Upon close (okay more like obvious) inspection, I need 4 new ball joints on my 1985 XJ6. My favorite parts supplier lists a variety of ball joints at a variety of prices:

Upper ball joints: $19 to $81 in this order:
Mevotech
Flennor
Beck/Arnley
Moog
Raybestos
ACDelco

Lower ball joints: $20 to $80 in this order:
Clevite / Perfect Circle
Flennor
Mevotech
McQuay-Norris
Beck/Arnley
Moog
ACDelco

That's a pretty big spread, and I'm buying 4 of them. Anybody have experience with these different brands? Anything to stay away from?

EDIT: BTW, I think I want to go with a sealed ball joint rather than a serviceable one. I think all of these are sealed, but I'm not sure. (Just going by the pictures.)

 

It's SO hard to tell what you're really buying these days, what with ever-changing corporate parentage, "label engineering", worldwide manufacturing, etc.

Moog has been a known high quality name for ages. AC Delco, too. I think you'd be safe with either of those.

Personally I go with Lemforder ball joints on my Jags. They were/are the OEM supplier as far as I know.

Cheers
DD

 

+1

Especially when the engineering is a bunch of people with zip practical experience trying to make one part cover as many applications as possible ... in between sips of Starbucks and one handed so as to keep one hand on their precious iphony.

 

Good idea. Yes, I think they're all sealed these days. You'd probably have to go out of your way to find the old style, assemble-it-yourself type

Cheers
DD

 

Hmm, I was leaning towards the Moog which would have cost me about $200, but I can't find anything bad about the Lemfoerder ball joints. It looks like they're a division of ZF. I've had some really good ZF parts!

 

I assume the lower ball joints you have already are the adjustable type first fitted to the Mark 1 in 1955, (yes. really !!). If they are, the sealed ones sold for the XJ40 are backwardly compatible. You need to knock out the bearing ring for the ball from the hub carrier when you have taken off the old ball joint, and use shorter screws. The original Jaguar supplier was Lemforder, and these last a very long time. You might get shorter bolts with the new ball joints, but check.

Top joints were just a carry through of the old design but improved and sealed, (no grease nipple)

See this website page: -

SNG Barratt - UK | Error

 

That webpage gave me an error.

I purchased the first two Lemforder ones on this page:
85 1985 Jaguar XJ6 Ball Joint - Suspension - Beck Arnley, First Equipment Quality, Lemfoerder, Mevotech, Moog, Original Equipment, Front Lower, Front Upper, Lower, Upper - PartsGeek

The ones that came were both sealed - can't wait to install them!

Also, the lowers are made in Germany - the labels on the uppers were damaged, so I am not sure where they were made.

 

Thank you, Fraser for this information. You just saved me money and hassle. I was replacing the ball-joint rubber seals from John's Cars on the 77 XJ and found the lower ball joint moved about ten thousandths of an inch up and down.

I do have a manual but who needs one for ball joints. They are all the same, right? (Not counting shims on uppers). Wrong.

Found this post and dug in based on your "adjustable" term. I stole a shim from each side and she's back in business.

Another interesting finding, since I am rambling, is that the Zurk fitting flanges bleed off grease if they are over filled. Not new news to a Jag nut but pretty cool for a Jag newbie.

 

Yup, the parentage thing!!!


Some months ago, I read about it in Popular Mechanics. The example was ViceGrip adjustable pliers. An old standard in many tool boxes. I have several. The off shore version resembled the USA version, sorta. Might work, at least for while!! Just didn't look as capable.


As to ball joints. Oh yeah, get good ones. Very critical in keeping the car going as intended.


Some decades ago, I changed the lower joints in my ex company fleet car 61 Ford.
loose!!! I used a J. C. Whitney sourced adjustable pair. Kinda slick. Would I do it nowadays, Nope!!


Carl

 

OK, you can take out a shim on the lowers, but basically, you are just compensating for wear. Modern tyres place much higher loadings on the suspension, far larger than in 1955. You'll be OK for now, and if the car is in little use, probably for a few years, but eventually the last shim will come out and then you should replace with the Lemforder joints. They are cheap and they last, and no shimming needed ! For a Jaguar shop there is no choice if the cost to the customer is to be reasonable, as the labour time setting up the old joints far exceeds the cost of just swapping to the new Lemforders.
When I swapped to Lemforders, the car was my daily driver, so I needed a long-lasting joint.