No worries if these failed, with no severe consequences other than a little extra roll while cornering. Plus, they'd be easy to change down the road if needed. Nothing else needs to be disassembled for access.
Here's a shot of the new and old styles side by side. Note how the old style has a very small hex (7mm?) at the end of the threads. The new style has a large hex at the base of the threads, so it was MUCH easier to hold the shaft from spinning:
Forgot to mention I went with a slightly different style of sway bar links. The main reason I picked this brand was it was available right away locally. All others were special order, several days away:
I'm not a big fan of O'Reilly's, but they had the kit in stock. No worries if these failed, with no severe consequences other than a little extra roll while cornering. Plus, they'd be easy to change down the road if needed. Nothing else needs to be disassembled for access.
Here's a shot of the new and old styles side by side. Note how the old style has a very small hex (7mm?) at the end of the threads. The new style has a large hex at the base of the threads, so it was MUCH easier to hold the shaft from spinning:
i find on parts for my car i get better quality from oreillys. They have house brand and usually name brand in jaguar stuff. Autozone seems to be house brand only differintiated by the warranty period
The Moog brand control arm failed within 6 months. Not impressed. It was squeaking as bad as the original.
I swapped in a Lemforder (OEM?) brand control arm yesterday. Hopefully this one holds up better. Although it came in a sealed Lemforder package, I'm a little concerned as it had a Chinese stamp mark (QC?) on it.
Since I wasn't replacing the struts this time, and the threads were not seized on the new sway bar links, the job went very smoothly. Start to finish was under 2 hours, and that included setting the front on jack stands. Be sure to follow the tips in post #8, such as securing the spindle and having a floor jack under the lower control arm. The strut did not have to come out all the way. I merely undid the 4 bolts at the top, lowered it a little, and then pushed it fore and aft for clearance to remove the two pivot bolts.
From the guy in Vienna, who took apart his V8 S-Type into pretty much evert bolt there is, I learned that Lemforder (or more correctly: Lemfoerder, as the o has 2 dots on top, which can also be written as oe) is a very good brand, and possibly OEM, yes. Nevertheless I find it strange that even if Moog is a very low quality brand that the control arm would fail after just 6 month. I would have a look, if there is anything wrong, which could in return destroy the control arm. I do not what that could be, but as an example: Way back when I did not know that much about cars I swapped the front ball joints of my van and I made marks on the track rod ends (different system as on S-Type, it had a counter-nut). It took me a while to understand, how critical correct adjustment there is (i.e. wheel alignment)... And then I drove 700km in one go - I left with OK front tyres and I arrived with hot (temperature) slicks...
Yes, it is sad that even reputable companies let their parts be manufactured in China (which however should be good news for those, who want to save money, as "copyright" and "design protected" means absolutely nothing in China). They will copy everything, and if China makes those Lemfoerder parts, there should also be Chinese branded parts, which are absolutely the same as the Lemfoerder parts (possibly from the same production line) - and worst case (for Lemfoerder) is that there are even Lemfoerder parts, about which Lemfoerder does not know anything...
QC stand for Quality Control: Any part gets - in a Non-Chinese Company - a sticker, after that specific part has been inspected by the Quality Control Department. In a Chinese Company, however, that sticker does not necessarily mean the same - it may just be put on there as decoration. But then again: Lemfoerder is a good name, and they should have measures in place to protect their reputation.
PS: Fun fact: The correct spelling is: Lemförder (ALT 148 gives you ö)
Last edited by Peter_of_Australia; Jun 28, 2023 at 02:18 AM.
Ball Joints - Front Upper Control Arms
