i had a lower control arm bushing go bad on my xj8 a couple months ago and thought i sourced the right bushing to replace it. After my mechanic hammered it out i realized i did NOT have the correct part and the bushing is not even available in the US. I refused to buy a new arm for $600-$1000 so i came up with a better solution. I decided to make one out of polyurethane. After thinking on it for a day i went to a Skate shop and bought a set of spitfire wheels. The wheels are the HARDEST polyurethane available on the market so i was confident it would work. I then went to ace hardware to get everything else i needed. After the center of the wheel was drilled out i placed 2 steel sleeves through the middle to make the 1/2 inch bolt fit through snug. I had my mechanic machine the wheel down to 1 7/8 or 51mm so it could be pressed in tightly. The wheels are painted on the side so it was easy to know when to stop shaving it down. I told him that once you got down to the red paint to go ahead and try and press it in. On both sides of the homemade bushing i wedged in 4 brass washers so the spindle would fit snug against the lower control arm and have no play front/back. This modification was done a couple months ago on my car and i could not be more pleased with it. I saved myself several hundred dollars over buying a new lower control arm and i want to share my redneck ingenuity with the rest of you. Sorry o dont have more pictures but you get the idea with the information and pictures i have provided. And yes i'm also the guy who fitted V6 s-type coilovers to may car to replace the stock airbags. I'm all about saving money and getting things done

 

Brilliant. Hope it lasts.

 

Is this the front or rear control arm (we call them wishbones in the UK) ?

Reason I ask, is because bushes are available for at least some of these parts. Maybe not yours !

Jaguar X350 Parts | Jaguar X350 Steering & Suspension | JustJagsUK.com

Steering-Suspension | Jaguar XJ - X350 - XJR | British Parts UK

UK suppliers, but they do ship to the USA.

 

its the rear lower wishbone -> spindle bushing. and yes there is a company in the UK that makes them but they are pricey and i could not wait that long since my car was up in the air and the old bushing hammered out when i realized i had the wrong size part. the cheapest lower control arm/wishbone i could find was $600 and the dealership sells them for 900-$1000. I spent about $40 on parts because i had to buy all 4 wheels from the skate shop. My mechanic was kind and charged me $100 labor

 

That's awesome!

 

I hope it goes well for you. I had both rear wishbones swapped out 2 years ago, and they cost £190, (plus our sales (VAT) tax of 17.5%).

BTW the sales tax is now 20% since GB Ltd went bust in 2008 !!

 

Well, if they would just get around to taxing the multi-nationals ....