I have put about 2500 miles on the '95 XJ6 since I resolved the starting, running and fuel odor issues. Cruises at 75 MPH and 22 mpg, handles very well and everything works. That's the good, now the remaining issues to be addressed and where I need help/advise.


Bumps in the road result in a resounding clunk. The shock bushings are dried out and loose, but I can feel the clunk through the floor and it just seems more substantial than just a loose shock. I haven't gotten under the car yet to see what's up but I suspect I have worn suspension bushings and not sure if I should tackle them. Do I need a spring compressor to secure the springs in order to work on the control arm bushings.


I have seen a reference to tire "trammling" or something close to that. Definition please. I have a vibration that appears at about 50 MPH but rebalancing the tires had no effect; tires did not exhibit an out-of-round condition and nothing obvious visibly.

 

I have had many cars through the years....my father was a dealer, I am a enthusiast. On my 97 XJR, I tried everything to get rid of that horrible noise in the rear. Refused to believe it was shocks. All I can say is....WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!

Yes, you will need a spring compressor, and no, you don't have to remove the rear control arms..

 

The clunk could indeed be any number of suspension or body bushings (less likely the body bushings) .... but the most likely culprit are the shock bushings, and specifically the rear upper shock bushings.

But you want to be sure first as the rear shock replacement is an expensive (parts), tough and very time consuming (and at times frustrating - getting the spring/shock combo out and back in) job if you haven't done it before. I just completed replacing both rear shocks on my 97 this weekend spread out over two days.

So to tell where the clunk is, you might get someone else to drive and you ride in the back. If it is the rear, you should be able to tell immediately. The shocks and suspension are just behind/under the rear seats, so the clunk/rattle should be very clear.

If it is the rear shock/suspension area, a quick search here and Google will find several write-ups on replacing the rear shocks.

You can buy just the bushings, but if your shocks have a lot of miles on them, it is worth it to just replace the shocks too given that the shocks have to come out anyway and the amount of effort. And the cost of a full set of upper and possibly lower bushings, along with cost to pressing the lowers in, just about makes buying a whole new set of shocks with bushings more 'affordable'.

After driving mine for a few thousand miles with the rear clunk and rattle, it is now a revelation to have that gone

Good luck!

 

Tramlining is a tendency for the tires to follow road irregularities such a grooves or ruts. It feels like the car is steering itself because, well, it is. In severe cases tramlining can be very alarming as the car 'jumps the rack' and has you heading into the next lane at 75 mph! Most commonly occurs on cars with low profile tires. XJRs are a bit notorious for tramlining.

But, tramlining is not vibration.

Does switching the tires front-rear change the nature of the vibration? Do you primarily feel the vibration thru the steering wheel....or thru the floorboards? Have you had the tire road-force balanced, or just balanced in the conventional manner?

Cheers
DD

 

OK, I now understand tramlining...experience that every time I ride the Harley over roads that have been torn up to be repaved - those deep grooves they leave behind has the bike jumping left and right, a real attention getter. Nope, the XJ does not exhibit any of that.


Had all four tire and wheel assemblies removed from the car, balance weights removed and all four were spin balanced on a machine. At this time the vibration clearly comes from the front end. Definitely not a "shimmy" so I'm thinking wheel bearings. Not sure what road-force balancing is, explain please.


Plan is to try to resolve the vibration and then address the clunking. Then, well...the paint. Clear-coat is gone from roof to beltline and looks pretty bad. Original owner did not have a garage and the Alabama sun did the paint in.

 

If not much has been done to the undercarriage, plan on replacing essentially all the suspension bushings. I started out with shock bushings, but clunks remained. Then did multiple chassis bushings and everything was wonderful, except over big bumps. After quite a bit of searching the last clunk was due to front sway bar bushings that looked OK from the outside.

I love a clunk free car. Until a clunk came back during acceleration. Diagnosis: drives haft hanger bearing. So if you're in the bushing mode, do them all!