A friend is getting conflicting advice on the replacement of his upper wishbone bushes of his 4.0L. He damage his spring compressor and a bit needs welding back on, but while he waits to get this fixed; he wants to change the inner bushes on this front upper wishbones. We all know to try this on the lower wishbone with anything other than a spring compressor could potentially be lethal, but the upper wishbones are not directly loaded. My therory was that if he placed a jack under the hub and took the load off he would be able to safely remove the upper wishbone. My only reluctance is that neither of us have done any work on our front suspensions other than brakes or ball joints.

I know these compressors are expensive to buy (about £250 from Jaguar) and not everybody has them, so do these people do to get the job done with out one.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

I don’t know for certain on the facelift cars, but on the pre-facelift it is definitely possible to do that. I did. I do the nut for the ball joint and once that’s separated the wishbone comes apart pretty easily.

 

Correct.

Personally, though, I don't trust a jack for anything except lifting. I'd use a jack stand under the lower control arm, as far outboard as possible

Lots of us use the "four-threaded-rods method"...which is about $20 for materials and works well. I'm sure some pics are in the archives

Cheers
DD

 

Take it he has the correct spring compressor ? can't use a standard spring compressor on XJ's, and £250 - if you have found one for this price I'd appreciate a link because for sure I will put one in my tool box, I have been waiting and waiting for somebody to sell one in the UK but in three years looking I haven't seen one appear secondhand. Spring Compressor, Same thing at SNG Barratt

Not sure how you would jack / support the hub - under the lower ball joint perhaps but consider that you are supporting on something that isn't rigid so all in all a tad sketchy - the damper should prevent catastrophe but it will not be happy if it gets a shock loading because the only thing that stops that bottom wishbone unloading is the fact that it is bound to the top by the upright so you absolutely need to constrain or keep weight on it, they are loaded when the wheel is off the ground be under no illusion - need proof take a look at the bump stops - if they're compressed at all they're loaded so you need to use these to confirm that the load is off. I wouldn't rate your chances as good if that spring hits you directly - I don't even like being under the spring pans when they're bolted in because I know how much pressure is on those 6 bolts - actually most of the pressure is on 4 of them.

Wonder if anyone has ever built a 'jack' or stand that bolts to the wheel studs.

I have used the 4 stud method but getting high tensile stud is getting harder and more expensive - I wouldn't use this method again.

 

These springs scare hell out of me so don't want to take any chances, so thanks for all your input so far.

This is the link to the compressor my friend has, I am contemplating buying one as I am also restoring a 92 XJS and a 86 XJ6.
https://jlrequipment.service-solutio...g?search=jd115

I like the idea of fabricating a stand that will go over the wheel nuts and sit on an axle stand, I have some sections of RSJ I could play about with. I will also research the 4 stud method although I can't picture at all how this would work.,

 

They will not sell to private individuals - I tried a long time ago - you need to get a registered business with a VAT number to order for you.

They told me to ask a local retailer and when asked for a list of retailers they did not respond.

If you have contacts that can order one of these PM me because I want one .....

If you try the stud approach do not be tempted to use standard low grade studding - high tensile only !!

 

Sometimes being a little scared is what keeps us safe.

I dunno how many springs I've removed over the years.....lots.....and I still double check every step along the way.

FWIW I've never felt unsafe with the four rod method.





Google "hub stands" . Lots of choices






Cheers
DD

 

Wow - I just googled those stands - mother they get expensive ...... but I can sure come up with use cases for them ...

 

Cornishcat
The JEC used to sell as well as hire the spring compressor. Worth asking them;

As for the top wishbones: If you:

• jack up under the wishbone as far out as you can,
• remove the wheel
• put car in park with the handbrake on
• place a large foot-cube of decent wood under the brake disc
• lower the jack so the car's weight is on brake disc on the wood

then you will be quite safe doing the top wishbones.

The four rod method of removing the spring is safe if you use high tensile steel rod, two nuts on each rod and tie a ratchet strap round the spring. The rod needs to be 3/8 UNF from memory, I can check if you need me to. But you do need the car up in the air a fair way so a long jack is needed and safe way of holding the car up while you do it. Ratchet spanners 9/16s AF make the task a great deal easier too!

 

• The spring pan is held in by 6 bolts. The two outermost ones also secure the shock bracket and are a nut and bolt.
• The four innermost ones thread into the wishbone in blind holes, 3/8 UNF thread (from memory)
• One at a time undo the four bolts and replace each with about a 15 inch length of UNF HT threaded rod and do up a nut onto this rod so that the nut is right up to the spring pan and holding it, as if it were a bolt. Thread up another nut to about an inch lower than the first one as a safety measure
• undo the outermost two nuts from their bolts
• the pan is now held onto the wishbone by your four threaded rods and nuts
• undo each nut progressively working round the four and gradually the spring pan drops down and the spring decomresses with it. A little laborious but perfectly safe.

Pics herewith. In these you can see the spring compressor in place as well; but I no longer use it. Another VERY important aspect of the four rods method is that without them in place it is impossible to get the spring back in and the spring pan properly aligned to replace the fixing bolts.

 

I would add a caveat - make sure the studs themselves do not turn (I like the T handles Greg - good idea) - make sure you have washers between the nuts and the spring pan and lubricate the studs - don't forget the nuts need to be high tensile too or they will strip.

110% on the getting the pan back on even if you have the compressor. You may find that the pan will twist or walk such that some bolts will go back in easily but others not so much because the pan is slightly misaligned and when pressure is on it you're not moving it easily - I also replaced all my bolts with new.

 

I have one. Can sell it, if you want to PM me offline? I have never used it. Can send pics, etc.

 

Using a proper hydraulic floor jack and threaded rods to keep the spring plate aligned is the easiest way to remove/replace the springs. If you used nuts to remove/replace the spring plate it will take way longer. Using a jack is the only way Id do it.

 

Yes!

A dab of paint on the studs makes it very easy to tell, at a glance, if they're turning

Cheers
DD

 

Simply set the car down on the out edge of the lower spring pan using a 6x6 piece of wood or a well positioned jack stand. You must set the car on the spring pan becasue the hub must be able to be turned so you can remove the upper ball joint bolts. As the car settles you will see daylight between the bump stops on the upper control arms and so long as everything is secure the UCA's can be removed safely and serviced with new bushes and ball joints if need be.