Well I think I found the limits for the harbor freight ball joint C-clamp. The top ball joints came out grudgingly but while I was trying to remove the lowers I noticed the pin in the center of the lead screw was bending. I think I'm going to have to go the "remove the lower suspension arm" route. I've been swearing at Jaguar's engineers under my breath the whole time I've been working on this job as I still can't believe you'd put the steering rack in the way of the bolt you need to remove to get the lower suspension arm off the car. They could have put the nut on that side and eliminated the whole problem!
Oh well, enough ranting. What I'd like to know is has anyone pulled the lower suspension arm off the car and how far does the steering rack need to be removed? Can I just pull the 4 rack bolts and lower the unit slightly? Do I need to disconnect the universal to the steering column? Do I need to disconnect the fluid lines?
I know I can dive in and find this out for myself but I thought it would be good to check and see if I'm making this tougher than it needs to be.
Thanks!

 

You just remove the rack mount bolts (nothing else) to displace it enough to have access to the control arm bolt.

The lower spring pan will need support with the spring compression tool to remove the front lower (rear) control arm.

It might be better to take the car to a front end/alignment shop. They usually have a better grade of ball joint press tools (like Snap-On etc.) so it can be done on the car if you do not have the spring compressor tool.

Your complaint about the bolt install direction is falling on 'deaf-ears'. I have done HUNDREDS of lower control arm bushes 'back-in-the-day' and got used to displacing the steering rack after TSBs suggesting new, improved and re-designed lower control arm bushes over several YEARS!!!! All of us in the Jag shop seemed to do several a day (especially the early PLASTIC bushes).

bob

 

I have the correct spring compressor tool that I am willing to rent to someone (JD.115). When I did mine, I couldn't get the lower ball joints to press out and did not want to remove the whole control arm, so I used a plasma cutter to cut out the center of the ball joint and then used an air chisel to remove the ball joint the rest of the way.

 

I managed to remove the lower joint in situ, using the C clamp, but I had to help the press by relieving the stress in the joint by drilling out from above with a large drill bit, cutting the joint off below the arm with an angle grinder, then making four radial cuts with a hacksaw. The new one pressed in pretty easily.

My c clamp is an OTC, not the Harbor Freight.

 

Well I took motorcarman's advise and pulled the rack bolts to clear the lower wishbone pivot bolt. I wouldn't call it "planned" by any stretch as the bolt just barely makes it out while jiggling the rack but they did come out so I'll stop whining about them.
I made 2 spring compressors per Don B's design with a small modification. He used a steel ball with a female self aligning washer on either side to allow articulation as the wishbone was pivoting. I realized that 2 sets of self aligning washers, back to back, would do the same thing. The hardened M20 rod and all the other pieces came in at less than $100 from McMaster-Carr. The steel ***** and a 13/16" drill to allow the M20 rod to pass thru would have made the project about 2x as expensive. With the money I saved I decided to splurge and have McMaster toss in a 30 mm ratcheting wrench. I can hang it over the mantle after I'm done, unless my wife objects!
I used the compressors to lift the spring pan to about horizontal and removed the lower, rear suspension arm. I probably should have left the spring pan drooped a little more to aid removal of the arm but it may not have made much difference. I read posts where people used a jack to accomplish what the spring compressor does but found I needed to wiggle things a little to get the arms out and there's still a fair amount of sideways force exerted by the spring to deal with.
I couldn't get the lower ball joints out with an impact and the C-clamp ball joint tool in a vise so I packed them up and will drop them at a machine shop to remove and install. Amazing how tight the press is on these pieces, especially considering they're captured in use.
Now the question, I noticed lots of red loc-tite on the spring pan bolts and torx bolt securing the wishbone halves. I don't like the red stuff as it can be hard to remove but am wondering if I even need to use the blue. Does anyone have trouble with these loosening in use?
Thanks for all the help so far!

 

Threadloc is a given on suspension components. You wont be doing the job again anytime soon so I'd advise a dot on each bolt on install, a little heat breaks loc anyway.

 

Well, I got the lower ball joints pressed out at a machine shop. They did a little bit of a sloppy job as the tubes they employed must have been almost the right size. They left a few burrs on the shoulders but after I cleaned them up with a file they look fine.
The suspension arms are really a bear to get all lined up though and I'm glad I made a couple spring compressors to hold things as there was a lot of wiggling and coercing that took place to get the 3 spring pan bolts and the big Torx bolt lined up and threaded in correctly. I'm not sure if I just compressed the springs too far or not far enough to make the reassembly smoother but I'm past it now.
Everything got red loc-tite that went back on the car today, except the ball joint studs.
I found that leaving the spring compressor threaded rod at 1/2 meter (much longer than needed to compress the springs for this job) worked out to give me some leverage to move the spring pans around to line things up. Could be I'd need the extra length if I used these to completely unload the springs. Other than this taking me a long time the job is actually working out ok. Hopefully these Lemforder ball joints stay nice for a long time!

 

Bcrary3, would you still consider renting your spring compression tool? The upper and lower ball joints on my 98 VDP are shot. I live in northern Illinois and could pick up if necessary.

 

...Harbor freight sells a 20 ton press that is the perfect gift for the Jaguar owner in your life.