Ok, so I always look forward to sharing with you my findings, just as many on this forum does.

Well, there's this company called AM AUTO PARTS (AFTER MARKET AUTO PARTS) that I've been having great success with over the last several months.

It started with me purchasing a pair of ARNOTTS for the Jag for $836.

The next couple days later, I had to get an AIR Suspension Compressor for my Range Rover. That was only $430 brand new (Hitachi/Dunlop)..

Later on, I need front Struts fully assembled plus rear shocks, control arms, tire rods & sway bar links for my son's car; got all that for $255..

Then, the latest, 2 New Upper Control Arms for $82 for our car!!! Got them installed yesterday along with akebono front pads, & I MUST say that, since buying my car 2 yrs ago, it has NEVER been this quiet & smooth riding!!!

& the better part about the company is, everything has a 10 yr warranty!..

 

I saw some of the Chinese parts while scavaging parts for my XJR. The prices varied, some were close to Lemforder prices.
I kept hearing these were junk and OEM was the only way to go. The rubber bushings and boots on these cannot fail any faster than the Lemforder.
I went back with OEM, they were about 110.00 each for uppers from a Ford dealer on eBay. Some of the lower arms had Jaguar cast into the arm.

 

That's a pretty good price too for OEM...

 

Hi, i'm new here and have owned various Jags for many years. I need to replace my upper front control arms (wishbone) on my 2005 XJ8/VDP and i was wondering how do i go about locating the Ford version of these? I have the Jag part numbers and of course the Jag prices are 5 to 10 times the Ford versions. Is there a cross reference list somewhere or are Ford dealers online or local able to cross reference these? Thanks for the help.

 

Look at 2003 -2008 Ford Thunderbird and Lincoln LS. The price is half or less. All the upper arms and rear lower control arms are the same. The rear toe adjusters are the same too.
The front lower are different. I think the front tie rods ends are different also.
I might have gone with Moog arms knowing what I saw. Looking at the pictures on eBay the Moog arms look identical to Lemforder. The other brands do not.
I coated all the exposed rubber parts with Krytox. This a rubber lubricant/protectant. Only one rear lower bushing and one toe adjuster were shot. Unsafe to drive worn. Some others were loose but serviceable. Others still tight. The all rubber bushings and rubber boots were totally disintegrated. I thought someone had soaked in gasoline or other solvent. Never seen a 10 year old car where all the suspension rubber was crumbling and missing.
I used a mechanic who had a S type come in and he said it was worse than my XJR. All control arms were worn out. A friend sold his LS after taking it in for an alignment. Was quoted 5,000.00 to replaceable worn suspension. It was a 3,500.00 car.
Suspect Texas heat may play into this. I have not heard of northern x350's where every rubber part is bad.

 

Yea i took mine around to find the clunk in the front end to 7 different shops. Most all said they didn't know and the bushings were fine and of course said i needed a steering rack and caliper frames and.... the usual up sell which it didn't need. I used to be a mechanic 30 yrs. ago so i get the routine. The local Jag dealer said they could rebuild the entire front end for $5000. Same as your friend about a $3500 to 5k car. I finally crawled under there myself even though i'm old now and found the uppers rubber was pretty much gone and was moving around a lot. All the rest of the bushings are still in very good condition. I just turned 200k mileage and overall it still runs great. Amazing. 10 year car seems premature to lose all the bushings but as you say maybe the endless intense heat was a factor. I've got an identical car in the garage with 83k mileage that i'll use when this one finally is done. Thanks for the info i really appreciate it.

 

Marque,
I've been trying to find a confirmed PN for the akebono front pads for my SV-8. What PN did you install. My year/model DOES NOT have front Brembos. I should have the same front pads as a LWB.
Can anyone chime in? Akebono does not list a pad for the 06 SV8, but does for the 07,08 years. Many sites list a Akebono pad, but it seems to be for brembo's. 06's never had brenbos on the front. I didn't have a problem with the rears.
Thanks.

 

I looked on eBay last night and the Internet Ford dealer pricing for upper arms has gone up from 110.00 to 170 -180. Rock Auto has them under Lincoln LS for 125.00. These are Lemforder arms. I think Jaguar gets around 500.00 for them.

 

Hey Mark, just go to TIRERACK.COM. They will come right up once you enter the car. They only had fronts tho. They just say "Akebono EURO CERAMIC PADS". No part number as I recall. $90 shipped...

 

I just had the Lemforder control arms installed in my 2005 XJ8L. Ordered them from Rock Auto, $124 each plus $8 shipping for the pair; so $256 delivered. I can't do the work myself, but had an independent shop install them for around $225, plus an alignment. So, around $550 total, vs $550 for one control arm from Jaguar before installation.

The Lemforders are ( I think this is correct, in terms of left/right, certainly it is correct for the mirror image pair):

Right: Lemforder 3063101
Left: Lemforder 3063201