Hi,

My indie seems to be at a loss for this so I thought I'd ask the wise owls of the forums for inspiration.

Symptom - a bit of a shimmy around 50-60mph, nothing major but you can feel the left/right wobble through the wheel. Faster and slower you don't feel it.

Braking moderately or severely then there is a definite judder at most speeds, and also a brake squeal that won't go away.

All discs and pads changed, all 4 calipers changed and the problem remains.

Some people have mentioned suspension bushes as the cause but which ones (if this is the cause on X308s as it was a generic cause someone said to me).

I'm pretty stuck for ideas as to what to do aside from selling the damn thing but the car is awesome apart from this judder and squeal!

Cheers,

Joe

 

Assuming all the brake repairs were properly done then, yes, you could have a suspension problem.

Control arm bushings would be a prime suspect.

How many miles on the car? If it's a high-miler you may have a "stack-up" of worn/loose suspension and steering bits, including sloppy wheel bearings.

Cheers
DD

 

Thanks, it has 65k on it (2001 model).

Are the control arm bushings the ones that can be repaired using a piece of tyre inner tube? If so I've had them both repaired in this way (the indie said it does the same job and costs very little). If not then some other component at the front was repaired like this on both sides.

I realise this sounds very ghetto but they swore it was just as effective as getting real new parts.

 

Gee, not that many miles.

Jags are known to be a bit hard on bushings, etc but, even so, 65k miles sounds a wee bit on the low side.

Not impossilbe, though


No.

What you've described sounds like a repair to the ball joint boots.

If worn out the control arm bushings have to be replaced

Cheers
DD

 

I think you need to have the bearings checked.

 

Try a different shop the only does brakes. The brake discs warp pretty easily if you get them hot and then wet.

 

Thanks for the replies guys, it's helping a lot.

When I first had new discs and pads and the symptoms lessened for about 2 weeks then the brakes were squealing more and a touch of judder returned. I took it back and new discs were put on the front under warranty. They said do a thousand miles and see if it continues, and it's all back as bad as before I took it in, and now it has new recon calipers as well.

I'll be putting my winters on soon so will take a look at them then with the indie (they said it would be best for them to do the winters this year so they can rule that out of the search for causes).

If they did do the ball joint boots do you mean the control arm bushings should have been replaced at the same time? Sorry for my ignorance but I have no idea if they are connected.

 

Well JoeBongo - exact same symptoms here on my 2001. Both the slight jitter at 50mph and brake issues you refer to. I believe I finally cured the braking issue, not the jitter. So first the brakes: I had first replaced front rotors and pads some 5k miles ago. Was ok for a little, then squeek noise started and braking really not that great. Thought it was time for a rotor / pad change on the rear. Did that (last week-end). Braking got better, squeeking still there - darn, it's from the fronts.... so spent a little more dough for better semi-metalic front pads and I seriously cleaned then seriously greased the caliper guide bolts. All back together and finally good braking and no more squeeking. One problem down ;-) The jitter at 50 mph though... replaced front shocks and mount bushings, tie rod ends, wheels re-balanced, re-aligned... de nada! jitter still there. So I think the other suggestions here are my next step too.

Cheers

 

Unless you are feeling this in the brake pedal it is suspension related, most likely bushings as mentioned already. Wheel bearings loose enough to cause a shimmy would also manifest themselves in other ways, namely a lower than normal brake pedal because the wobbling brake rotor would push the brake caliper pistons back further requiring more fluid to be displaced on brake application.
Tires themselves are a remote possibility, rotating them can't hurt anyway.

 

My XK8 suffered from vibration at 75 mph. Balancing did nothing, but the Hunter Load Force balancer determined that a tire was not round. 50 mph seems like a low speed for a tire or wheel issue, but the Hunter machine might be the only way to resolve it.

 

Recent bushings? I've seen busing jobs go south fast because they weren't properly done. The vehicle's suspension needs to bearing the car's weight when the bush through bolts are tightened.
If they are cranked down with the wheels hanging, as on the lift, the bushes are always under tension and will quickly fail.

 

Thanks guys. There is one other thing that I haven't mentioned and that is when I was getting my snow tyres put on last year the fitter remarked that it was exceptionally hard to get them balanced. They are not the best rims in the world and are pretty corroded on two of them. Apparently they had weights front and back and all sorts.

Is there any chance bad wheels could be a part of these symptoms?

 

Absolutely. That's where a load force balancer proves it's worth.

 

Tires might be out of round. But if it is bad rims, CCI has the best price: just received via UPS this week, like brand new,

CCIŽ ALY59740U20 - Jaguar XJ-Type 2001 16" Remanufactured 10-Spoke Silver Factory Alloy Wheel