My front tire has worn out to the point of needing replacement due to positive camber. I tried swapping the tire and now the second one is wearing out fast.

How can I adjust the camber? at least until I can make it to the tire specialist. Is it possible on these cars to adjust camber? 94 xjs.

 

Camber is adjusted by adding or removing shims between the subframe and the upper control arm fulcrum shaft. The shims are #13 in this illustration

Wishbone-Front-Upper - Parts For XJS from (V)179737 to (V)226645 | Jaguar Heritage Parts UK


Cheers
DD

 

Are you sure it is camber? It is more likely to be toe in/out. If the camber is that far out, something must be bent/rusted out/shot on the subframe or wishbones or bushes. Toe should be zero to 0.25 degrees toe in.
Greg

 

the tires are wearing completely on the outer edge. there is undoubtably something wrong as I get a clicking sound when I turn and the brakes are sticky on that wheel (despite new calipers, hoses, flush, rotors, pads).

I can visually see anything wrong.

Would toe cause that much outer wear?

 

ok, I looked at the pict. in all honesty I replaced the ball joints myself. I am pretty sure I got the shims back in there but I could have screwed up. maybe this is my issue.

 

Its major wear and it happens fast. I will have to look into the noises first and go from there. So far I have replaced the bearing, ball joints, shocks, and sway bar bushings. I researched toe and camber and it seems that toe is my issue.

 

The shims you have to move when you change the balljoints are on the outboard end of the wishbones (number 11 on the diagram below). They go either in front of, or rearward of, the top balljoints. These control inclination of the swivel axis of the hub, and affect the wheels' self centering properties in the suspension. They will not affect camber or toe. One each side of the joint with the third (if there was one) on either one will be a good start before you have the entire thing measured up on a laser tracker.


As you have changed most of the front suspension, you can be 100% sure the tracking (toe in/out) is miles out. I doubt you have gone anywhere near the camber shims (as Doug posted on his diagram) they are a huge amount of work to change and require access behind the subframe tower.


The clicking you hear may be, repeat may be, because you have inserted the most outboard of the two top balljoint fixing bolts from the wrong side. The outermost bolt has a special low profile head, otherwise it fouls the hub/disc on full lock. The bolt I am referring to is number 8 on this diagram and it must be the low profile rounded down head version and be inserted from the FRONT with the nut on the end facing the rear. If not, the nut fouls the hub/disc:



Finally, if the brakes are sticking on, there is clearly something wrong. Take all that side to bits and carefully re-assemble it. You will find you problem. For example, did the new pads slide easily into the calipers? I always have to grind down the pads backing plate a touch, top and bottom, to get it to slide easily into the caliper. If it is tight that could be your problem.


So, plenty to get stuck in on!
Greg

 

I should add that I did this two years ago and it has had the alignment done afterwards. Im pretty sure at this point the guy did not do it right. He was scratching his head the entire time...

There was no clicking for two years after I did the work. The clicking just started recently. I am also just noticing the tire wear, and picturing the guy at the tire shop scratching his head...

To complicate things, I had a power steering hose go out which caused it to run dry for a bit. The clicking started a week or so after I fixed that. Maybe the rack was damaged?

The slightly sticking brake is when I am going downhill... it is the reason I replaced all these things and it still exists...

 

Yes it will, too much toe in will cause the outer to wear and too much toe out will cause the inner to wear.

Number 11 (on Gregs diagram) are the Castor shims. my car had 3, 2 at the front and 1 at the back of the upper ball joint. It will not hurt if all these shims are at the front, (as I have done) this will increase + Castor. It is not ideal to have them all at the rear as this will decrease the self centering effect of the steering.

 

I got the impression you had just done it. This post changes things a bit. The clicking, if it just started after the rack went dry seems likely to be a rack problem, but I am only guessing. Also, has the wear only just started, or has it been going on since the rebuild two years ago?

Tracking the car is simple, once it is on a laser tracker. On the rack, just a couple of inches to one side of the tower that joins the column you will find a small Allen-headed screw that takes 4mm key. Undo this and you can see the rack. Shove a thin pointer against the rack down this hole. Ask a mate to move the steering wheel gently each side of straight ahead and you will be able to feel with a pointer a small not very deep indent in the rack. This is the rack centred and the tracking MUST be done with the rack in this position.

Then, on the track rod ends (the balljoint that fits onto each of the rods coming out of the rack) loosen the locknuts and turn the rods in or out of the balljoint casting to set the toe to 0.25 degrees toe in. There are flats ground on the rods for this purpose. Job done. BOTH sides must be done independently of each other, which is in contrast to steering box systems where usually only one end of the system is adjusted.
The sticking brake sounds much more like an ABS valve/calliper release problem if you had it before the rebuild and after. If you did not replace the callipers, I suggest you do, anyway. I have no idea whether you have the same ABS system as Orangeblossom, but all the trouble he had with his ABS system, and the way he fixed it, is all on the forum.
Greg

 

My 94 XJS had some problems after I changed the front brake calipers.
The shims on the connecting arm to the back of calipers dropped off
during the swap and caused my tires to have the top side of tires to lean out
and have weird steering feel.
This parts display shows the shim as item #21. No part number listed.
Just put the required thickness shim in to correct the problem.

Hub and Stub Axle Carrier - Parts For XJS from (V)179737 to (V)226645 | Jaguar Heritage Parts UK

Regards and P O R (Press On Regardless)

 

Okay, my brain just kicked in and pointed out that I did a post about my tire
problem after changing the brake calipers back around March 2015.
I found the part numbers for the caliper shims in the Kirby Palm book.

C44146/1 0.004" shim
C44146/2 0.010" shim

Regards and P O R

 

I'm at a bit of a loss as to how those shims could alter camber? The toe setting would change, yes, but camber?

Aside: it's always been a bit puzzling that they're called caliper shims when, in fact, they have nothing to do with the caliper, really. They fit between the steering arm and the caliper.....but the caliper position isn't changed at all.

It might be that they are commonly lost and forgotten when calipers are removed....thus called they're called 'caliper shims'.

Cheers
DD

 

Im pretty sure I forgot that washer or put it on the outside where one would expect a washer to be. The question now is how do I know what size I need.

I rebuilt the actuator - pulled it apart and ripped the circuit board out to resolder wires instead (it was starting to rip). I have done everything except replace the system, which I am looking to do. I need a brake pedal and vacuum booster, mc, abs unit. I am done with the teves IV system I have. i have had the brakes just stop working at times. I ripped it all a part and got it to work again but its still always a concern. I believe the actuator sticks if left stagnant for months at a time... a simple even non abs solution would be better, imo. its just a matter of finding the pedal for under $200.

 

I didn't see this when I responded.

A very common issue when having a shop align the front end of a Jag is putting offset camber shims in. GM products used this method to adjust castor. The Jag has separate camber and castor shims, if the shop has used offset camber shims this will cause excessive wear in the bushes. This is easily checked by looking to see if the front and back shims are equal in thickness.

Unlikely to damage a rack running it dry for a short period, more likely to damage the pump. I know, my low pressure hose leaks and I have run the rack dry a couple of times and the symptom is a noisy PS pump, fill it up and the noise disappears.

When I rebuilt my front end my caliper shims were damaged, what I did was assemble everything and then shim with new washers and shim stock.

I would suggest dismantling the front end and starting again. Check for wear in the upper and lower control arm bushes. The lower are a bugger to do, they can be done with the subframe in the car but are easier if it is out of the car.

 

Front and back shims on the ball joints? Or #13 on the diagram above? It shows only 1 #13. Its hard to tell how it works by the diagram... I have to get under the car asap. ...

Found this photo which makes sense. I can see the #13 washer:

 

#11 shims are the ones on either side of the ball joint. These adjust caster. There are usually six as I recall. You never leave any out. You simply move them, as needed, to the forward position or aft position



There are usually 2-4 in each position


Cheers
DD

 

If it is only those spacers on the ball joints and washer on the back arm piece, why is it considered something a typical alignment guy can't do and why is it thousands of dollars to adjust alignment (what I read from other threads). What am I missing?

Also do you mean #14 (camber adjustment shim) as opposed to #13 (which looks just like a bolt washer - can't see how #13 would do anything)?

 

The camber shim(s) in the diagram is incorrectly shown. The washer-like looking shims go between the fulcrum bar and the body of the car. I've incorrectly repositioned these things when I've replaced ball joints and control arm bushings.

On a previous car, same MY, I had to take them all out in order to get my camber within range. 1/16" shim adjusts camber by 1/4 degree.

If the shims are touching the nuts that hold the upper fulcrum bar to the body, they're in the wrong spot. From front to back it's: a. Bolt head b. Trapezoidal washer c. Body d. Shim(s) e. Fulcrum bar f. Nut

Does that make sense?

 

You're not missing anything. Performing a wheel alignment is easy on these cars. A cake walk, really.

Except.......

The much ballyhooed 'mid-laden' tools which lock the suspension at xxx-height.

Jaguar, and some other people, insist that the mid-laden tools be used when preforming an alignment. Others (like me) report perfectly satisfactory results without the tools. Problem is, nobody....well, almost nobody....actually has the tools. It has turned the simple job of a wheel alignment into some sort of arcane mystery.

Just ask your alignment guy to make the adjustments without the tools. Unless your ride height is totally out of whack, you should be OK. Some alignment guys will absolutely refuse, though. You'll just have to shop around.

Or...find someone with the tools.

Cheers
DD