Was having brake pads and rotors done on my x350 and mechanic showed me my rear suspension bushings (there's a lot - like 10 on each rear side?). They are all shredded (car has 90k miles). tie rods, sway bars, control arms - not one rubber bushing I could see was intact. All split and leaking - Normal for this mileage?
I found replacement bushing on eBay for the expensive lower control arms, so that will help, and I guess all the other parts I just buy online at best price. Is there a kit?

Front control arms/bushings were replaced last year and made a huge difference with handling.

thanks!

 

The rubber used is the issue. That or the grease inside. I have a 2005 Audi A-8 with Lemforder arms. Those original bushings have perfect rubber.
The rear are the same as a Lincoln LS or Ford Thunderbird of the same vintage. Way cheaper. Some are cast with Jaguar on the arm.
The uppers, sway bar links, and toe adjusters are not bad. The lower are expensive. Close to 300.00 each. I might have bushed the lower. But went with new arms from an eBay Ford dealer.

 

Hey Panelhead,
thanks for the fast reply!
so if I get the rear upper and lower control arms on this page:

https://www.bluespringsfordparts.com...diagram=FIP080

I'm good? Big savings and probably won't risk getting aftermarket bushings installed, as the only place that has them is a store on eBay that has scary reviews when you do a web search on them...

probably get aftermarket tie rods and stabilizers at parts geek.com though

 

Items 6, 9, 10, 14 are what you need. The prices are FANTASTIC. If not real Lemforder look around.

 

Well 9&10 are ford parts I assume as its a ford dealership. 6&14 are available as Lemfoerder at partsgeek.com at lower than this dealership.

So 2004 Lincoln LS parts it is. Guess I'll order. Hope they fit!

 

The main problem is the rubber sealing boots can split even if the joint itself ifs OK the ingress of salty water and grit soon destroys the bush. It seems that whoever was maintaining your car before you got it, never checked the bush and ball joint boots.These boots are very cheap to buy, and can extend the bush or ball-joint life considerably if replaced in time.

 

2004 Lincoln LS suspension Parts came in from Ford. Rear upper control arms are indeed stamped "jaguar". Rear lower packed in Ford boxes marked "made in UK". Good start!
God I hope they're the right parts for my 2004 XJ. Saved many hundreds of dollars.
Sway and rods all Lemfoerder.
Thanks Panelhead!

 

It was mentioned in the last couple of days that the S-Type had
boots made of biodegradable material.

Since the S-Type and X350 share many suspension components,
it may be that this is the result of yet another great idea.

Yes, it may be biodegradable once you throw it in the trash,
but then again, if you had not had to replace it, there would
be no trash.

BTW, that was OEM that was being discussed so even
genuine Lemforder is not going to solve that one unless
they have switched materials.

 

If so, that was Ford's idea. A friend's Lincoln LS had biodegraded bushings and boots like mine. I knew it was not Lemforder. The boots on my 2005 A8 and the wife's 2007 335 look new. The XJR were biodegraded completely. All three have Lemforder suspension parts.
Guess they were designed to biodegrade in 8-10 years. Throw away cars.
I coated all exposed rubber on the new upper and lower control arms, sway bar links, sway bar bushings, rear toe adjusters, and outer tie rod ends. Used Krynox. Hopefully it will slow down the process.
Is there a US source for the boots and seals? I have never seen the repair parts.
I am very disapointed if Ford built a family of vehicles (XJ, S, T-Bird, and LS) that has suspension parts designed to fail in less than 10 years.

 

What year of XJR? Selfishly hoping it is post 2003 although one
of mine was already done in by a dealership mechanic using a pickle
fork.

Energy Suspension sells poly boots. You would need the diameters and
heights to order. Replacement at new part installation time might be
in order.

 

Goatride

You mentioned that the front suspension was repaired the year before, makes me wonder if the rears were about to go at the same time. Much more likely the case was due to wear. I really doubt any rubber suspension part would be biodegradable.
Always good information about Lincoln LS parts interchange. I suspect I will be going that route shortly on my 2004 XJR.
RyeJag

 

I only had one part of the front done, one small lower arm had bad bushing left and right. Smallish job but made huge difference. Rest of front looks ok. Maybe one ball joint starting to go. That will have to wait. Rear was a mess, mechanic had mentioned a bad bushing in rear, but it could wait and I did. Now rear is all done, LS parts were correct. Kept the old ones to sell on eBay.

 

Ok now that the rear is done and car parked, left / driver side is sagging. Rear, maybe front too. No air suspension error lights. It seemed to be driving fine on way home.
Looking through threads now. Leaking shock? Compressor? Sensor? What do you guys think?
This sucks after all the dough I just dropped.

 

If the driver side rear is low, either the shock let go, or the sensor is not installed properly.
Check the sensor connection to control arm. This MIGHT be a free fix.

 

I just did the same procedure. I replaced upper, lower control arms, tie rod ends, sway bar links, new air shocks and had my drivers side rear sag. The steering wheel was also off to 1 side but the car was not pulling. This will sound crazy but I adjusted the new rear tie rod ends to make the rear wheels turn to the direction the steering wheel was turned to when driving straight. It made my steering wheel straight and the car no longer sagged on any wheel. To do this I measured the distance from center tread to center tread on the rear tires on the front side of the tires and then on the back side. I adjusted the tie rod ends to make sure they were exactly the same. Then I adjusted a half turn at a time to align the wheels. You have to do opposite turns on the tie rod ends to keep the wheels from going toe in or toe out.

 

Wow that is weird. My steering wheel was off by a quarter turn after the rear end work too. The mechanic sent the car to alignment shop to sort that. Steering wheel came back straight but you're saying that's maybe now causing the sag? Kind of the reverse of you.
Baffling.

 

Goatride
rather concerning about the left rear sagging after the work was done. I suspect the height sensor was damaged or needs to be reconnected after the work was done. Perhaps the air shock line is not tight and leaking slowly. That connection at the top of the shock can be easily tested for leaks by pouring soapy water over the fitting and looking for bubbles.
You can measure ride height by measuring the distance from the top of the tires to the wheel well. Should be the same for both rears and slightly different for the fronts. You can find that data as well to confirm.

Dave63116 I may be too cautious here, and it sounds like you may be right on. But as far as adjusting tie rod ends, to me that's always a job for professional alignment. We can get it close, to drive to the shop, but without alignment you are risking premature tire wear and handling problems. There are no cheap Jag tires, so you can spend a great deal of money on tires quickly with poor alignment.
RyeJag

 

Well first thing is back to the mechanic and have him check the sensor connection for that wheel.

 

Took it back to mechanic and they checked the sensor connector. Also did a reset with their diagnostic computer. No error codes.
Same problem. Rear driver side low.
I think this is making the front driver side seem low too as it is raising the front passenger by being tilted?

 

Goatride
If your car is driving straight and the steering wheel is straight I don't think the alignment isn't causing the problem. Dose the car slowly leak down or is it down when you exit the car after driving?

ryejag
I totally agree with you on the tires and I drive michelins. However I have been doing alignments for about 10 years on all my cars with a tape measure. It works better than any alignment shop I have ever been to. As far as I can tell on the rear of the Jag there is no caster and camber adjustment. The toe in and out is easily adjusted by measuring tire tread in front and back and having the measurements be exactly the same. Not trying to knock your advice. Just thought you might want to know.