Hi,
I have a 1991 4litre manual xjs with a leaking rear inboard brake caliper on the driver's side. How difficult is it to replace? And is it possible to change with the subframe in place? Any advice will be a big help,cheers.

 

Jagman,

On my old 84 XJS? I had seeping brakes and differential seals. You can deal with the brakes on the car but it's a bitch. Given how easy it is to drop the rear suspension assembly out of that car you may want to consider that.
That suspension assembly is a marvel. It's why they are so popular with guys building hot rods and kit cars.
Buy the way. At some point, I don't remember the year, early 80's I think, Jag discontinued the limited slip differential. I just replaced the entire assembly with an earlier unit with LSD I got cheep from a salvage yard. That allowed me to refirb the whole thing on my bench before the switch out.
I then sold the 84 assembly to a local hot rod dude to recoup part of the cost. Those were the days. Lots of fun.

 

Yes you can. I did it on an '88 H&S convertible and it definitely is no picnic. Just about everything has to be done with box wrenches and constantly flipping them over at that. I had to change e-brake pads and drivers side caliper. The worst part is the e-brake calipers. But I was putting new pads in them, so you might not have as much trouble lining up the bronze forks if your not changing any settings with new pads. If you decide not to drop the cage you'd better plan on a full day. Even with the car on four jack-stands it's not very roomy under there. The only problem I see with dropping the cage is having to mess with the exhaust and the trailing arms. You'll also have to make something to raise and lower that cradle. I made a 2 layered plywood jacking plate that fits just inside the tie plate and has holes in it to accommodate the bolts. I makes jacking the car much easier and without distorting the tie plate either. All that might save you a trip to the chiropractor. BTY make sure you have one of those little round extendable mirrors too.

 

thanks guys, I have been quoted £760 by a local jag garage to change the disks, rear caliper, brake pads, handbrake pads and 4shocks - do you think this is reasonable?

I would like to try it myself but it sounds a nightmare

How high would I have to jack it up to get the subframe out as I am no mechanic and have limited equipment.

 

To remove the subframe/rear suspension the car doesn't have to be all that high. I've never measured but I'm guessing 18". It's a big, dirty, grunt-labor job but not technically difficult.

Replacing the rear calipers with the rear suspension in place is awkward and tedious, but quite doable.

To replace the rear *discs* with the rear suspension in the car you'd have to raise the car quite high....higher than most would be comfortable with....because the lower arms need to drop wayyyyy down in order to remove the discs.

Cheers
DD

 

That includes all parts and labor? Yes, I think that's reasonable....about $1200 USD


Cheers
DD

 

The price quoted for that work with parts sounds reasonable. Do you hapen to know how many US dollars per pound these days?

 

Price seems reasonable to me; where is your mechanic ?
There is an excellent Jaguar garage in Birkenhead - Bob Bate - he replaced all my XJ6 discs and calipers, brake pipes, and diff seals some years ago.

The job is not an easy one, but can be done by home mechanics but you need a high lift jack. Me, I would always drop the rear suspension, much easier when it is off the car.

 

Probably worth checking the "O" ring seals around the stub axles for leaks while they are in there. Both of mine were leaking and so I pulled the rear suspension assembly out last month. The main lip seals were fine so I left them alone but both O rings had gone hard and brittle. While I had the unit out I replaced the calipers, pads, discs, serviced the diff and the parking brake calipers cos that's the time to do it! Puting it all back is a balancing act and a tad nerve wracking since I used a regular trolly (floor)jack and not a transmission jack. Once it's up in place it's nice to get the bolts back in place I did it all on my back and it's not hard but really labor intensive, initially getting the radius arms free was exciting. Good luck and for arounf $1,200 that's not a bad deal.