OK, So on my '96 Convertible I recently added the upgraded Sportspack anti-sway bars front and rear, then a month later added all new shocks all the way around. The sway bars went ok but just since having the new shocks put on, and Now for some reason my rear tires are wearing on the inside edges. The cat has always worn her tires very evenly all the way around getting very long mileage out of them. The fronts appear to still be ok so it's only the rears that appear to be wearing unevenly now. I did this same exact sway bar kit and new shocks to my other ('94 Convertible) cat a couple of years ago and it never affected my tire wear on that one.


Today I took it to the local shop, has what is supposed to be the one of the best alignment machines they make. They was able to check the front which they said was ok but said the rears are indeed wearing the inside edges of both rear tires but they can't fix it because the system says they need a special pair of parts. Gave me a print out that refers to;

Jaguar Mid-Laden Condition: To simulate carrying one-half of its weight capacity, a Jaguar vehicle should be in the "mid-laden" condition before alignment. Special tools are available from Jaguar to achieve this condition.


The page second sheet shows two diagrams of some kinda tools in use and showing how to connect them. The instructions under them says;


Install tool JD25B with the hook end in the hole int he subframe bushing plate. Then fit the loop end over the lower control arm pivot nut. Tool JAG1505 is placed between the upper A-arm and the subframe bump stop.


Has anyone ever heard of this before or know where I can get these tools? The shop here obviously isn't buying special tools they only have ONE customer they know of who needs them and I only get my alignment checked every couple of years or when I buy new tires or if like this time my tires suddenly seem to be wearing unevenly. I called the Jaguar dealer in the city 140 miles away and they said they don't do alignments so know nothing of such tools, they send their alignments out to another local shop and I called that shop and they said they don't have this tool, they only do new-generation Jaguars for the dealership and the new ones apparently don't need a special tool.

With two XJS of this era if I could get them cheap enough I would just order them myself and let the shop use them when needed. But I did a web search and only found one of them listed anywhere which was a single online place that does not even look trustworthy and at a stupidly high price for what the tool appears to be.


Any ideas on this one?

 

Page 318 of "The Book" by Kirby Palm has dimensions to make your own.

 

Thanks, I have that saved. Skimmed all of it and read much of it but it's been a long time and don't remember anything about that so must have forgotten. Will look it up.

 

Or, I have apparently lost my .PDF copy... Had a system crash last year, lost a bunch of stuff back then, probably lost it then. Just an empty file folder on my hardrive where it was saved.

 

Found it online again but in the copy I found on Kirby's webpage (the most recent version I suppose) page 318 is about the catalytic converters. Will keep searching though, maybe the page numbers got moved when he updated it.

 

I think the need for the tool is overstated. There is a tech bulletin referring to the alignment on the xjrs variants which simply states the alignment to be done at normal ride height. If that is ok for xjrs then its also ok for xjs.

 

If the only thing that has changed in the rear suspension is the fitment of new shockers, then I suspect the problem is that these have changed the ride height. The distance on the rear shocks between the spring bottom fixing and the bottom fixing eye controls the ride height. If you used aftermarket shocks and this distance was not as OEM, that would change the height and affect alignment. There is also, just, the possibility that the new shocks were installed wrongly and that this has affected the movement a bit by slightly jamming the normal movement (eg the spacing washers on the bottom pin were put back in the wrong order, etc etc).

Greg

 

I don't know about the spacers as I'm not the one who installed them (the alignment shop did) but they was KYB Gas-Adjust shocks which a lot of owners here seem to run on their XJS' so I assume if they was out of spec someone else would have had a problem and reported it. I haven't heard any odd sounds like metal on metal rubbing or clunks or anything like that nor noticed any unusual appearance in height, etc. of the car, like one side sitting higher than the other, etc.


I'm wondering if there are any shops somewhere within a few hundred mile radius of Arkansas that DOES have a lot of experience with XJS and setting them up?

I'd be willing to drive somewhere to have it checked out and done right by someone who has a lot of experience with these models. Could just make a road trip out of it.

 

Look at the page numbers on the document itself, not the page number in the PDF. He had several pages preceding the start of normal numbering which throws off the PDF page numbering.

 

Good luck !

No exotic skills required but many '$49.95 Wheel Alignment Special' type shops don't wanna be bothered with anything the least bit unusual or time consuming.

Adjusting rear camber, when needed, is a bit of PITA but certainly not insurmountable. The front adjustments don't get any easier.

The hardest part is getting a shop to simply do the alignment at existing ride height. Some will, some won't. I'm lucky to have an alignment guy that I can actually talk to and does what I ask him to do.

Cheers
DD

 

I was looking at those but they were off too, I found it on page 358 by the page numbers printed on the pages, which I think was page 361 by the page numbers in Adobe.

Printed out the page and gonna look at a hardware store tomorrow.