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I’m hoping to add a very quick and completely foolproof solution to stuck sleeves/washers: use the same long bolt and but that you’ve obtained for pressing the contraption together for taking it apart.
Run the bolt through the assembly, topside up. Make sure your bolt’s head is the size of the sleeve, not smaller or bigger, so that it can act as a piston that pushes the sleeve through.
On the bottom side, place a large and preferably deep socket (say, 19mm) facing the assembly, with the bolt coming out of the (probably 3/8s) opening. Place a washer and a nut.
Start tightening the nut. The other side will see the bolt’s head pushing the sleeve down, whilst the socket will make sure you’re not compressing the sleeve but pressing against the bottom washer.
Soon enough, with enough tightening, the assembly will come loose. Sometimes a final tap with a hammer helps to pop everything out.
Reverse the procedure with the socket for tightening.
I came to this contraption as I spent an hour hammering away with no results. It’s simple enough and can be put together with what you already have for the job.
Just replaced the upper bushings on my 2000 XJR with 96k miles. I purchased the Welsh bushings from eBay for $45, there is no shipping cost if purchased on eBay vs Welsh website. I used the two arm puller to get the bushings out, they came out very easy. The bushings themselves aesthetically were not bad at all, however they were very soft compared to the Welsh bushings. I used the 10mm bolt and nut method to press them in the mounts, again they went in very easy. All in all took me 30 mins each side. I did not have to completely take out the power steering fluid reservoir, just loosened it and it provided me enough room to get to the bolt.
The ride after was much controlled then before, the tramlining and looseness in steering is gone. Although now I can hear a clunk from the front driver side, not sure if it has to do with me replacing the bushings or I just could never hear it before.
Update on my post above, the clunk was the welsh bushings, compared to the original bushings they look thinner, not sure if that is the reason for the clunk, however I put the original bushings back in which were in good condition and the car is now smooth and quite. No issues.
The Welsh bushings are way to harden in cold weather and rattle. Look at the replacements that are available at Rock Auto - softer, ready to go, no rebuild.
This is very helpful but I have two quick questions as I need to replace my bushings on my 2003 XJ sport:
-- does the vehicle need to be jacked off the ground to remove and replace the bushings? I've seen one thread that suggested it but this one doesn't say? If it does approx how high should the tires be off the ground?
-- Rockauto now sells these bushings pre-mounted for $18.60 and $21.89 for right and left mounts, respectively. With these is there anything additional I need to add or do -- or can I just remove the old mounts and install these?
Thanks much in advance for any insights -- this forum is terrific.
Do one side at a time, do the passenger (right) side first, it is a little easier because the power steering pump reservoir has to be moved on the driver (left) side
Remove the top nut on the shock first, then jack the car up a little to release the pressure of the shock against the plate, (remove the wheel for better access and visual), you will see the shock shaft withdraw from the shock plate as you jack the car up and the suspension lowers.
Then loosen the bolts holding the shock plate to the body/chassis, fit the new shock plates, making sure the shock shaft is high enough to guide into the shock plate, then bolt the shock plate in place. You may need to jack the car up a little or down a little as necessary, but you will see what I mean.
Thanks for the detailed update. I tacked this a few weeks ago but got the bushes and shock mounts as an assembly. You can get a shock assembly as low as about $8 a side but I was seeking out OEM level of durability. I found an outlet that sells Meyle assembly for $29 per side. Well worth it in my view.
2000 XJR 161000 miles - Crumbling shock plate bushings.
I did buy the complete plates (Uro parts) from Rock Auto. I managed to get the old plates off ok. But the new plate on the driver's side seems to hit a restriction and I did not want to bang on it to try and force it on. I think that metal sleeve on the shock stem is stopping the new plate from sliding down further. Or the new plate is thinner than the old plate in the center of the bushing hole. I did put back the old plate temporarily to make sure it could still slide on. Fits perfect, No Problem.
So definitely there is an issue with the new plate not fitting like the old plate onto the shock stem. I also tried putting a little grease into the center hole but no luck trying to pressure it on.
Q1. Did anybody else have this problem with the Rock Auto Uro plates?
Q2. Can that metal sleeve on the shock stem just above the tiny C clamp be unscrewed off or pulled off the stem?
Q3. Can a metal drill bit slightly larger than the hole diameter be used to enlarge the shock plate bushing hole?
Q4. Can the car be driven a short distance without the shock plate being mounted if driving very slow and careful? I would plug the shock stem hole with
heavy cloth first to keep the stem from rattling around.
2000 XJR 161000 miles - Crumbling shock plate bushings.I did buy the complete plates (Uro parts) from Rock Auto. I managed to get the old plates off ok. But the new plate on the driver's side seems to hit a restriction and I did not want to bang on it to try and force it on.
Q1. Did anybody else have this problem with the Rock Auto Uro plates?
Q3. Can a metal drill bit slightly larger than the hole diameter be used to enlarge the shock plate bushing hole?
Q4. Can the car be driven a short distance without the shock plate being mounted if driving very slow and careful? .
Yes, one of my Rock Auto/URO plates had the same "restriction" you are mentioning, (the other one was fine).
I simply ran a drill through that was marginally larger than the hole and the problem was solved. The drill barely took any metal off but it was enough for the shock stem to now fit snugly through the bushing.
Do NOT drive the car without the shock plate attached!
Carnival Kid, I appreciate your quick response.
I decided to give it another try and be a bit more aggressive. After putting a little grease on both the stem sleeve and inside the bushing cylinder, I then used a hammer to gently tap the mount onto the stem rod. After feeling the mount sliding bit by bit, I gave it a good whack on the final blow which did the job. 5 taps and a whack. I was very close to using a drill bit and probably would have had the hammer effort not worked. The really interesting thing is that the driver's side mount went on fine with just hand pressure and not even much of that. Not so with passenger side???
Thanks again. Happy New Year.
I decided to give it another try.............. After putting a little grease on both the stem sleeve and inside the bushing cylinder, I then used a hammer to gently tap the mount onto the stem rod. .............. which did the job..
Pleased you overcame the minor resistance, I was a little perplexed when I ran across the same problem, but it is just a case of a "tight fit".
Originally Posted by metoymi
The really interesting thing is that the driver's side mount went on fine with just hand pressure and not even much of that. Not so with passenger side???
As I remember the one that gave me a problem was the passenger side, so I think it is just a case of fine clearance variance during manufacturing.
I started this thread to show some of the photos I took while replacing the front shock bushings on my 2003 XJ8. It was an easy project that was made possible by all the help I received on this site. https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...e2/#post822360
Thanks to all who guided me along the way.
First off, I ordered the bushings from Welsh Enterprises for $55.95 (Part # MNC--2168-69-K). I know there are other sources and other alternatives, but that's what I got and this is how I installed them.
Here's a photo of 2 of the old ones and 2 of the new ones.
The driver's side has the power steering reservoir in the way of one of the shock plate mounting bolts, so the first thing to do is remove the 8mm bolt that holds the reservoir bracket together so you can move the reservoir -- you don't have to remove the reservoir, just undo the bracket so you can move it slightly out of your way. The passenger's side has nothing in the way, so the rest of the instructions are the same for both sides.
Here's a photo of the power steering reservoir's bracket removed.
1. Loosen the 5 10mm bolts that hold the shock plate in place.
2. Remove the nut on the top of the shock -- it's a 17mm nut that comes off the top of the shock, but you need to hold the top of the shock with a wrench (I used an adjustable wrench) while loosening the nut.
3. Remove the 5 10mm bolts that you loosened in step #1. The shock will extend and pull the plate up with it.
4. Remove the plate from the top of the shock.
Now for the fun part, you need to remove the old bushings. There is one bushing on the top of the plate and another one under the plate. You need to push on the inside of the metal collar that is in the middle of the bushings -- you can either use a press or do it this way....
5. Take a fairly large hammer, a 6" socket extension, and either a socket (or what I found to work was a reducer) that fits inside the metal washer that's on top of the shock plate but rests on top of the collar that runs down the middle of the bushings. Slam the hammer onto the end of the socket extension a few times hitting it from the top. If you hit it hard enough the collar will push down and pop out the bottom and the bushings will be free.
Now you need to "press" the new bushing in -- this is pretty easy.
6. Hand press one of the bushings onto the collar (this is the bushing that will go on the bottom of the plate. Thread the collar through the plate and hand press the top busing onto the collar. I then used a long bolt that I threaded up from the bottom of the plate, through the collar, and sticking out above the top bushing. I put a large/medium sized socket on the bolt, then used a nut to tighten the whole thing down until the bushing is pushed tightly onto the collar and a portion of the collar is sticking out of the bushing. Then take the nut and socket off, put the top washer on the bolt and tighten the socket and nut back onto the bolt - the washer will pop onto the collar and you're done!
7. Replace the shock plate back on the shock by threading the top of the shock through the collar that goes through the bushings. Push down hard on the plate so it seats onto the car and hand tighten a couple of the 10mm bolts to hold the plate in place while you put the other bolts on.
8. Tighten the 5 10mm bolts, then put the 17mm nut on the shock and tighten it down (remember to use a wrench on the top of the shock to keep it from turning while you tighten the 17mm nut).
9. Double check the 5 10mm bolts on the shock plate.
10. If you're working on the driver's side, re-install the bracket around the power steering reservoir.
That's it, you're done.
Hi do you need to jack the car up or just take the weight of the car so the shock doesn't push up?
The black dog bushings will all eventually show the same fate - urethane blowout.
The welsh one's have been great - we haven't seen any gushed out messes like the black dogs.
The meyle's are soft and will implode as well. I've seen way too many warranty claims on them. Too bad, it was a good price for them. But they must all be using the same type of material
I spent 100 a piece on the Eurospare CATS and they are rattling after 10K for me as well. You lift the car and you can just see how its totally collapsing. Im putting some welsh's on them after seeing a number of jags at the shop with 20 30K and no failures.
03-14-2016, 06:32 PM
