Just purchased my first Jaguar a few weeks ago, it's an 04 XJ8. I went to replace the front air springs, only to discover the front suspension is a complete mess. I'm now replacing all upper and lower control arms, outer tie rod ends, sway bar end links, and lower ball joints. The problem is, the lower ball joints I received do not have the correct taper to seat into the knuckle. At the moment, I've only received one of them, but the taper is about a half inch too short. The only way I could make them work would be to drill a counterbore onto the lower control at the large end of the taper to make clearance for the rubber boot on the ball joint. I ordered URO-009760 (C2C25788/9BJ), which several websites say is the correct part. Has anyone else used this part number, was I sent the wrong part? The bag it came in has the correct part number, but the only identifying numbers on the part itself is "13960". Can anyone tell me what part number they used this job, because the only alternative I can find is buying a complete knuckle from Jaguar at $600 a piece.

 

As it turns out, the rubber boot just needed to be pushed down, it was quite sticky, and didn't want to budge, but it eventually moved down. Next question, what's the best method of removing ball joint. It's looks like I'm going to have to remove the wheel hub in order to get enough clearance to get any kind of ball joint press. I bought this kit https://www.harborfreight.com/ball-j...les-63279.html which has right size tube for pressing the new one in, but is lacking the right size tube to press the old one out. Anybody know of a kit that works for sure?

 

Just watch those URO parts. It's not a brand I have had much luck with.
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Something like this should work:



Just make sure you have the right replacement before you remove it. The one being removed will likely get damaged .
Edit.
Oops. you meant removing from steering knuckle . Never mind.

 

Usually be the time the ball joints fail, the bushings on the control arms are gone as well, there are a lot of alternatives besides the $600 Factory part. A lot of online vendors sell good replacements, just stay with trusted manufactures like Moog, or Lemfoerder. though the moogs will be about 1/2 the price of the Lemfoerder, @ about $110 per side. I'm told the Lincoln LS arms work also, I wouldn't be surprised, the LS looks a great deal like the XJ when up on a lift. It is a challenge to undo the bolts under the hood that retain the control arms, but I managed.

 

on ebay there used to be a high quality taiwan made ball joint it was 25 bucks and had blue boot clamps. the original part is lemforder 3764501, about $80 each

hub does not need to be removed you just bend the dust shield turn up your impact and out in comes. buy more adapters for your press

 

Just a word of caution....
You must be very careful pressing stuff into and out of aluminium castings. Alluminium forgings will be OK, but the castings can crack, so need very careful checking after swap-out operations. The rear lower wishbones are castings. A local Jaguar specialist who maintained my first X350 (now in liquidation), set up to swap-out the rear wishbone balljoints, (press, mandrels etc), but then found one cracked, so had to give up due to the potential legal issues. I think the front hub carrier is a forging, but this would need confirming. top and bottom front wishbone parts are forgings.

 

Xalty makes the point that you need a bigger adapter to remove the ball joint.
Advance Auto Parts has a set you can borrow, with a $200+ deposit.
The actual press is the same, i just used the larger adapter to remove.
Believe Harbor sells both sets

 

Other thing to note is that heating up the aluminium component before pressing in/out will make it a lot easier and put less strain on the aluminium part. This is because aluminium expands at twice the rate of steel. A kettle of boiling water, or a hair dryer should do the trick.

 

Should have used my heat gun, now that you mention heat.

 

I just ended up taking it to a local machine shop, they pressed out the old ones, and installed the new ones for $100 total. Well worth the money.

Fraser, the steering knuckle is definitely cast aluminum, in case you were wondering.

 

Thanks for the clarification. There is plenty of meat around the lower ball joint, and I'm not aware of anybody reporting problems after a swap-out.

 

I'll just leave this here
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141902819125

 

With only one ball joint left.
It looks like no option BUT to leave it there.

 

Or you could go to the sellers eBay store. The same component is listed for the S-Type, XF, and XK

 

What is the labor time to do the front ball joints?

 

Regarding "Anybody know of a kit that works for sure? "....I can assure you that the HF kit will be a very difficult tool to use due to the curve of the upright. I have an older version of the same kit, and it did not fit well when I changed lower ball joint. Also, even after I got it set up, the threaded rod started to deflect and could not budge ball joint.

Luckily, I have a 20 ton hydraulic press. However, it did take a whole lot shimming and fixture with wood blocks with an impact socket to press out ball joint. As others suggested, If you can get a machine shop to get old out and new in, do it. To do it all over again, I would have.

Having said that, once I got fixture right, 20 ton press worked hard but once started (with heat on upright), it slid out OK and new one went in like a charm (I used Lemforder version, NOT a job I want to do twice).

Berkshire used to sell "refurbished" uprights (used, with new ball joint already installed) - if they still have these it might be an excellent option.

 

LARGE ration of variables.

First one depends on what you mean by "do".

If you mean remove, do not refurbish, install new/rebuilt already pre-assembled parts, call that "time 'T' ".
Adding what it takes to tool-up a press and DIY rebuilt the parts with new bushings & joints yerself, I'd say "time '4 T' ".

What "time 'T' " is, depends on your work area convenience, lift/jackstands helpfullness/lack-of, body strength & flexibility, how comprehensive your collection of ordinary and speciality tooling and your level of skill and experience at using it to sort out corroded fasteners & connections.

To the good - the fronts of a Rear Wheel Drive Jaguar X350 have very good access, light-weight components, low and easily relieved/managed stresses, ergo are among the simplest, easiest, fastest ones to do. One can de-pressurize an air-strut. Fixed coils or leaves are not so helpful.

If I were even but a mere FIFTY years younger, I might figure two hours per side. As I am not at all "younger", I'd budget a full day for both sides, and it might be a 12-hour day. Plenty of better men are faster.

- If using new or rebuilt parts, not rebuild-DIY on the fly, there really isn't a lot to go wrong.

- If trying to press old out, new in, it is not at all hard to destroy a component. Or several.

(Get at cross-purposes with a 600 Ton Niles steam locomotive "driver-wheel" press, and you can even damage the BUILDING!!)

 

Please don't scare people with 20T hydraulic press.

https://postimg.cc/gallery/B1LVBM6

 

20T isn't a lot..

Some "hand tools" generate higher pressures, actually. Others are harder .....or easier .....to control.