Hi,
I'm living in Tenerife and own a 2001 4.2 Sovereign which has only 67000 miles on the clock. About 12000 miles ago I took the car to Pirelli for two new rear tyres which were duly fitted. However after taking the car to the Jaguar dealer for it's service I was informed that the rear tyres needed replacing as the inside treads of both tyres were badly worn. I took the car back to Pirelli and complained but their response was that the tracking must have been moved due to the poor roads in Tenerife. I've got another two new tyres which cost me 392 euros and they put the car on a very elaborate machine to have the car retracked, but to my amazment they only adjusted the front tracking. Is there no tracking or camber adjustment for the rear tyres?? They also informed me that I needed the shock absorbers and bushes replaced on the front.

Comments would be appreciated before I return to Pirelli armed with whatever advice is gived by you knowledgeable guys.

Kind Regards,

Dave

 

Dave,

Is that a typo for a 2001 X308 4.0 Sovereign?

There is camber adjustment for the rear wheels although this is set during manufacture and, if any subsequent dismantling / reassembly has been carried out correctly, should not vary except for accidental damage.



The Rear Hub lower Pivot Sleeve (item 13) is a eccentric so rotation of the Pivot Pin (item 14) increases or reduces camber.



Further adjustment is provided by the Adjustable Spacer (item 16) on the bearings.



Whenever the hub is removed, it is essential to mark the relative positions of the flange and pin to ensure they are replaced in the same orientation.

If your rear suspension has been dismantled (or affected by potholing), it's quite possible the camber is out and this is scrubbing the rear tyres.

Graham

 

Pretty sure that adjustment is for toe.

The camber is adjustable by insertion/deletion of shims at the inner end of the halfshaft, or driveshaft in European terminology.

 

+1 plums.

If the rear springs are sagging the camber will become more negative. Check the rear ride height. Hopefully, someone on the forum will supply the correct numbers.

 

Ride height is in the spec book found in the stickies.

 

Many thanks for all of your replies. I've looked in the specs for ride height and tried to measure it but it's rather difficult and a bit of guess work but it is definately higher from ground level to top of saloon than in the specs. My measurement is approximately 1350mm but that is unladen. Is there a measurement that can be taken at the rear of the car which is more accurate and for an unladen car?

Also can the camber of the rear wheels be measured by Pirelli's tracking machine ?

I don't want to take it to a mechanic or to Jaguar service engineers as the costs here are very high and they may charge for work not carried out.

Regards,

Dave

 

Measuring to the top of the car tells you nothing.

The measurement method is from the centre of the wheel to the top of the wheel arch as described in the spec booklet.

Any 4 wheel alignment machine can read rear camber.

 

Hi Plums,

Looked at the booklets I have and cannot find the measurment you described anywhere. Can you post the measurent and is iut from centre of wheel to top of arch as in body work or the arch directly above the wheel?

 

The camber is set by the spacers between the Diff output flanges and the driveshafts...the concentric bolt at hub/arm is for adjusting toe-in/out.

 

You need the before and after printout from the alignment before anyone here can really pinpoint the issue. Your rear toe being too far out will quickly wear the tires on the inside. Alot more than camber, but camber will once it approaches -2. There are many shops that do a 4 wheel alignment with 4 heads but dont touch the rear when they should. The rear toe is part of the alignment, but fitting camber shims is not. This is an additional labor job. Your issue has nothing to do with the tires/tyres only your cars suspension

 

Well been back and took copies of the posts on here to show the guy. He put the car back on the machine (Cormach 21X Version 7.70) and adjusted the rear tracking/camber. He asked me to check the position of the steering wheel on my drive back home but the steering wheel was not level it was about 5o down on the left when travelling in a straight line so he has told me to go back on Monday!

I got a print out from the machine but the copy is unreadable, the figures a are blurred and even using a magnifying glass does not help. Will see if I can write the figures down when I'm there on Monday. Another thing that bothers me is that the printout has the car model as "Sovereign 4.0 (1994-1997)", obviously my model must not be in the machines memory. Will this make a difference or is the 2001 the same chassis etc as 1997?

 

When I first got my car, rear alignment was an issue. I went to 3 different establishments until I got one that could guarantee me they were able to align the rear. The first two said they could read it, but were unable to adjust it. It cost almost $100 US, but it was perfect after they were done. I had just installed new Goodyear Eagle GT tires, and didn't want to go through what you are going through.

PS: It was Les Schwab that got it done right. Go figure. My tires are wearing almost perfectly equal all around and are about 50% left.

 

uh maybe he should have locked the steering wheel like youre "SUPPOSED TO" when doing an alignment to keep it from going off center. better yet, Ide be looking for someone that knows how to do an alignment, slightly off center of the steering wheel is one thing like 11:30-12:30, but anything more than that is ridiculous. a slight variation can be corrected by turning the steering wheel in the direction the wheel needs to go to be center and at full lock give it alittle tug to straighten perfectly. racks are mounts in rubber and give slightly in relation to the frame which affects centering of the steering wheel. OR, if locked in the center with a steering wheel holder it will stay straight when the alignment is being done