OK, so my car (91 convert) has reached its 22nd birthday and although its only done 40 k km it needs new radius arms and most of the rubber bits under it are split. So guess its that time to get a loan or sell the house to fix the underside. Now...... Polly or rubber, any suggestions what's best.
Oh and it looks like the fuel pipe coming out of the boot into the rear wing is rusting. Gotta get a car lift at home, getting far to old now for laying on my back under cars. ha ha

 

personally, I would go genuine rubber bushes t keep the authentic feel.
Nolathane type bushes will firm it up a bit, but it will be 'bumpier'

I just had all the front bushes of my X300 replaced with genuine Jaguar bushes, and it feels just like it should

 

There are a few spots which I would use Poly.

Rack, sway bar, and radius arms, the balance of the bushes I would go withstock.

 

Without a doubt, definitely use poly for the sway bar bushings (all) and the steering rack bushings. It's hard to go wrong with those - you'll get more accurate steering response and more agile/calculated ride when making steering transitions with no loss in ride comfort.

As for the other bushings, it really depends on what you want. If it's the super-soft ride you're after, stick with primarily rubber bushings. If you want the car to be a little sharper on the road, poly is the way to go.

If you're getting into the front suspension, especially the lower control arms, I'd go with poly bushings. The rest of the bushings are pretty easy to get to, so you can try one and if you don't like it, you can try the other. Those lower control arm bushings are a bear. Do those ones once with poly!

FWIF, I'm a firm believer that the 15" wheels and tall tires, among other things, contribute to the soft Jaguar ride.

 

I believe you are 100% correct about that. When I went to 16" 'new starfish' for reasons of better tyre choice, still on Pirellis, the ride deteriorated sharply, car otherwise identical. I have just about fixed this with adjustable Gaz shocks obsessively tuned, but the setup is still much more sensitive to tyre pressures being suitable, as well as shocks just so.

Mind you, high speed stability is markedly better on the 16".

Greg

 

I would not put polly in the front wishbones, they do not last. I have gone back to rubber in the lowers and will put rubber back in the uppers when the polly wear out, which should not be more than 10000km giving a total of 15000km on the polly.

Rack bushes I would definitely use polly. I have put polly in front subframe as well

 

Tyres are so important. I think older Jaguars are best on their taller-profile tyres

Clarkson has said often that the Range Rover is the best car in the world, but don't make the mistake of 'upgrading' from 18" to 20" alloy,s as it ruins the ride
Before Bristol went bust they persisted with 16" wheels with 60 profile tyres on the Blenheim 3, which was good for about 160mph and probably has about 350-400bhp. (although that may not necessarily be an endorsement..)

I changed from Turbines with 225/60x16s to Asteroids with 245/45x18s last week (on X300). For a week I noticed no obvious deterioration in ride and was happy with the sharper cornering.
Today I drove on a lesser road, and thought it was tramlining a bit - but nowhere as bad as 3 months ago when I first got it. Initial bad tramining was cured completely after a new set of 16" Toyos, new front bushes all round, and an alignment. The alignment was only out half a degree of toe-in, but what a difference...

Anyway, I may go back to the turbines, I will see how it goes over the next month or so. But I love the look of the Asteroids..

My mechanic said that low-profiles wreck Jags, but have become a necessary fashion evil - he thinks the series III XJs had the nicest ride

 

If it were me I would go all poly but that is my preference. You have to remember replacing the rubber with new rubber is not as if you did nothing. Aside from the fact your rubber is worn out a new rubber bushing is much different than a 1991 jaguar rubber bushing.

Some of it doesn't matter for the rear as some parts aren't made in poly. I think the big control arm bushes only come in rubber, for example.

I don't even know what everyone is on about with tyres. My wire looks stupid with anything smaller than 60rs and ridiculous with the stock 70 (or 75?).I guess its just my opinion but 60 and 65 is totally posh and doesnt look like your XJS is ready to go mudding, what decision is there to be made?

 

I would stick with the original parts and use rubber. Jag designed the car like that with its amazing ride quality and hey, the originals have lasted 22 years so that cant be too bad??

 

Agreed and the poly wishbone bushes will be lucky to last a couple of years