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Yummy! I keep agonizing over stock or lowered. I love the lowered look, but I put about 2000 miles a month on my coupe and fear that would lead to a quick demise of the decambered fronts.
Yummy! I keep agonizing over stock or lowered. I love the lowered look, but I put about 2000 miles a month on my coupe and fear that would lead to a quick demise of the decambered fronts.
If you have or fit the front Camber adjustment bolts the camber at the front can be adjusted. Rear Camber needs the shims changing.
Had the alignment checked today (all too negative on camber) and will have the bolts fitted in the next few weeks. Also to be followed by the shims at the rear.
It was my turn this week end. Tires started to show some wear on the inside. Ride height lower than required, with visible negative camber. Went with the Welsh parts. Looked and fitted like a quality part. Job involves dealing with spring compressors, so I hated it. Will have to go back as the lower shock bushings looked pretty sorry. Could not see spending the $85 EA at the dealer for the part in stock on the spot, so I ordered a pair online. Oh, well. There were orange bits of the original mount everywhere, what a garbage part. Glad to be done wit it.
Key steps: Take the wheel off, WHEEL WELL LINER OFF, release the sway bar link, shock bottom bolt, 3 upper mount nuts, driver side roll sensor, and the strut comes off. No need to deal with the upper a-arm at all. There is enough clearance to remove the strut by angling it back, in the space near the firewall, by either the purge valve or the overflow coolant tank. Yes, really.
Cleared the airbag light by using contact cleaner on the under seat snap connector and working it back and forth. Good connection and light staying off. Checked coolant level again since octopus hose repair (still full)! Operated top for the first time this year and it worked fine with no apparent leaks.
The XK8 failed MOT: front nearside wheel bearing and offside lower balljoint boot.
Got the wheel bearing done yesterday but its still up on axle stands today for the ball joint, but the bugger wont come out and we are in the middle of some bright but arctic temps at moment. will have a go later.
LOL "Arctic" in Essex I have a good mate just outside Chelmsford (Ingatestone). You have no idea about arctic temps It's -4 here today and I'm on a break from mucking about in the garage ( and ,no, its not heated )
Barry I am a Scot but getting to that stage in life when anything below 20c is cold.
but it is colder here in Essex than my home-town Paisley and looks like we've got a couple of weeks of those temps coming and I dont have garage or one thats big enough to get a Jag into!!
Finally traced down a coolant leak I've been looking for since repairing the octopus hose about a month ago. Kept catching an occasional whiff of hot coolant but the level in the tank didn't appear to change at all! Eventually noticed it only seemed to do it when the car was tilted to the right slightly. Wasn't the octopus hose or the repair but the darned coolant tank. Leaking from underneath, on the backside near the fender and it would only drip on the engine or manifold when the car was tilted just so. Just a drop every now and again so the coolant level is still virtually unchanged from the refill of the system since the octopus repair. Time to find a new tank and swap it out.
I ordered a replacement coolant expansion reservoir for my wife's 2006 XK8 from rockauto.com last September. Made by URO, perfect fit, comes with a new sensor and cap, no issues thus far. Less than $60. Part no. MJD4400AB. Be sure to replace the top breather hose that runs from the thermostat tower to the reservoir. The engine bay heat bakes them into a hard brittle line that can crack and fail after just a couple of years. I purchased 3 feet of new 5/16-inch ATF rubber hose and cut it to fit....
Tackled part "B" of the strut overhaul project this week end and replaced the lower shock joints. Old ones were definitely contaminated with dirt (failed seals) and showed some play. Found cheap Uro parts online. With the trick of removing the wheel well liners (and not deal with the upper A arms), the strut comes off quickly. Pressed the old parts out, removed the seals on the new part to expose a good press-capable surface, pressed them in, put the seal back on. As usual, first one took some time, mostly figuring out the proper combination of tools to provide support for the press to do its job. Second one was a breeze.
Altogether, this is a job to think about. On an XK8, the entire shock (with the joint already in) is, say, $130. Joint alone is, say, $25. Probably borderline worth replacing the joint on a daily driver with 90k miles. A more rational person would have probably just gone the other way. Oh well.
I put new headlamp bulbs in, and the low beam lighting still stunk. A jar of fireflies taped to the fender would have worked as well.
i tore into the headlamp assembly and found these deflectors, stamped US. Being in Texas, I removed them and surprise, surprise, I now have legitimate see in the dark low beams.
I honestly don't see the point in them. The bulbs sit on top of the deflectors which means that light can only escape over the top and through a few slits.
I had my wife check them out with me coming towards her and she didn't find them in any way offensive.
Tackled part "C" of the upper mount replacement project and went in for an alignment. Well, final verdict is that with the new part installed, restored ride height and visually-restored camber, turns out the alignment (toe, really) is back in spec. No charge! The operating theory is that the car started in spec, went progressively out of spec as the upper mount wore out (did some wear damage on the inside of the front tires). Then restoring the ride height brought the toe back in spec. Hopefully, tire wear will now even out and let me use these tires to their natural end.
hmm.... it seems like I may have the same issue with my shock mounts. The previous owner put new tires on the front a year ago and they are showing some signs of wear on the inside shoulders. The rubber that's visible from inside the engine bay on the upper shock mounts looks a bit crumbly.
I have a good mate just outside Chelmsford (Ingatestone). You have no idea about arctic temps 
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