Purchased a one owner 06 Jag xjr which was serviced by local jag dealer in Kansas. Contacted the owner and the dealer and asked what problems I might be looking for. The dealer said the lower control arms might need to be replaced in the near future. I checked locally here in Albuquerque NM and the estimated cost would be $2500 and the arms had to be completely replaced, that is, not just the bushing.
I have read threads in this forum that suggest many have just replaced the bushings at a considerable savings. What suggestions do you all have. Complete replacement or just the bushings. It appears that removing the lower control arm is pretty straight forward without the need for special tools. This car is not a daily driver and can remain out of use for any period of time. Thanks.
Additional, in the past when repairing cars I have owned, I would check out a Chilton repair manual. Is there a repair manual which covers these XJ XJR models? Thanks again.

 

I had just the bushings done on mine, considerable savings, although slightly more labour intensive and time consuming.


There are more than a few threads about it I believe


Good luck

 

Hi Richard
You don't say whether the front or rear lower arms need replacing. The front is in two parts, the rear is a single part with three bushes. Both components are made of aluminium with a bush or bushes pressed in.

Jaguar, for reasons known only to themselves, are known to charge exorbitant, eye-watering, prices for these arms. Having said that, other up-market car makers do the same, like Mercedes and BMW. One has to wonder why.

So most people and, indeed, Jaguar independent shops, tend to use the after-market suppliers who sell the same parts for a lot less cost, up to half in a lot of cases. Eventually, the control arm bushes became separately available on the after market, (but not from Jaguar), and this allows the bushes in the arms, (the part that wears out), to be replaced. However, if you're paying somebody to do the job, there is extra labour to press out the old bushes and press in the new ones, so the overall saving may not be all that great.

Here are a couple of suppliers known to me. Both supply the USA.
JustJagsUK.com - Jaguar X350 Parts | Jaguar X350 Wishbones, Control Arms & Links=

SNG Barratt - The Ultimate Jaguar Parts Specialist

 

Thanks for the response. They are the front, lower control arms. One owner car serviced by the same jag dealer in Kansas City. Talked to the previous owner and service manager of the dealer. He recalled all the work done to the car over the eight years and said he recommended to the owner that he consider replacing in the future. Local cost in Albuquerque NM, $2500. All local quoted replacement cost on new arms.
Since the car is not a daily driver, it can be out of service for awhile. Regarding replacement, difficult to remove? or special tools required? Thanks for your advice.

 

I had my bushings replaced at my local indy Jag shop for about $800. Runs like it's brand new again.

 

Fronts or Rears?

 

Fronts

 

Richard,


I just contacted JustJagsUK.com. I bought both lower control arms that are original Jaguar OEM parts shipped here to California for about $525 USD including shipping, etc. They did charge me $90.00 shipping but the two are less than what one would have cost in the local dealership. My local Jag dealership wanted over $2,500 to change both sides out. You're right, each only have two bolts and they seem to be accessible. I'm trying to find out if it should be jacked up or what to relax the suspension so there won't be strain on the two bolts when I remove it. A $2,000 savings for such a little job seems the right thing to do.


PS: The Jag dealership here show the two arms are the same stock number - C2C39683-0. They are Jaguar OEM parts in JustJagsUK.com as well.

 

$525 for the pair?


We offer a good aftermarket version of this for $202.50 to JF members.
Details via link below:
www.sngbarratt.com/PartSearchResults.aspx?partno=C2C39683

 

I sell pairs rebuilt with new oem hydro bushings pressed in. $385 shipped. Just take out your old ones and install these and align, your done no press needed.

 

Thanks for the recent posts. These control arms, part number 2c239683-0 from JustjagsUK.com and the control arms posted which are rebuilt all are replacements for those in a 2006 xjr, right? The replacements from JustJag, would you keep me appraised on the installation process. My car is currently being fitted with a new headliner. Thanks for all the feedback and suggestions.

 

Richard, I just posted the following on another thread but this is exactly what you and I will be doing:


DonB sent me the Shop Manuals for the vehicle. The pages are really clear. Basically all I have to do is jack up the front (both sides at one time), remove the wheels, remove the 2 bolts that hold the control arm in place, put the new one in and torque the bolt that faces downward 60 Nm. (45. ft pounds), tighten the 2nd nut, put the wheels back on and lower the vehicle, then torque the 2nd nut to 175 Nm. (129 ft. pounds). I think I'll use Locktite blue on the threads to insure everything stays put.


Richard, I looked for the downloadable manual for your/our jag and somehow I can't find it. Anyway, there are the pages available in the forum to download that shows everything in pictures that I mentioned above.

 

Mark the eccentricS before you take them out and put them back in the same location. They dont just point down. Theyre adjustable for alignment and if you put them back you wont be messing up the tires if youre too far off from where set before realigned

 

Brutal, I'm not sure I understand when you say "Mark the eccentrics" before you take the arms out. When I look at them they look like they can only go in one way. They don't seem to be adjustable in any way. Can you explain this a little more?


Dan - Still learning, one install at a time.............

 

That washer behind the nut is an eccentric and adjustable if needed during an alignment for caster and camber. I just mark it with paint or you wifes nail polish work too. Then just reinstall. And yes you still need an alignment. And PM me on arms to buy. you know, Support those that support you with knowledge=$$

 

You doing anything like that for the rear lower arms?

 

Thanks for the tip Brutal,
I just PM'd you about ordering some arms. But I have a question about the eccentric bolt... I recently did my rearward lower arms and also removed the front lower arms, the fronts seemed to look good but I fear they are responsible for the still evident clunking. My question is.... Since I removed the eccentric bolts of the front arms already without marking its position like I should have.... is there a way I can get the bolts back in the correct position before taking it to an alignment shop, once i've got the new arms in?
Ive already ruined a set of front tires by putting off this job too long

 

HawaiianJag, I just replaced the two front lower control arms because when I did a service on the car the dealership told me the two front lower control arms needed to be replaced. I heard a slight clunking on the right front when I went over a bump and thought the control arms were the culprits'. I bought a set from JustJags then had my local shop put them in. I still have a clunking sound coming from the right side. I asked the shop if they could have one of their mechanics manage to find where the noise was coming from. The guy smiled and told me they will hook up electronics on the suspension and take the car for a drive. When they return they'll look at a computer which will identify exactly where the noise is coming from. I couldn't believe it. In the old days you would have someone under the car and someone above pushing up and down on the fender. This shop also just did a 4 way alignment for $75 and I found it was out on both the front and rear - all done by lasers or something of the like. If I think of it, I'll post what they found was the problem. They told me it's a half hour ordeal altogether. I'm having it done in two days.

 

Hey Danveenstra,

Thanks for informing me of this! I hope you can get back to us and let us know what they discovered.
So far i've replaced:
rearward lower arm bushings, shock bushings, upper control arms, tie rods, tie rod ends, and still getting clunking on both sides. I dont know what else it could be besides the forward lower arms but I will wait to hear back from you as the bushings dont look that bad on the front arms compared to the rearward arms which i just replaced.

All of the above mentioned parts I replaced showed severe signs of wear so I knew it would be a matter of time before I had to replace them anyway so I started swapping parts out that looked bad but I still have a pretty pronounced clunk from the front suspension (right side is worse but also have it on the left side)

I've been told the sway bar bushings tend to go out on these cars but mine seem to look good but im sure you dont really know for sure their condition until you take them out.

Luckily I can do the labor myself otherwise all the parts I swapped out already would have cost me a fortune to have a shop do

 

HawaiianJag,


I went to a local shop here in Placerville, California called Lightfoot Automotive. They looked for the "clunking" noise with a piece of equipment they referred to as a Wireless Chassis Ear. They hooked up 6 probes to suspension parts on the right front which relayed sound to the computer which the mechanic had next to him while driving the car over bumps. He returned from the road test and said he heard nothing. He then moved the probes to other locations and I went with him. The clunking sound was loud and clear from probe # 6 which was attached to the right upper wishbone on the forward arm. When we got back to the shop we looked at the bushing and it was in pretty bad shape. The one on the left side was in pristine shape. The unit the mechanic used was made by a company called Bluepoint. I think he found my clunking noise. I took pictures but for some reason they turned out awful. Here are 2 of them anyway.