I've done a couple of things to try to clear up a front end vibration. I replaced the control arms (number 7 in your diagram), got new tires, and got a 4 wheel alignment. Each of these made a big difference but it hasn't gone away.
Last week while the car was having it's compressor changed, one of the guys in the shop said "Let's check the balance of this wheel while it's off the car." I don't think he was expecting to find anything, but what we both noticed was that the whole wheel was eccentric with a noticeable amount of movement as it went around. That was the front left wheel, the front right was similar and we didn't check the back. His advice to me was to either have them straightened or replaced.

 

Which tires do you have mounted on your XJ? I have the five spoke 19's and they seem to be true.

 

The tires are Pirelli Sottozero snow tires and the wheels are the stock XJR ones, twin 5 spoke 19".

 

Here's my take. Jags have always had a nice balance between great handling, steering and European auto ride. I'll call it "perfection blending". The deal is that to keep all 3 working well together requires careful attention to maintenance of tires, wheels and suspension components. Wear and tear that would not cause a problem in other cars show up PDQ in your Jag.

Another factor is that Jag drivers are, as a rule, more attuned to short comings in ride, handling and steering. Short comings that may not occur in your average Ford/Chevy/Toyota because they don't operate out on the edge of the "perfection blending" envelope and the drivers are not so demanding to start with.

 

I have several other vehicles. None shake like my Jaguar does on rough pavement. These vehicles include cars with great driving characteristics.
I wonder if it is inner tie rods ends, curved lower arm bushings, or wheels. Everything else is new.

 

Ordered new bushings from Jagbits.com. Will have them installed along with new tires. Might even have the wheels refinished while they are off the car.

As far as shaking over rough roads, the wheel does move about more than on all of my other cars over broken pavement. My problem is that there is a constant shake at all speeds that gets worse as the speed rises to 60 mph and then remains a constant shake after that. It is not a dangerous condition but more of an annoyance.

I think most of us on this forum are very attune to our cars and we are more aware than most drivers. We could be driving 8-15 year old Camrys to get from Point A to Point B but, as tarhealcracker pointed out, we are keeping our Jag's on the road and enjoying them for love of the car and all they represent to us.

I think most of us have enjoyed driving our cars and not seeing another one like it on the road. We all want our cars to drive as well as they look. That's why a silly thing like a minor shake in the steering wheel annoys us to no end and encourages a thread that is now 2 pages long.

I'll see what happens when I replace the bushings and tires. Thinking of going with 19" Goodrich G-Force Comp 2 A/S or Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+. I'm not an aggressive driver but am looking for better wet traction and a comfortable ride. The Pirelli P6's are terrible in the wet.

 

Ugh! I just encountered this problem. I bought my car almost 2 years ago with 36k miles. My steering wheel rarely shaked, it got worse over time only around 50-60 mph. I was on the freeway and hit a nasty dip in the road, a loud bang occurred. I'm not sure if my rim is bent, but I got my alignment done with balancing and still have bad shake in steering wheel. Car steering feels a tad tighter but now from 30-70 mph is a terrible shake. My brakes need to be replaced badly and rotors which I'm doing tomorrow but that shouldn't effect my steering wheel while cruising right? I checked my lower control arm bushing and it doesn't look like it should
be. Should this be the first thing I replace after I had my alignment and tires balanced?

 

SRL1990

Bent wheel?

 

That's a very good likelihood, tarhealcracker.

I bought a used set of X358 wheels for our X350 and while having tires mounted on a Hunter Road Force machine the tech discovered that two of the four rims were bent. A local shop that specializes in repairing rims easily straightened them, so I had them check my old set of rims and three of the four were bent!

Once I was aware of this issue I began noticing all the forum reports of bent rims and it definitely seems the Jag 19- and 20-inch rims are quite vulnerable to deformation.

SRL1990, if you have a local shop that repairs alloy rims, you might have them spin yours while you watch and see what they find.

Cheers,

Don

 

Back when I bought my 05 XJR, 2 of the wheels were bent. A Jag Serv Writer stated they were prone to bending " they will bend on a speed Bump" said he.
I found a service in Orlando who straightened them out in a Wall Mart parking lot in the back of his van.

 

YOu have to be very careful about straightening bent wheel rims because the metal work-hardens. Only one straightening should ever be done, after that the wheel should be scrapped. Wheels fitted with low profile tyres get bent the most as more force goes into the rim than with the old "balloon" type. ALso the inside edge gets bent more often as there is nothing supporting the rim like there is on the outside where you have the spokes.

 

Large rims are design and fashion but not justified by effectiveness or efficiency.
The largest diameter should be the minimum required to accomodate the brakes, and the largest width should be the one just required for satisfactory rubber sticking to the road.
Too large rims not only are fragile but also decrease comfort and increase unsprung weight and rotational inertia that are unfavourable for car reactivity and acceleration.
There is certainly a good compromise to be found.
For our X350/358's I think that 19" rims with 255/40 R19 tyres (some will even say 18") should have been the max when strictly speaking of ride and handling.
But 20" rims, or even 21", may look nice...
Just my 2c

 

My steering wheel shook before tire rotation and still shakes after. I have a spare tire 19 xjr rim in my trunk brand new, I'm going to test it out on driver and passenger side to see if the shaking lessen or go away. This should eliminate my tire theory I have, if the shaking doesn't go away then it has to be one of the bushings. It only shakes around 50-65 now. Just did this last night btw.

 

Had the bushings replaced today. Thanks JagBits. Checked and balanced the wheels and they are round. A lot of the steering wheel shake is gone but there is still a vibration felt thru the floor pan that remains. It gets stronger as speed increases. Ordered a set of Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ tires and will install them next week. Let's see if the vibration goes away.

 

OOOOH, look at that virgin rim with no rash and still round. I would kill for that rim

 

Anyone familiar or heard of polyurethane bushings? I read they last a really long time compared to rubber but will absorb road vibrations slightly more.

 

Polyurethane bushings will last a long time but transmit a lot of noise, vibration, and harshness (NHV) into the car. They would be fine for a race car but our Jaguars were not designed for racing. I appreciate the smoothness of my Jag. That's why the bushings wear our quickly. They are made softer for comfort and will wear sooner. Think of polyurethane as a skateboard wheel. It is much harder to last longer but I wouldn't want my Jag driving like a skateboard! Everything is a trade off. Comfort or durability?

 

I work for BMW, our mechanic looked at my car and said it was my right front lower control curved arm bushing that was completely shot, my rear end links are torn, and my rear tires weren't balanced correctly from Wheel Works. I only have to pay for hourly wage when he works on my car . Going to cost around $200 for everything to be done.

btw my tires aren't bent either according to mechanic.

 

I have developed a shake at 70 mph. But only on rough pavement. It is smooth on smooth pavement at 70.
The lower curved arms looked new when the front end was gone through 6,000 miles ago. Only parts not replaced.
These seem to be the first part to fail, the large inside bushing. The bushings are around 30.00 each.

 

After having the lower control arm bushings replaced, it got rid of 90% of the shaking so this week I had the tires replaced with a new set of Michelin Pilot Sports and the wheels checked (they are round) and balanced. Now the shake is back. It starts at 30 mph but is not very intrusive until it get to 50 mph. Then it gets worse up to 70 mph. Haven't gone over 70 yet. Back to the shop for more investigation.