I need help. My 1995 4.0 with 84000 miles had an issue recently with the a frame bushings. It felt lose in the rear almost like it was drifting. I replaced the bushings with powerflex and it seemed to improve the issue. However, I only drove the car a few miles and the next day I took off the winter tires and put on the summer wheels. They are standard size pirelli p7 but I have never driven the car with them before. They are old but with lots of rubber left so I thought they'd be fine. They don't have any mark for direction though so Im not sure if they are fitted correctly. Anyway, after fitting these the car is awful to drive. It suddenly pulls to both sides and I have to correct it all the time. It feels dangerous to drive.

I'm sure the wheels are more than 5 years old but they look almost unused so it's a shame to throw them away. I guess my question is where to start?
Should I try to keep the wheels but take it to a garage to adjust the alignment or simply buy new tires? I'd prefer not having to do both. . I've already spent around 3500 usd on parts since I purchased the car last year. 🤔

 

Are you sure the P7 have the same pattern and wear on both sides, especially on the front wheels? If they are the same, then to rule out the possibility of the tires, or verify if this was caused by the powerflex, try putting the winter tires back and and see if the problem persists.

I recall my very old days driving a 7 year-old MR2 and when negotiating a tight bend, the car lost traction at the turn and spinned 360 degree before coming to a halt. It had P7 all four corners and although they were 5 years' old, they had lots of rubber left. It turned out that the remaining rubber was very stiff and had lost the grip, so durability of the under layer may not be a blessing.

Always put safety first, as it is the tires that move and stop your car.

 

If the tyres are directional, they may have Inside/Outside written on them rather than an arrow.

That said, even if they were wrong I don't think that could cause what you are discribing. I can't really imagine tires causing sudden pull to one side or the other randomly. But as Qvhk suggests, put the winter tyres back on and see what happens.

I'd also check your new bushes and make sure the frame is bolted correctly to the body. I can imagine a loose A Frame causing what you describe.

 

The tyres are not directional it seems and I have the same pattern on both sides. Driving on the highway seems perfectly fine though. It's these b roads here in Norway that's causing the problem. Winter tyres with studs have really carved a path it the tarmac, making it pull easily. But my daily drive has no issues and it really became worse after I fitted these old pirelli tyres. I will give them a few more days and maybe lower the pressure a bit and see if they get any better. Maybe also letting out "old air" and inflating them again could help. I guess they have been stored for maybe too long. If I don't get any improvements within a week I'll try changing back to winter tyres. And then maybe purchasing new tyres.. Continental I guess. Or bridgestone.. do they even make p7 any longer?

 

 

The tyres don't look directional, and if they don't have markings on them to say how they should be fitted, then it doesn't matter.
As far as tyre pressures are concerned, I wouldn't suggest deviating from the published recommendations, but if course it is worth checking they are all correctly inflated.
The age of the rubber could well be your problem: there should be a marking on the sidewall with 4 digits. The latter two are the year the tyre was manufactured, the first two the week of manufacture. All tyres harden over time ( pirellis seem to have a particular tendency to do this) and the process can be exacerbated by the storage conditions . Storage in sunlight for example accelerates it.
The age of the wheels shouldn't be an issue, and if they were buckled you would feel it before you got as far as skittish performance.
The fact that your winter tyres were problem free causes me to discount alignment at the moment, although it might be worth having it looked at given all the work you have done at the rear. These cars are very sensitive to alignment, especially at the rear.
Also discounted for now is the possibility of the a frame bushes being fitted incorrectly. The voids in the bushes need to be correctly oriented, and the orientation is different for the car and the " normal" vehicles.

 

Thanks for your input guys. Much appreciated 😊
I checked the pressure this morning. 2.4bar at the front tyres and 2.7 and 2.5 at the rear. Let out about 70% of the "old air" and adjusted the pressure to 2.1 bar at front and 2.2 at the rear. Drove it for an hour afterwards and it seemed to change the handling a lot. It didn't pull nearly as much and the tyres felt more in contact with the tarmac. There is still a certain vagueness to the steering though, as it does "float" a bit while driving but that has always been there and I fear it might have something to do with either the steering column or some old bushings or other parts in the front suspension. Maybe I will just have someone look at the alignment anyway, but if so, I guess I should change some suspension parts as well before doing the alignment. Maybe s complete front suspension kit from Britishparts would be the solution.🤔💸💸💸

 

Sounds like progress, but I would still have a look for the date codes on the tyres....
With regards to suspension refurbishment, the biggest bang for the buck I experienced was from new rear shocks. Big standard oem and the previous ones were seemingly ok...

 

whoopsie... They were from 2009... But now, as I read more about the steering column I fear I might have some slack. Or maybe not. Maybe its just a classic case of googling harmless stuff like a headache and a few minutes later you actually believe you only have minutes left to live

 

I have to say, this description in post #15 sound very familiar to the way my car behaves.. old tyres were the root cause but I might have to check the steering rack as well..
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ck-play-74541/

 

I rotated the tyres and no improvement. I thought I could get used to this but it was a horror to drive so I finally decided to put on the winter tyres again. And what a transformation it was. I would say it felt 80% better. Almost no tramlining any more so I guess the old tyres were the cause. I however still have a vague feel at the steering wheel so I ordered this rack repair kit to see if it helps with the steering issue. XJR XJ40 X300 Jaguar OE Steering Rack bush Repair Kit spc1059 | eBay