I am taking several road trips over the next 6 weeks and I'm making sure the car is all set before I leave this Wednesday...

When checking my brake pads and changing my oil early last week I noticed a boot was torn on the passenger-side inner tie rod. My wife typically doesn't drive my Jag STR but she did just before my oil change so I asked her if she had noticed anything (or done anything) when she used the car. She said she accidently drove over a low parking stop/barrier as she was leaving the grocery store. She said she was going very slowly and did not see any damage but did hear a slight scrape when it happened. This incident is likely what caused the damage to the boot covering tie rod.

Last Friday I also purchased a new set of tires.

• Continentals Sport Contact (26K miles)
• Toyo Tire Proxes T1R (14K miles) to
• Continental Extreme DW (300 miles).

When having the car aligned they said they were able to align the car but the passenger-side tie rod boot was not only torn but slightly bent too. They said the car should be fine but I had thought about trying to autocross my car once or twice this summer. I'm afraid that this may cause imperfect handling through corners at higher than normal speeds.

I asked for a price for the part. Unfortunately, they were not able to locate the part and said the entire rack needed replaced. With my rack as a core, the price for a rack is (New = $1800 or Rebuilt = $1200) plus installation.

I contacted the dealer and they said it was $1924 plus installation.

Anyone have another suggestion besides pulling a rack from a wrecking yard? I have already searched this forum and I could not find anyone who has run into this problem with a Jag S Type. I've found no inner tie rod parts on the web. But I have found that older Jags did have serviceable inner tie rods.

Anyone have another suggestion or solution?

 

I don't have a specific answer to your question. However, if you're looking for junk yard parts I would recommend this site:

http://www.car-part.com

It is a network of junk yards and is search friendly, provided you know what you're looking for. I have used them in the past for my previous cars. Prices can vary dramatically and you can often find great deals. Good luck!

 

Lincoln LS parts work just fine. I replaced the inner tie rods on my 05 STR last year with lincoln ones.

The dealership did the work, they were like "You need to buy the whole rack" when the part number for the rack at Ford is the same for the Jag. So after some research, i found that the inner and outer tie rods are the same on the Lincoln LS's and Jaguar S-types.

 

I have inner tierod ends.

http://www.motorcarsltd.com/TIEROD.STYPE.2.html

 

Wow this is great information guys! I hope to get the part soon and get another alignment.

Many Many Thanks.

 

Rock Auto also has the entire rack for $624...

George

 

o'reilly auto parts also carries the inner tied rod end's for Lincoln LS

 

I have a bent inner tie rod on the passenger side of my 03 s type. Will an 03 lincoln ls inner tie rod fit? and do i have to replace both sides with the lincoln ls tie rod or just the bent side???
(oh and jagaur tried to get me to replace the whole rack too)
thanks in advance

 

Tie rods are one of those if it isn't broken don't fix it items. Not sure on the LS crossover, but there are a couple sources for the Jaguar ones without buying the rack.

Hope this helps,

George

 

Well the tie rod was originally bent and I didnt fuss with it but now I recently hit a curb (from driving in snow) and now I definitely need a new inner tie rod, maybe a new outer one too.

 

Sorry to hear of your recent bump with the curb. Good luck and let us know how bad (or hope fully good) things turn out regarding the repair.

 

To save BIG bucks, replace the tie rods yourself (quite easy) then immediately go and get an alignment using the specs in the S Type FAQ Section!

 

In the beginning of this thread I mentioned my new tires (Continental Extreme DWs). These tires have worked out great for me so far. The primary reasons I purchased these tires are: 1) quite running and 2) had good wear characteristics.

The following descriptions and ratings are my personal opinions. Please feel free to chime in with your experience if you've used any of these three sets of tires.

- Continental Sport Contact -
- Toyo Proxes T1R -
- Continental Extreme DW -

After 12K miles the Continental Extreme DW tires are working well. They are very quiet and the tread still appears like new.

Quiet Running
Continental Sport Contact: (new 8/10) (worn out 7/10)
Toyo Proxes T1R: (new 5/10) (worn out 2/10)
Continental Extreme DW: (new 9/10) (worn to be determined?)
Over bumps and expansion joints the Continental Extreme DWs are much less jarring than the Continental Sport Contacts & Toyo T1Rs.

Wear
Continental Sport Contact: 26K miles, worn out, acceptable noise
Toyo Proxes T1R: 14K miles, some noise when new, loud when worn out
Continental Extreme DW: 12K miles, like new tread, low noise

Wet & Dry Grip
Continental Sport Contact: (wet 7/10) (dry 8/10)
Toyo Proxes T1R: (wet 10/10) (dry 8/10)
Continental Extreme DW: (wet 7/10) (dry 8/10)
None of these tires are intended for cold weather use. When expecting snow, I suggest leaving the car parked or get another set of wheels and tires. I went with a slightly wider rear tire rear 285/35/R18s and stuck with 245/40/R18s for the front for the last two sets of tires.

High Speed Handling
Continental Sport Contact: (wet 7/10) (dry 8/10)
Toyo Proxes T1R: (wet 10/10) (dry 8/10)
Continental Extreme DW: (wet 6/10) (dry 6/10)

Appearance
Continental Sport Contact: (sidewall 8/10) (tread 8/10)
Toyo Proxes T1R: (sidewall 9/10) (tread 10/10)
Continental Extreme DW: (sidewall 3/10) (tread 8/10)

 

Bryan,

What does the 285/35/18 tire look like on the rear. Does the sidewall bulge at all?

Do you have any pics?

Thanks,

George

 

No bulging at all with the Continental Extreme DWs. But using a different manufacture may bulge a bit.

Spec-wise the 285 mm width is the upper limit with our rear rims with a 35 profile (285 mm wide / 35% of width / 18 inch rim). You can verify this on the TireRack website. Running this size in the rear actually makes the front and back tires closer in height (sidewall height). If you are running 275/35/18 on the rear, the sidewall is shorter than the front tire sidewall.

I purchased my tires locally and was told the Continental Extreme DWs run a bit narrow. The 285 mm Continental Extreme DWs appear no wider than the original 275 mm Continental Sport Contact that came on the car. The 285 mm Toyos were definitely wider and bulge just a bit. But so did the Toyo 245 mm fronts. They were really wiiiiiide.

 

The widest tires I have ever seen are the Dunlop SP Sport 01. They had this "rim protector" where the rim sat in about 5mm from the sidewall, and the sidewall bulged over the rim. I think the BFG KDW's in 245/40/18 I have on the AMG wheels on my 500sl have something similar, but not as prominent.

Take care,

George

 

I finally installed the driver and passenger inner&outer tie rods last night. You are correct joycejag, this job is easy. It would have been even easier if I would have purchased all Jaguar parts. It took an extra 20-30 min to install the Lincoln parts because I had to:
a) carefully trim down the perimeter (~1/16 inch) of the small ends of the boots so the small boot clamps would slide over the boot;
b) grind down the top of the outer tie rod bolt (~1/4 inch) to allow clearance for the driver's side brake caliper.


Part Number Summary
Inner tie rodOuter tie rod Boots/BellowsLast, I could not locate the large boot clamps (they are not re-useable) to hold the boots in place so wire ties were used, the small boot clamps are re-useable

 

I recently found out that a neighbor of mine is a former Jaguar Mechanic. He works at Sheehy Ford now in Rockville MD. He said their alignment guy was a real expert. So I went to their Ford dealership after hours tonight for alignment and they took care of me. Time (and tire wear) will tell for sure but the car holds its center position better than I ever remember. This may be due in part to the new inner and outer tie rods but I believe the alignment is the primary reason for the car's new wonderful steering characteristics.

 

What is the size for the inner tie rod that connects to the rack?