Don is actually 30 miles south of Nashville.

 

Not anymore... Moved to be closer to our kids and first grandchild.

 

arodix, regarding the comment "My indy shop cautioned me not to get steel bolts on the grounds that the justification behind early disappointment of the A4 B7 control arms is that Audi matched aluminum arms with steel bolts ." Not to worry when picking parts manufacturer. If you are relating this to galvanic corrosion due to dissimilar metals - Aluminum body Jaguars (and many other cars) are chock-full of mating surfaces with steel-to-aluminum, i.e., Al suspension arms and steel ball joints and bolts, steel subframe to aluminum unibody, too many more to mention. Unless you are planning on floating the car in conductive salt water (yikes) it not an issue.

If you are relating to deformation due to over-tightening - just CAREFULLY review torque specs for bolts in service manual. Many of the control arms and suspension bits (notably, upper control arms) have very specific torque specs for a reason - too tight will affect deflection and movement.

Re; rubber bits longevity - after owning several XJ and XK, all requiring (what I consider) premature suspension part replacement due to boots cracked and broken, I've noted two brands, Moog & Mevotech, use different rubber formulation. Other may also, and I've even noted the Lemforder replacement parts appear different rubber bits then the OEM Lemforder (not implying better, just different). There is amazing set of variables that affect rubber life, i.e., ratio of clay to natural rubber latex (NRL), plasticizer, accelerator, high or low ammonia NRL, etc. etc. In short, don't let it affect decision cause you really don't know. Best you can do is pick parts from someone with good Quality history like Moog or Miele or Mevotech.