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Had my 2000 XJ8 aligned today. Told him it pulled slightly left and I was constantly steering, it seemed to wander. Told him to set the caster to the max as well. Toe in was off front and rear so that corrected the wander and alignment corrected the pull. 106000 miles with new upper shock mounts and no determinable wear. I'm driving from central California tomorrow to Palm Springs to my youngest daughters home for Christmas. A 6 and half hour drive. I'd drive the Model T but no cruise control nor heater! . I Love this car!
Last edited by grantorino62; 12-23-2018 at 10:18 PM.
Had my 2000 XJ8 aligned today. Told him it pulled slightly left and I was constantly steering, it seemed to wander. Told him to set the caster to the max as well. Toe in was off front and rear so that corrected the wander and alignment corrected the pull. 106000 miles with new upper shock mounts and no determinable wear. I'm driving from central California tomorrow to Palm Springs to my youngest daughters home for Christmas. A 6 and half hour drive. I'd drive the Model T but no cruise control nor heater! . I Love this car!
Despite rebuilding most of the front suspension over the summer, I've noticed some slight steering effects only when going slowly over road humps, as if one of the front wheels wanted to go in a different direction momentarily. Raised the front end, grabbed the front right wheel and rocked it left and right. Managed to get a slight movement, so it looks like the inner tie rod needs changing. I say that because the outer ones were changed this summer. Just my luck that the thing I missed out rears its ugly head.
Have also upgraded from a cheaper front tyres to Continentals due to noticeable lack of grip on wet roundabouts. The compound seems much harder on the cheap tyre. Handy as a spare, but not as an every day tyre.
Also sat on the wheel's centre cap whilst fiddling around with the wheel. Jaguar x308 2001 wheel centre cap
That was a relatively expensive mistake at £20 each for the original type! Oops.
On Sunday I drove my XJ 520 miles to Southern Belgium where we’re spending Christmas this year. It was a challenging drive owing to the heavy rain that stayed with me all day and dealing with driving on the wrong side of the road in said heavy rain
Yesterday whilst on our way to get some supplies, I noticed the car didn’t feel quite right. After I returned to the place we’re staying I had a look around the car. It would appear my LH rear wheel bearing is on its way out, not great. Even worse when you’re miles from home in a different country with your Girlfriend and your Dog. I’ve got breakdown cover, but I’ll try for home first.
So I can add that to the list as well.
I had exactly the same Scenario in my 93 XJ40, dog, wife and all. My RR wheel bearing caught fire after it collapsed at speed, but Tow Insurance paid for the flat-bed carrier, right to my driveway, where I off-loaded the car and drove it the up the 300 yard 30 degree incline to my garage. Too bad we didn't have cell phones in those days. I had to hitchhike to a gas station to call Hunter's Towing in Martinsville, Indiana. The dog loved the ride way up high in the cab of the flat-bed truck,
Just got back 2 hours ago from Palm Springs. The car ran faultlessly except for the dome light console falling down when I hit a bump! That took 10 minutes to secure. 75 MPH for 6 hrs. steady, averaged 24 MPG which I'm OK with. What a nice driving car, especially now that the alignment is set.
Out of the blue I got the "Check rear lights" warning yesterday. So I did, the rear turn signals, running and brake lights were not working. If I fiddled with them. I could get them to work, temporarily, completely frustrating. Then I remembered reading on the forum about how a low voltage battery could lead to all sorts of strange electrical quirks.
My battery does not have a date stamp on it so I have never known how old it is, but I have had doubts about it's condition for some time, it seems to lose voltage if sat for a few days, and also seems to take a long time to fully charge. So I checked the voltage, it was 12.4, so charged the battery, and it took all day to fully charge at 6amp. So I bought a new battery. (Walmart 900cca MAXX-H8 $119.97+tax). The check rear lights problem has gone away.
Steering wheel arrived today, it looks great ! Even though it's the exact same trim code as the current wheel, I can see a difference in color due to UV exposure as this came from a really low mileage garage kept vehicle. Not sure if I'm going to attempt this install myself or let my trusty audio guys whom taken over my interior tasks E.G.: headlining,sun roof,switch bulbs etc.
Last edited by King Charles; 12-28-2018 at 05:38 PM.
Well, 5 years to the day we bought our Vanden Plas.
Yesterday morning, we passed the guy we bought her from, only to find out he had a beautiful XK8, parked on the exact same spot where we first saw our VDP.
I kind of just acknowledged the fact of that beautiful coupe standing there, but my wife, as always, got super enthusiastic, and insisted on returning to have a look.
Well, so we did ... and besides of that utterly ugly leaper on the bonnet she is beauty.
But as there is no way I will sell the VDP .... I am stuck with finding excuses why we should buy this one.
Not having the budget, not having a fourth parking place, not having the time to do the million of little things I did on the VDP ....
................ besides of that utterly ugly leaper on the bonnet she is beauty.
That leaper does look too big for that car.....................I remember they made a smaller leaper on some of the Jags back in the '60s, ironically the large MKXs and 420Gs had a smaller leaper. They would look better on that XK8.
99% of all Jaguars here have this ugly, massive big one, and it looks horrible, even on a sedan.
I got the smaller, movable leaper on my VDP, and it looks quite neat, but I don't think there should be a leaper on a XK or XJS bonnet, it does not match.
I got the smaller, movable leaper on my VDP, and it looks quite neat.
Pretty sure the MKX/420G leapers were even smaller than the one on your VDP..
Not sure how "available" they are today?
"the leaper was originally offered to the public in 1938. This first version of the leaper stayed until the Mk V saloon went out of production in 1951.Four years passed before the leaper pounced back onto newly produced Jaguar cars and the original mascot changed most drastically in 1955 when the leaper got reworked and acquired outstretched rear legs. This made it look like the predator cat had now leapt into mid air just before it attacked its prey. As all radiators were now hidden the leaper was fixed onto the bonnet.This second version of the leaper lived on for 14 years, on models including the Mk1, Mk2, Mk VIII, Mk IX, S-type, 240,340 and XK 150. The third leaper was a smaller scaled down version, which appeared on the bonnet of the Mark X saloon in 1961. This sleek and smaller version of the leaper couldn’t be as easily fitted to the larger saloons and it disappeared with the arrival of the XJ saloons which took over from the 340,420 and 420G series".
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Last edited by Carnival Kid; 12-28-2018 at 07:37 PM.
Tomorrow, I'm going to drain the oil, cut the filter open to check for metal in the oil. Worried about a spun bearing. 2003 xjr. Is this a good place to lift it up from?
12-23-2018, 12:15 PM
