Can upper front ball joints be removed 1998 XJ8 without replacing whole arm, please tell me procedure. any video's? Thanks Vince

 

I replaced my uppers with a ball joint press. You being in TN, you shouldn't have too much, if any salt corrosion, to where you need a 20 ton + press. There are some deals on ebay you'll want to check, where you get the arm already installed with the ball joint at a good price and a lot less cussin' and time consumed....remove, replace, done.

The procedure is pretty much cut and dry like any other ball joint. Be sure to secure proper compression of the coil spring and have it. If you want to make a homemade device, check Post #9 in this link for the one I made... https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...joints-176838/

 

Thanks so much, I will look for two used control arms for a cheap price and try to press them in. Can I compress the springs with a floor jack? Also what part number do I need on the control Arms, I'm told that the Arms are the same from 1998 - 2003. Vince

 

You can compress it somewhat, but you need it controlled when you remove the lower arms. The spring cup is a part of them. If your doing the tops, almost assuredly the bottoms will need done also.

 

If you're only doing the uppers, you can undo the ball joint and pivot pin, and remove the upper wishbone without messing with the spring. The shock and lower wishbone will keep it from overextending. Only thing you'll need to do is strap the vertical link to the spring or something to keep it from flopping around. The upper ball joints are pretty straightforward to replace/press out as well.

However like Highhorse said, if the uppers are worn it's probably time to do the lowers as well, these cars seem to eat LBJ's. The lowers are a bit harder to test by hand for play, one shop showed me a trick where, with the tires a few inches from the ground, jam a prybar between the ground and tire and pull upwards rapidly repeatedly, and feel for any vertical play there. The lower is much more difficult to press/reinstall, and will require decompressing the spring. I'd definitely recommend just buying a complete arm there. There's some guides in the shop manual and the forum on decompressing these springs. You can make some guide dowels out of some long bolts in the correct thread pitch, just cut the heads off. Look up the DIY spring compressors some have made too, normal spring compressors are risky with the way the front suspension bends the spring.