Just curious as to what other folks have done with various brands of front wheel bearing/hub assemblies. The right front of my 08 XJ8 is suddenly humming one heck of a tune. Going to do both front wheels but at 120k miles I'm wondering whether I should spend lavishly or whether I can get away with middle of the road?

 

Detroitaxle sells a lot of them, with ten year guarantee for $75 a set.

Put them on both of mine, as preventive maintenance, after over a hundred thousand miles, on the originals.

 

Wingrider, thank you for that information. I just looked them up and the front hubs do not come up as a choice beyond the 2005 model year. I have run into this before as it seems the '08-09's are ******* stepchildren after the exterior makeover and I have all kinds of trouble finding parts listed for them specifically. I'm not familiar enough yet to know if the front hub changed in the final years of the XJ's or whether the '05 part is interchangeable and whether the connector for the ABS changed etc.. I did perform the search as an '08 S-Type and the same part number as the '05 XJ came up. Thinking I am okay but not sure.........

 

I put a set on my 07 VDP, as well as the 04, same parts.

Same hub,front bearing set up, as well as lower ball joints.

Replaced the ball joints while in the area.

 

Thanks Wingrider, I appreciate your taking the time to respond. Sorry I tend to overthink sometimes. I actually went to the Rock Auto site after I responded the first time and sure enough the part numbers come up the same for both years. Will get a set ordered at lunch. Now I get to experience the fun of removing the hubs. I have read it will be either a straight forward repair or an adventure in removing steel from aluminum. I go forward unafraid and have unlocked the drawer with the BFH just in case .

 

You might need an impact driver for the bolts.

 

Meirion1 I definitely will have that in the arsenal. I am actually a fairly skilled mechanic so the job doesn't scare me and I have a tall box of tools. I'm just a bit annoyed that as soon as I put it up for sale I am suddenly rebuilding the car piece by piece for whoever buys it. ABS light last week unresolved and not code related to the new issue of front wheel bearings/ABS. I don't like selling cars with issues so I guess we're going in!

 

Take your time, ask questions, you'll wind up with a nice car.

 

ABS light could be just a wheel sensor.

 

Wingrider. Will do. It has been a very nice car. I like it so much I bought an XJR with half the miles that is literally sitting until I can sell this one. Now Silver Kitty is jealous and wants me to pay attention. So front hubs it is.

 

Meirion1 I wish it were. I started another thread a couple days ago asking if anyone had module problems with these newer XJ8's. I took it to the local Jag specialist and it read "possible internal module failure" code. I will deal with that after I get the front wheels hubs done. Took the Mrs to dinner last night which meant some highway driving and she said "why is it so loud?" I didnt realize how bad it was driving locally. Got it home and jacked up the front and the right wheel sounded like gravel in a mixer...ugh.

 

The amount of car you get for the money spent, makes them some of the best used cars out there.

Two in my garage, for less than any new Korean import that you pick.

Build quality at a hundred thousand miles is still a superb ride.

 

Well the car is in middle of driveway blocking my wifes car in the garage. Wheel off, caliper and rotor off, and all four bolts out of the hub assembly with relatively little drama. Now as some have described the hub assembly is completely frozen in the upright. Ive beat on it for over an hour and have really damaged bearing from the back side. I'm cringing at the thought of having to remove the upright to press this thing out. Whats the point of having a bolt on assembly if you have to take upright off anyway. Im about to put brakes and wheel back on while it may still turn and get it off driveway until I have time to take fully apart. Cant believe what a pain this is to do what took me an hour on my other car........sorry needed to vent. Still dont feel better

 

Have a look at this post for recalcitrant front hubs. https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...1/#post1751114 While its on an XK they are essentially the same as the XJ. Hopefully this helps.

 

Guess sometimes the hub is frozen. I used Detroit Axle hubs on my car.they are available still on Amazon for 49.95 each including shipping. They were even less a few years ago.
I think Don B has used them as replacements. Good stuff.

 

Here is another link for removing stubborn front wheel bearings, scroll down to posts 455 & 464;

https://www.jaguarforum.com/showthre...ght=oil+change

 

Thanks for replies from all. I don't normally get flustered by this stuff but this job should be so dirt simple and this really hit a nerve. After some googling etc... I saw a tool called a hubtamer that simply bolts onto the hub studs and then gives you a bar a couple feet out to beat on with a sledge. Barbaric but effective. Only I dont have one....so i put a large pipe wench on the hub face and the held the hub in place with the wedge of my portapower. I hit the end of the pipe wrench and got the hub to move about a 1/16" before darkness fell and energy gave out. That being said it really jolts all of the connecting joints on the upright so Im not thrilled that I might be hurting other parts that aren't broken. I may see if knocking two studs out and using a couple of jacking bolts as I read in the link above (thanks Paddyx350) will work and if so will make sure to get some shots of the process.

 

Using the bolt trick will surprise you.
Using the higher grade, 8, or 9 bolts, & nuts, will work so much better than the cheap stuff.

 

Recalcitrant: adjective - having an obstinately uncooperative attitude toward authority or discipline.

Thanks for that wonderful word Hafrin. Its day 2 and I'm about to go show my recalcitrant hub who's boss!

Stay tuned

 

Total success! 2 bolt method with a little help from the pipe wrench shock method and all is well. May have to deal with clearing an ABS message but thats okay.

After finishing passenger hub I took a deep breath and used what I learned to tackle the driver side. From wheel off to wheel on in just shy of two hours!! I took plenty of pics and will put together a write up for those who dive into this job in the future. Thanks to all who shared advice. I'm off for a test drive