Hi all, a long time away with no major problems until now.
I have this bad tire wear pattern on the inside of both front tires.
The pic shows the worst one.
Is this a bad alignment or bad outer tie rod ends?
It all felt pretty tight when i jacked it up and felt for any play.
This happened to my last set of tires also. I do get frequent alignments and i have changed tie rod ends a few times.
The aftermarket rims offset is not correct im sure, i think they stick out further than the originals.
Would that affect the specifications when they do my alignments?
The tie rod boots are pretty rotten.
What is the "correct" way to check the tie rod ends?
Thanks all
Happy summer motoring

 

iownme, if you look at the tire, see how the wear has a pattern to it (3 inches is worn, 2 inches is not)? This is called cupping. This is normally caused by worn struts. So, I would be looking at new struts and then getting another alignment done after the new struts.

 

Ah, thanks Thermo.
I replaced the rears last year.
The fronts look a little more complicated. Im not sure i can risk handling that on my own, any chance we could do that together?... Im due for a road trip now the weathers better ;@)
Having chatted on here for years it would be cool to finally meet you in person
I always thought my cat just loved eating tires

 

iownme, for what the trip would cost you, you would be better off just having a local shop do it for you. It doesn't take all that long. The suspension is the same as any other Ford. So, the shop should be able to do it no problem.

I know this might be a little short notice, but we are having "A Pride Of Jaguars" get together on June 6th in Fairfax, VA. Looking like we should have about 30 Jaguars there this time again. Always a good time. We have had an XJ220 show up, the old E-Types always show up. Sometimes even a Lister Jag shows up.

 

iownme.
Replacing the front struts is a lot easier than you think.
I would suggest if you are replacing the struts to do the lower control arms also.
I did my struts about 3 weeks ago.
shop around but I got my Bilstein struts from Rockauto.com and also a year ago the lower control arms from them.
Very happy with the Quality.

 

Thanks guys, but us starving artists have to forgo the idiot local mechanics who think jag owners are fools with deep pockets.
Wish me luck with the spring compressor and PB blaster.. Eek ;@)

 

ok easy stuff first jack up and safely support the car
remove the wheels
remove the break caliper and place on an upturned bucket so its not hanging on the rubber break line (new pads here is optional).

remove break disk (new disk optional).

remove tie rod end.
Remove lower ball joint retaining bolt.


To make life a little easier in getting the lower ball joint free from the knuckle.
remove the front lower control arm front bolt completely, the rear bolt remove the nut and drift the bolt up as far as you can until it hits the firewall now pull the lower control arm out pivoting on the rear bolt this saves any damage to the rear bushing.

You are 95% of the way to changing the front wheel bearings at this point all you would need to do is remove the drive shaft nut and you have the knuckle in hand again optional at this point but hey your this far into it

now when you get the knuckle back on the new strut(wooden block and a good hammer), install the lower ball joint first, then install the rear bushing bolt and nut to act as a hinge, now with a dam good push get the front bushing in place (silicon paste helps here) use a large screwdriver or thin pry bar to lift the front bushing the 1-2mm to get the bolt back in can be done alone but i highly suggest a friends help.

 

Thanks for the "how to" i'll be sure to print that out.
Though im leaving the bearings alone!
Had them replaced too many times already!.
Is it possible that the bearing on top of the strut is whats causing the problem, id hate to change the strut just to have the same problem occur again, and i cant buy the bearings too "just to be sure"... Thats what i used to do when money was not an issue.
Anyway.. Just a thought

 

Its very possible but they are very inexpensive to change.

Amazon or rockauto.com has them

 

I read (but now cannot find) a way to test the bearing while its still on the car, i remember it involved 2 people
Any ideas?

 

I think i should try replacing the bearings first... Can you tell me how involved this is?
I do have a light knocking sound when going over bumps, i read this is a sign of a worn bearing.. Is this true?
Thanks

 

you have to remove the strut and compress the spring to change the top plate.
the bearing is integral to the top plate.

may as well to the strut at the same time IMHO

as for the knock this could be sway bar link or bushings.

 

Great diagnosis.
Struts and bearings replaced.
The old struts were slower to respond but probably still usable.
The strut bearings were shot.
The car feels totally different now, i think the bearings were shot when i got the car 70'000 miles ago.
I have killed many new tires with this car, had many alignments, replaced many tie rod ends trying to resolve the tire wear issue.
I highly recommend changing at least those bearings on any car over 100'000 miles.
Night and day difference.
I recently posted a thread "front struts done, no need to remove sub frame bolts" it has instructions how i did it.
Also no need to seperate the balljoint!
Thanks to all