This has been a good lesson on camber adjustment. I think I found my problem. Upon a second attempt at shaking the wheel, I am getting movement. It appears my crappy ball joints lasted 2 years. The lower ball joint is toast. I think i will go with Lemforder since these seem to be the best for this car? Or I hear good things about Napa and they are near by...

 

Lemforder is good stuff.

NAPA *generally* sells good stuff but they source from many manufacturers and vendors....so some caution is required.

Cheers
DD

 

looks like NAPA sells Lemforder


http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/Re...0037%2b2037010


Cheers
DD

 

Lemforders are definitely the best and are OEM, in fact. I have just had exactly your problem having been sold rubbish balljoints by a "reputable" supplier. Like you they lasted under two years.


Glad you have found that trouble, but what about the brake problem?
Greg

 

Flushing out the system and it seems to have fixed itself. I am still very cautious. I look every week for parts to upgrade to the newer system (95, 96)

 

I have a 1990 XJS V12 and the camber and caster are way out. Since I just put on new tires I wanted the alignment to be right. Where can I buy the correct shims for both the camber and caster? Also, are there toe in shims?

 

There is a recent thread that deals with all of this: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...d-help-186708/. See post 19 in particular for setting specs. BUT for the front this is the important bit:

Toe is adjustable FOR EACH WHEEL SPEARATELY. The rack must be centred exactly, and each track rod's lock nut loosened and the track rod rotated to adjust each side. .025 degrees toe in.

Castor is adjusted by moving the OEM shims each side of the TOP balljoint to one side or the other.

CAMBER adjustment is a major task and camber can ONLY be adjusted by major garage surgery. HOWEVER, camber on the XJS CANNOT alter unless the front suspension or its subframe is bent or collapsing from rust, or the suspension bushes are collapsed.
So if your car is way out on all three, only the toe can be easily adjusted by an non-specialist alignment shop. If it really is way out on all three, a full suspension overhaul is called for.

 

Interesting. Here is what they found all others are in spec. What would you recommend;

Front Left: Toe - 0.70; Front Right: Camber -1.5; Caster - 1.4; and Toe - -1.21: Rear Left Toe -0.07;

The car has 29,000 Miles and the suspension parts and bushings look very good.

Thanks Bill

 

Check the camber shims, they are between the top wishbone pivot and the subframe. they should be the same thickness front and rear. I have heard of some shops offsetting the camber shims to adjust castor, this is incorrect for a Jaguar.

 

Just got my '92 5.3 back from NTB to find out that my (camber?) is badly off on all 4 wheels, which is why my new tires I bought from them just 2 years ago are shot after only 7K miles .. They're telling me they have to order special shims to be able to adjust it and it will be an extra 1 hr. labor b/c on the XJS, unlike other cars where the alignment adjustments can be made w/o removing suspension arm bolts, the bolts have to be removed on the far end on our cars. No idea whether this is true or they are just bilking me for extra $$ .. What ARE the specs (i.e. % - or +) as to camber, toe-in and caster on our cats? I couldn't find any mention of them in the Jag factory service manual literature ..

 

I dont know the specs for your market, and they will be different to ours I would think.

The OE camber sims were in fact a washer, and a PITA to set, so most shops did teh shortcut.

That sticky I wrote, at the top of here might you a tad.

I have used the Ford, GM, whatever, horseshoe shims for too many years and the car has no idea what I use, and the settings are spot on. Trouble is finding a shop that will listen to YOU.

 

[quote]Which is certainly plausible.....but the camber settings must've been wayyyyy out of whack to cause such rapid tire wear. Jags (the oldies, at least) like quite a bit of negative camber. Every Jag I've owned had visible negative camber at all 4 corners. That is, you could easily see the negative camber just in looking at the car. Never had any tire wear problems.


True

As Grant mentioned, the more common horse shoe shims will work. You are not being bilked; the shop is sticking with the factory stuff. It's hard to criticize them for that although it wasn't strictly necessary and cost you extra.

I'm not sure for a 1992; possibly the same as earlier cars, which I'll try to remember to look up. The alignment shop surely has the specs from a data base they use and/or has been loaded into the brain of their equipment.

Odd that your service manual doesn't show the specs. Did you look in the "General Specifications" section?

Cheers
DD

 

You really want to check 2 things BEFORE your adjust your upper control arms.

1. I suspect your lower control arms bushes are no longer round becasue over time the spring pushes the lower fulcrum out. LCA bushings are a big job but IF you want the car right they have to be checked and dealt if necessary.

2. The suspension is design with a significant about of camber gain. This is why these softly spring cars can handle so well. If your springs are sagged and your car is lowered or has lowered itself then you will get camber gain front and rear.

Yes the XJS is a pain to align properly. I'm surprised they are only charging 1 hour more. I think they'll regret that IF they end up doing it right.

Conversely... I also have a Porsche 928, one of the easiest cars to align. All three alignment settings are easily accessible on or near the Lower control arms from under the car with out taking off the wheels. Literally take 5 min per corner.

You may want to look at this.
http://www.jagrepair.com/images/TSB/...ifications.pdf