In all the years of owning my 1984 XJ-6, I never needed to do any work on the rear Brakes, not the Calipers, not even Pads.
All of a sudden a brake Fluid leak and no brakes.
I hired a mobile mechanic who inspected the entire braking system and took pictures, only to find out it's worn out seals and pads at the rear Calipers.
I understand the entire rear suspension cage must come down ?
For those of you who have done this work, I would appreciate any advice and experience you can provide to get this job done.
The Service Manual is not very clear in some instructions and steps.
Thank you for your help.
Jose
Jose, I'm in the midst of an IRS tear down on my '87. The driver side caliper bolts are accessible in situ for caliper removal but the passenger side is very limited room on the lower caliper bolt. If you can't loosen it the first try, stop or you'll round off the bolt head. Pretty sure the IRS will have to come down and disassembled to get to that bolt. In any event, dropping the IRS makes the whole job easier. Once you get in there it's all pretty straight forward except for the spacers and washers that fall out from God knows where if you remove the wishbone forks. Good luck.
If you do a search on the XJS forum there a a load of really detailed threads on how to do this. Removing the cage makes it far easier to do the brakes and R&Ring the entire rear axle when it is out is a good plan too.
+1 . . . and consider replacing fixed and flexible brake lines and total fluid flush while there. These lines are now over 40 years old and subject to rust from road spray, physical damage, and worse. With brake fluid being hygroscopic (dragging in moisture), the metal lines can rust slowly from the inside, causing pinhole failures.
Greg's advice to check other forums using same or similar platforms or assemblies (from the same era) is timely and too often overlooked.
Thank you gents, but dropping the cage is the issue, once it is down, the calipers must be easy.
but taking down that whole cage, and THEN putting it back?
There must be a million steps and who knows what might break.
I need a specialist after thinking about it. This is not a job for me without any experience doing it. I don't even want to lower that cage, it's almost pristine.
Getting the cage down isn't that bad, assuming you have some basic mechanics tools. Cutting a hole in the trunk won't help you any, you need the cage off for access. It's not that bad a job to remove the IRS, there are plenty of threads about it here an in the XJS section. It's only of those things where you might be able to get the calipers off in the car, but it will be quicker and easier to drop the IRS. Now that I have experience, I can get one out in under a hour now. Your first one will probably take most of a day.
I'd replace the disks while you are there, (why wouldn't you, they are cheap) and the IRS really needs to come apart to do that, unless you have a good 2 post hoist.
Before I have my ONE and only alcoholic beverage for New Years, and fall asleep, read this PDF.
I wrote it as a Doco 10 or more years ago. I converted it to PDF just now, as some claim they cannot open a Word Doco, geezuz, and I thought O had issues with 1 leg.
Take your time, dont overthink it. There are 12 bolts, 1 cable, 1 hose, and the NONSENSE of the trailing arms to screw your time. A full beer fridge is a MUST.
As said above, the 1st one took about 4 hours, and I dropped it, as the Jack Pad was too far rearward, gravity is so unforgiving.
The last one was out inside an hour, and NO i do NOT have a hoist/lift/whatever, I get down and dirty.
Grant is on-target. I'll add that if you have or can borrow a transmission jack, it makes the job laughably easy. Even if you don't have one it would be worth your time to buy one for $200, use it, and sell it for $125-$150 when you're done.
It seems daunting but it's honestly not that bad. When I had my first XJ 12 years ago I had heard of the reputation and didn't even touch the IRS. Since then I've dropped the IRS from my XJS and XJ6 and it's actually been an enjoyable job. You've got us to talk you through it!
Hardest part is getting the exhaust pipes apart, a long crowbar has always popped the radius arms loose for me. My ser3 was like yours, pretty clean and was no big deal, just go slow and methodical. Read a few posts here as the others have suggested, there are a couple vids on YT also.
the mechanic also mentioned the trailing arm bushings were also deteriorated.
Phewww! I never dreamed that I'd be scared of doing a job like this.
I bought a second tire-changing jack from David, so the car can be raised level from both sides, somewhat tedious but once level and high, I slide my hydraulic jack under the differential plate, then removing the tire jacks to fit stationary jacks under each lift point. No problem there.
When I did my rear end rebuild I built a dolly that let me roll the rear end around and easily maneuver it out and back under the car, I made it tall enough to fit my floor jack underneath! Made the whole job a breeze! No heavy lifting at all!!!
When I did my rear end rebuild I built a dolly that let me roll the rear end around and easily maneuver it out and back under the car, I made it tall enough to fit my floor jack underneath! Made the whole job a breeze! No heavy lifting at all!!!
Jose, it sounds like you are leaning towards doing this yourself. Always support the IRS assembly with a jack or jack stands under the axles when working under it. I used a motorcycle lift to support mine and move it around, works great and is more stable than just a hydraulic jack. If you put the front end of the car on jack stands so the car is somewhat level it will make the reinstall easier and of course measure the height of your jack plus about 12" to make sure you have the car high enough to get the IRS out from underneath.
currently under the pontiacs rear end or I would let you have it , had to dig it out when I realized that my creeper wasn’t strong enough for the entire gm rear end, on the bright side I got a new creeper for Christmas!!!
Jose, please don't use two scissor jacks to lift the rear of the car, that could lead to disaster. And a bottle jack is going to get you into trouble too. Please go to HF at least and get a proper 3 ton floor jack and jack stands, I'm afraid it's required at a minimum for this job.
Slofut,
I have a Michelin 3-ton hydraulic and four, 2 and 3-ton jackstands. Car is in the air right now, level, the front is on 3-ton jack stands, very secure.
I have to measure to see if the rear is 24" inches or higher.
Gents, I am digesting all your messages;
no, I don't plan to do this by myself. Too risky. I learned to work on cars by watching and helping, started in 1969 with my first car.
If only I could watch someone doing it, I would not be worried.
But it's going to get done,
how?
I don't know yet.
Have a prosperous New Year you all.
Francis: I prefer Saint Brendan's Creme, warms me up good. Thanks for the file.
Hi, Jose
I used two of the smaller furniture dolly's from Harbor Freight with small pieces of wood to bridge the openings, one under each hub, to move the IRS around after lowering. I also used ratchet straps to each dolly to keep them from kicking out while moving around. Not sure which jack stands you have, but here is the set I got from Harbor for any "high lift" work. I have to alternate back to front until at the final work height otherwise the jack wont fit or will have to much angle. I used a hole saw to remove a plug from the rubber pads so the factory jack spigots drop in like they were custom made. Super strong and stable !
Happy New Years !
WHENEVER I jack any Series/XJS Jag, I use the trolley jack under the subframe.
Front, straight on the subframe.
Rear, a block of 3X2 JUST :ONG ENPUGH to slip between the lower wishbone inner forks, across the tie plate, near enough to centre, and raise the beast.
Insert my SPECIAL safety stands, that sucker CANNOT slip off.
BUT BUT BUT
That trolley jack NEVER leaves the area, ALWAYS supports that subframe. The rear we know all about V mount separation, but the front has 2 V Mounts, and those mongrels separate also, and that makes a real mess of all sorts of things in the engine bay.
If I have the thing on 4 of MY stands, and only ONE trolley jack, then a 5th stand sits against the front subframe, with timber packers to suit.
Its an Aussie thing, we understand, HA.
Tyre people HATE me, as I will NOT allow them to lift the car with the suframes "dangling", so if my one place is not available, I take the wheels only to the shop. Call me crazy, I dont care, its MY car.
Jose, be aware, as I am finding out, once you get under there for a quick "pad slap" you'll find yourself degreasing, cleaning, painting, doing bushings, seals and bearings and replacing brake lines and hose. Ugh.
