In the pic you can see the split upper boot/dust cover on the outer end of the tie rod.

Anyone know where to get the actual boot instead of spending $52 on the whole tie rod?

Cannot find anything close to the measurements on Ebay.

 

I did not know what a bearing splitter was so looked it up.

OTC 1121 - Bearing Splitter Attachment | O'Reilly Auto Parts

The hub and half shaft would not just pull out?

 

Well normally, I'd have said look for "ball joint boots" on the internet, but you say you've done that and nothing available. Hmm !

Do you mean the tracking rods on the rear suspension with what look like transparent plastic boots ?

 

The hub and half shaft do just pull out. That is what I have done on the opposite side.

I am in the process of pushing new bushings into the lower rear control arms.

Tomorrow I hope to get the diff out.

I meant to post a pic of that cracked boot on the end of the tie rod.

Here it is.
This is the tie rod I probably will have to buy.


New Lincoln LS Rear Adjustment Link Torque Tie Rod OE#6W4Z-5B551-AA | eBay

 

Got that wrong. I used a ball joint separator.

I did use a bearing splitter to help remove the bearings from the ring gear assembly when I rebuilt the diff with the Quaife. I wanted to see what numbers they had on them.

 

This has been a very frustrating experience because I did not have the right tools. Plus it has been very cold in the garage!

I already have too many tools!

I made do with what I have but that involved a lot of extra work.

In particular the 6 ton H bench press was not really suitable as I could not center the rear lower control arm bushings at all easily.

On one bushing I could but not the other. I had to innovate.

I chose not to replace the largest bushing for two reasons. One because it is of a different design to the new one that came with the kit, and two because the original looks absolutely fine.

My bearing splitter got a little modified.

One point to note the clearances for the bushes in the frame mounts is not that great so you have to be fairly exact in pushing in the bushes.

I was slightly off with one and since I had not put the wire holding clips back on the rubber boot it was fairly easy to adjust in the press.

In the last pic you can see one bolt that is very difficult to get out so I decided to leave it in the position you see to ease re installation.

The one that came with the kit is solid with no flex compared to the original which is obviously designed with some flexibility.

In the end I was pressing the bushings in at ambient temperatures around 40 degrees F with no issue.

I used a 1 1/4" socket to press in the bushings once I had taken off the rubber boot.

I made sure to press the bushings in the same way round as the original. I am not sure this makes a difference but I did anyway.

the sides of the bushings are different. One with a bevel and the other only a slight bevel.

You can see in the sixth pic I got a bit innovative with how to use the press.

 

What would have made the job so much easier would have been the appropriate bearing "sleeves" to push the bush into.

 

Big problem just discovered.

The Lincoln bushes I mentioned previously do not fit.

Of the four smaller bushings two are 59 mm and two are 53.9 mm in length.

The two 59 mm are too big to fit in the frame support or the hub. The two at 53.9 mm are just right and so are the bigger bushes.

What is interesting is the inside of one of these bushes.

In the pic on the left is an "old" bushing with one rubber cap torn.

On the right is the bolt support that sits in some sort of neoprene surround inside the metal tube of the bushing with some grease.

The only thing wrong with some of my bushings is the torn rubber cap.

They are perfectly tight around their swivel axis.

 

The company that I bought the bushing kit from are sending me two 53.9 mm bushings.

I sent them pics of the issue and they responded quickly.

 

Almost there. I am waiting on the two correct bushings to arrive to press in to the rhs lower control arm.

I bought two iron pipe joins from Home Depot a 2" and a 1 1/4" .

They worked perfectly in pushing out the two incorrect bushings and will use them for the new ones.

I did find that the lhs hand brake caliper was essentially seized so have to sort that out.

 

A bit if heat on the aluminium are should make the press-in easier. I was advised to use boiling water. Obviously over a sink as you don't want hot water all over the bench !

 

At first I tried that including putting the bushings in the freezer.

In the end I used a propane torch and an infra red thermometer to get up to about 110 C on the control arm. Was very careful not to keep flame on a single area very long.

 

OK, fine. Did the heat make the job easier ?

 

Yes it did.

 

Be careful with the flame. You can easily melt the aluminum. I know from experience just ask my rear driver side lower control arm.
Freezing bushes and boiling water with lube works wonders.

 

I suppose you could always put the end of the arm in a deep-fat-frier; that way you'd get it heated up and lube coated in one go

 

I was very careful with the propane torch and used the infra red "gun" thermometer to check temp.

I am waiting on the two bushes to arrive to replace the incorrect ones that were shipped.

The differential is swapped and the right half shaft installed along with upper and lower control arms.

 

Just to complete the story.

Shipping was delayed a few days for some reason but the two replacement bushings arrived and I pressed them in.

They absolutely did not want to press in evenly to start so I had to press in incrementally and biased to one side slightly to get them to go in.

One poly ball joint cap I ordered fit the end of the link where I had a split cap so that saved having to spend $53 on a tie rod.

So all is assembled and installed with all bolts etc double and triple checked.

My rear end is riding high and my brakes are a little mushy so still have to sort those issues.

I used a brake pressure bleeder to bleed the rear calipers and may not have use enough pressure.

I modified the brake reservoir cap to take the pressure bleeder connection.

When I bled each caliper some brake fluid came out along the drain tube I fitted and then stopped even tho the pressure bleeder was still pressurized.

Same both sides. So will do this again with more pressure.

By coincidence my truck brakes have gone mushy just the other day so I am going to be doing a lot of brake bleeding.

I should mention that the modified brake reservoir cap does not clear the flap cover on the compartment. I have ordered a used one still attached to a reservoir as I could not find just the cap for a reasonable price.

 

Yesterday I used my v130 JLR SDD set up to re-calibrate my ride height.

First time I have done this and it took quite a long time.

To begin the process it took me quite a few "stabs" at different options before I could even bring up the suspension maintenance option.

The software would come up with "recommended" maintenance which only had two choices plus a "help" option choice.

Eventually I ended up with a whole set of maintenance options of which one was suspension. I dont remember how I got there either after going thru so many "stabs" at different things to get there!

In the end I went thru the process of leveling etc and in the final run it failed!

It warned me that I had to use the special tool so I guess it did not like the figures I typed in.

However both the front two sides and the rear two sides are within a 1/4" of where they are supposed to be.

What I do not know yet is whether the leveling system is "stuck" in some mode other than normal as I have not taken the Jag for a ride. I need to re-bleed the rear calipers first.

 

had been in the same boat once the bushes had been done that the suspension needed to be recalibrated. of course as said should be a flat surface. by try and error and having the impression i could soften the suspension up further in going even higher as factory i found some things.

if the max height is exceeded and even if you try to trick the suspension calibration with different values it wont work. means initial setup measure the distance as per the book at put in the correct values into the calibration.
once finished and if within 15mm left right it will keep the calibration. if any value is out of range or the suspension to heigh it will abort. difference driver side to passenger front is 11mm on my side. i think thats quite a lot so will try to tweak the next days.