Its about that time where i feel i need to redo my suspension. I feel small bumps in my back.

looking to stiffen up performance of car. Less sway. I know that may mean adding sway bar but wanted to get folks recommendations. Have an 89 v12 convert.

links appreciated.

 

Try this link

Suspension Problem Diagnosis
XJ FAQ

 

The XJS responds well to minor changes.

Adding a rear anti-roll bar and increasing the size of the front bar will give quite an improvement. This, coupled with good shocks and tires, is probably enough to satisfy most owners who simply want a tighter feel with minimal expense, effort, and little degradation of ride quality.

Stiffer springs and/or lowered ride height can be a next step...but perhaps not advisable for street use. Personbally, for street use, I'm a big fan of soft-ish springs and bigger anti-roll bars.

Do NOT go too big on the rear bar. Results can be scary. Something along the lines of 9/16" or 5/8" is fine.

Good steering rack bushings are a 'must have'.

Ask your alignment guy to dial the positive caster right up to the maximum allowed within the spec range.

Of course make sure that all your suspension bushings, subframe mounts, ball joints, etc are in good shape. Heck, if everything is worn out then simply getting it all up-to-snuff might well give you the improvement you're after....without mods or upgrades.

You won't find any decent performance-oriented tire choices for your 15" wheels. You'll need 16" (or larger) wheels to get any choices.

Others will chime in.


Cheers
DD

 

SPL,

Everyone has their own view on what is the right set of components to rebuild the suspension. I have a 4 litre convertible but wanted more predictable steering turn-in, tighter suspension, adjustable settings, stock ride height and no harsh suspension banging.

Front
- Standard Jaguar metalastik wishbone bushes
- 'Urethane steering rack bushes
- Eibach Springs (from Jaguar Classic Spares)
- Gaz adjustable dampers
- Standard Jaguar anti-roll bar links and bushes

Rear
- Standard Jaguar Radius Arm bushes turned through 90 degrees
- Eibach Springs
- Gaz adjustable platform height shocks (necessary to get ride height correct)

This setup works fine for me

Paul

 

I'm thinking of upgrading my suspension on my 89 XJS convertible also. I'm thinking about doing front and rear sway bars and all new poly bushings for steering and suspension from:
v12s Jaguar XJS Tuned Performance Suspension System
I'm looking for a little firmer and tighter ride, but I don't think I want to get into springs or lowering car etc. I am hoping adding that stuff will do the trick.

Also, I have been told that the biggest bang for your buck with regards to suspension would be 17" wheels and tires. I love the look of my BBS RS wheels and can't find a suitable match in that size.

 

The poly bushings and sway bars should give you a significant tightening up of the handling without too much ride harshness. I think the real advantage of the 17's is that it would give you a better selection of modern tires. If you have a good tire on the original 15's the difference will not be so great. And because the XJS was not designed for a hard sidewall, low profile tire, I would expect ride harshness with the 17's.