Hey Folks, I felt a light clanking on my steering so I decided to give the front suspension a retorque. I found the left lower ball joint nut loose so I decided to tighten. To my surprise the nut and balljoint bolt go round and round. Any ideas what I can do to lock the ball joint back and tighten the nut?

 

The best thing to do is to replace the ball joint. The "bolt" that the nut screws onto is a solid piece from the ball part of the joint, so something's wrong there. If it's spinning, it's broken. (I'm looking at a new lower ball joint that I'm going to install in a few weeks with a complete overhaul of the front suspension.)

What year is your car? Mine is a '02 XJR (X308). The ball joints that I got are for '97 to '06 XKs and '98 to ''03 XJs. Part number is MNC1350AA. Google the part number and you will find a suppier.

Mark

 

I should also mention that Jaguar prefers to replace the rear control arm. The whole control arm is two pieces, bolted together. The rear piece comes with the ball joint and bushing. I've found OEM pieces for $265; MSRP is about $325. If you just do the ball joint from my previous post, the old one will have to be pressed out and the new one pressed in.

And, the last word from my first post should be 'suppLier.'

Mark

 

Hi
Here are 3 front ball joint R&R threads here on the forum.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...acement-55392/

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...-advice-55588/

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...-i-need-54986/

The posts in the treads have where to buy the parts and part numbers and costs.

This other thread has diagrams and component front and rear suspension parts information:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...-joints-59825/

Jim Lombardi

 

The part number referenced above is for an OEM ball joint. It is ironic that even if you punch the part number into JPEC it come up no application but is a valid part number. I have used the ball joint many times. Be paitent as it is not a flat surface.

 

Thanks for the reply and support. I managed to lock the ball joint back by loading it with a vertical jack right beside the bolt. This helped to fit
the bolt back in place and alls well.

 

Interesting tool, JG. I got to thinking about the original problem, and with the whole thing spinning while trying to tighten it up, that would indicate that the taper in the hub might be worn. I hope that's not the case.

Mark