I recently posted about a Jaguar XJ81 that i'm buying from a friend of mine who moved out of state. My buddy indicates that he rebuilt the driveshaft but the center support bearing was replaced with a URO brand one which are well known in the German car circles are absolute junk. He also indicated that the shock is broken. The car was converted to regular struts (KYB).

Question?

Are these insert shocks or struts?
Is a spring compressor required to load an unload the strut?
Any particular spring compressor or an autozone rental is fine?
Does anything else need to be replaced like bushings or pads?
Is there an alternative brand for the center support that's good?

My apologies if the questions seem stupid. I'm learning about the car right now.

Thanks

 

There is a VIN split. Early cars have 'COIL-OVER' dampers and the later cars use the lower control arm to support the spring bottom.
Jaguar also issued a TSB and a conversion kit when the 'stamped-steel' lower control arms were NLA.
More info about your 'mystery' car would help us answer your question!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I hate mystery cars)

bob

 

Bob, it's a mystery to me as I don't have the car yet or the title for the VIN. I'm not sure what you mean by early vs late. ItsI a 94 V12 which is the last year. As I understand, the V12s were only made in 93 and 94 which are the final years for the production of that body style.

Hope this helps.

 

These are shocks. A spring compressor is needed, but I'm not aware of any demand for a special type of compressor. An autozone rental should work fine. There are multiple rubber or foam bits that typically need replacing when replacing a rear shock. Some come with the shocks. Examining the parts diagram is helpful in this regard. Also search this forum for rear shocks and you should get some hits with a better explanation.

The change in the rear shock assembly occurred at VIN 687218 based on my research. So for 678218 and later, the spring bottom is supported by the control arm. All of the XJ12s sold in the US were designated as 1994 models although some were built in late 92 or early 93. My 1994 XJ12 (ending 682xxx) has a 3/93 build date. Some XJ12s were made before and after that 678218 VIN, so you really need to know your VIN number to know which you have. Or if you have the car with you, remove a rear wheel and take a look of course.

 

More suspension info.

bob

 

Bob,

Thanks. Title got sent fedex and will arrive on Thursday. Driver just got dispatched and 'might' arrive Wednesday. Any thoughts on the center support bearing? Seller (friend of mine) tells me that there's a new on in the boot but as it's URO brand.. I want to throw it in the dustbin as soon as it gets here.

 

Just make sure you mark the position of the bolts and relative positions of the support brackets under the car - the positions are adjustable and that will affect driveshaft alignment.

Throw away whatever you like, I wouldn't, but that's just my opinion. AFAIK, URO is an approved Jaguar aftermarket component manufacturer.

Larry

 

The ERO cup holder I bought from RockAuto was better quality that the old Jaguar part. Seemed like the plastic was thicker in the hinge area?

bob

 

Larry

Thanks, The vin is C700586 and I'll be sure to mark everything. I know that the PO rebuilt the drive train and now has a bearing failure.

I heard that URO parts became an approved manufacturer for Jaguar when it happened which was sad news. Their stuff is truly junk. I have first hand knowledge of this from my 1991 Mercedes Benz 560SEL. When I rebuilt the suspension, i foolishly installed URO flex discs which failed within 10 months. When they failed, it was so violent as the drive shaft got bound up and ripped the back of the transmission casing and the trail shaft, while also setting off the air bags and rendering a nice car into a parts car.

The problem with companies like URO parts is that they enter the market with junk for 1/3 the price of any other quality parts manufacturer. Even though it's junk, they understand that price wins over everything else for many people and if they offer 1/3 the quality for 1/2 the price, they will still eat up the market to the point where every other supplier will be driven out. I've seen this happen over the years with my Mercedes Benz where even parts vendors like Worldpac who would typically only stock quality parts are now having URO as the only option. They're doing this because everybody else has exited and URO is literally the only option.

Here is what a 10 month old URO flex disc looked like on my 1991 Mercedes Benz 560SEL. I replaced a genuine 21 year old Mercedes Benz flex disc because it was showing minor signs of dry rot. It would have been wiser to leave it.



I don't mean to rant but this is a subject that I have first had knowledge with. When I contacted URO about this, they were rude , threatening and in no way willing to acknowledge fault. I feel that for this reason, I should share my experience with anyone considering installing this junk in their cars. If anyone needs further validation, they can search just about every Euro car forum will produce a mountain of posts from people with similar experiences after installing URO parts.

 

All-righty then!

Tip - if you're doing the rear shocks on a car with your late VIN ..use the updated shock upper bushing system, (bears no relationship to the parts diagram BTW) in other words, the improved X300 isolator style (true 94MY has X300 cast wishbone arrangement).

see this thread
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...cation-126261/

Having installed and removed rear shocks and springs on my own '94 several times you will find the best spring compressors to use are a pair of eBay 2 up 1 down claw compressors ...but shortened (about 3" chopped off the thread) ..there isn't much room up there and the long 'tail' of a spring compressor really gets in the way/prevents optimum positioning.

Other tip would be to have a look at this video where the guy does the job without any spring compressors - and to be honest, if you can get the wishbone down all the way there is very little tension on the spring so you may be able to get the unit in and out without them ...easier if you have them though and you don't want to get "stuck"


Larry

 

Sorry to join this great thread so late, but I'll add just a few comments:

1. I have had mixed results with items from ÜRO Parts, and like alabbasi I had problems with a ÜRO Parts flexible coupling; the one I had would not balance in any of the six possible positions. I exchanged it for an OE GKN coupling and it worked in the first position in which I tried it. ÜRO Parts does claim to now be an approved supplier to Jaguar, but as far as I know, this does not mean that all Jaguar parts produced by ÜRO Parts are approved by Jaguar or sold by Jaguar dealers. From what I've been able to determine, the ÜRO Parts items sold by Jaguar dealers are predominantly things like weatherstripping, emblem gaskets, body molding and other body and interior rubber items that are no longer available from the OEMs. I am not currently aware of any ÜRO Parts suspension bushings being sold by Jaguar dealers, but since many of the OE bushings are no longer available from OEM Lemförder, this may have changed.

2. If alabbasi's XJ81 has the X300-style cast control arms, there shouldn't be any need for spring compressors. If you remove the differential subframe or A-plate, the lower control arms can be pulled down by hand far enough to release the springs, shocks and upper mounting plates. You don't even have to remove the wheels. I just did this job on an X300 so it's fresh in my mind. If I recall correctly, Bob (motorcarman) has a method of bending the A-plate so you don't even have to remove all of the fasteners, but if you have an impact wrench it's plenty fast to just remove all the fasteners and drop the entire subframe. Note that some of the bolts along the front edge of the subframe have nuts and washers on their top ends, and the bolts that secure the link rods to the outer ends of the subframe go in from the top.

On reassembly, compress the shock a little and stick a long screwdriver through the lower bolt hole but above the bottom coil of the spring to keep the bottom of the shock from catching on the control arm while you're trying to reinstall the assembly. Also, be sure to check the torque specification for the nuts on the upper mounting studs. The torque is low (something like 16-20 ft. lbs.) and overtightening a nut can strip the threads on the stud or break the stud off the body. Also, before tightening the lower shock bolt, use a jack to raise the lower control arm to compress the road spring, thereby preloading the spherical joint lower shock bushing and reducing the possibility of premature failure.

3. RockAuto currently has the OE Bilstein B4 shocks and the heavier duty B6 shocks for $90.79 each, which was the best price I could find, though other brands are available for less.

3. This is a great time to replace the large bushings at the outer ends of the subframe while you have it out of the car. The bushings are affordable and available from SNG Barratt, Coventry West, Jagbits and other forum sponsors (and don't forget that some sponsors offer discounts to Jaguar Forums members).

Cheers,

Don