Hello all. Possibly not a problem here but I just want to be sure. I’ve recently picked up a lovely 1994 Daimler Six. Rides well but the front is very noisy. A quick Google suggested the isolators/bushes at the top of the front shocks. I jacked up one side and had a look and sure enough the lower of the two old bushes was a rock hard little disc rattling around with the washers at the top of the shock.

So, I replaced both on the drivers side in the same orientation and went for a drive. A definite improvement, but the front is still noisy. Both sides definitely need doing, but there is noise from the drivers side still.

What struck me as strange is that on reinstallation the lower of the two bushes does not get compressed at all. With the top nut as tight as feels safe and the suspension (almost) at full extension, the bush isn’t compressed and only just holds the top washer against the body of the car.

Now when the weight of the car is on the bush the obviously becomes nice and compressed and everything is tight. But what I can’t understand is how the foam material of the bush is springy enough to hold the washers against the car body/shock when the wheel moves up and down rapidly without them rattling.

Am I missing something or worrying about nothing and it’s time to look elsewhere in the suspension?

Thanks!

 

The foam washers are not effective.
You can get rubber or poly bushings at any suspension specialist; l would also check the parts are in the righr order: Starting from the bottom,
Heavy washer against the stop on the shock stud, flex bushing, stepped tin plate registering in car body, fender, stepped bushing upside down, flex bushing, heavy washer, new nyloc nut.
The assembly should compress the bushings even with no weight on the suspension.

 

Thanks. I may have a look at some rubber ones then. I’ve done both sides, definitely in the right order, and managed to tighten both up a bit more. 50% of the rattling is gone now, and I’m left with one sharp knock from the front generally that’s especially noticeable when going over a speed bump.

I shone a light from behind the ARB bushes and could see a gap of a couple of mm between bar and bush so I am hoping that they are the source of the remaining noise?

 

Sounds to me like you might have done something wrong with the installation, or you just didn't torque them enough?

if you included the inner metal spacers inside the foam isolators (as you should), all you have to do is torque the top nut until it hits the spacers and cant be tightened any more.
The spacers job is to connect the lower and upper washers, so the isolators are properly compressed and there is no possibility of rattle.
And dont listen to the people who say the foam bushing are not up to the job - they work great, you just have to replace them every 10-15 years, which isn't unreasonable.

 

Pretty sure they just weren’t torqued enough yep but they’re tight now and seem ok. Thought I’d found the noise earlier when I discovered the top radiator bushes were completely disintegrated letting the thing rattle about. Did a makeshift repair with some rubber piping to secure it, but I still have a sharp knock which presents itself going over speed bumps and when one wheel drops sharply. Hoping it is the ARB bushes.

 

Not the ARB bushes, and not the formerly rattly wheel bearing either. The search continues…

 

That sounds like upper or lower ball joint.

 

The bottom of the front shocks as you look through the bolt to the suspension has that bushing worn and may see light from the other side of the bolt with a light source

M'Lady Penelope does have light through from worn bushings and purchased good source replacements ( cheap ) but not changed yet

From reading others ( Motorcarman / Bob ) , off brand bushings in this spot do not last long as a source consideration

This I beleive is item # 13 in the below link

CAC75851 - Damper bush

Another consideration would be the sway bar end points and the bushings across through the bar ( Andy does have an end points upgrade while there if need be )

This link for the big suspension pic


Xj 1995 - 1997 (from 720125 To 812255) (x300) Classic / Wishbone-upper And Lower | Jaguar Land Rover Classic Parts

You would probably have to use the bolt and washers press method to remove

 

Can’t detect any play in the ball joints and they look in very good condition - certainly not the originals and possibly only a few years old.

There is play in the drop links so I think next port of call is to replace those and do the lower shock bushes at the same time. Looks a pig of a job but have seen someone point out that you can just drill and cut them out and then replace easily with poly bushes. So I might give that a go.

 

Quick update on this. Changed the drop links and used the ‘quick’ method of changing the lower shock bushings with poly and now have eliminated almost all suspension noise.