The car I recently bought came with a full set of Bilstien shocks, various OEM front suspension parts (ball joints, bushings,etc.) in the trunk. I have PMed Andy S. and was going to get his links and timing bracket. He uses an Ultra Racing rear anti-sway with the Bilstiens. He suggested I start with a XK mono strut and I found one with the "sport" bushings. Sourcing an Ultra Racing rear bar is a bit tricky and $$$. I came across this post which I've quoted from, along with the poster's car ownership details and was wondering what the advantage was of having the XJR bars front and rear.

"So, have there been several examples where people lived with those changes and they did not have unintended consequences? You suggesting that the changes you mention would be more cost effective than the upcoming 22+mm bar from JaguarSpecialties.com? @#$% certainly had a few learning items with the UltraRacing bar. Had it been me, I would have been irate. No we all know what to adjust."
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1997 XJ6 4.0, 88,000 miles, driven daily in a lively fashion (Andy's drop-links and bracket, anti-sway bars from XJR)
1999 911 base manual convertible

So his '97 XJ with the XJR sway bars is the most interesting part. What model and year are these sway bars from? Any guesses? And what problems did the URacing rear sway bar install have?

 

XK mono strut is this as the rear tube cross bracket ?

Don;t forget to clean the differential breather plug and service with new gear oil

The Bilsteins are a firm set other then the common to the X300 soft set

I think they are B6s before pulling up a reference

Tramlining considerations on tire size ?

 

Bilstein #s

 

See this thread for manuals




Repair Manual - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum

 

Thanks Parker - Yes the "mono" strut is the one you have rebult and pictured. I think with Andy's links and the mono strut with Bilstiens all around, will be sufficent. Yes the tires are very wide and tramlining is a concern.

 

The picture is from someone else

Myself was to pull one from a salvage yard X308 4 door V8 version of the X300 as I think the Mono struts are standard after 1998 on all X308s

I think I can slip it in behand there without dropping the rear suspension as a whole unit but let it " float " using the 2 jack body points fwd of the rear tires

Removing it was easy enough without dropping the suspension as a impact gun migrated the 2 long fulcrum bolts aft and out clearing the lower trunk pan

This after the weight of the wheels was removed from salvage car

0n installation will have to come up with something maybe a bullet to not damage or push out the bushings as I would expect trouble going in

I think the observed limit reading from others is 225 on the tire width

 

Were you able to determine if the fresh Billsteins are B4s or B6s and you will note the front and rears are different # wise

The existing poly bushings on the original suspension components should make a difference and may need to be swapped out with the exception of the V mount

There was a recommendation from Motorcarman ( Bob ) to not use aftermarket front shock lower bushings as they don't last

This is not the bushing in the shock itself that come with it normally

If you look through the lower shock bushings as the ones you have now you may see daylight through them as worn

You will need to size up on the front anti roll bar bushings and others have cast their own from available 2 part mixes the factor of density being important on purchasing the 2 part

 

I was able to get it installed but it took two of us and a ratchet strap to get it installed. It really did not want to play nice to get aligned.

 

After fitting my uprated drop links and a much stiffer rear anti-roll bar to both my XJRs, I would never go back to the standard set up. However, the German specification dampers may not be to everyone's liking.