Just jumping on to share my frustrations as I'm sure I'm not the first one to despise the removal and install of the front springs on the XJS.

I've been very excited about the front sub-assembly rebuild and, candidly, found the removal of the springs to be a tedious process. For me, I found the rod method worked and, although slow, allowed me to work through removal and installation without being killed by a flying spring.

The installation is a horrible process with those last two inboard bolts being extremely hard to insert as the holes don't line up exactly as they should. So imagine my joy when the installation was done...it was short lived. My helper (17 year old) went to torque some bolts and misread/lacked common sense and tightened the lower ball joint bolts (x4) to 62Nm (of course one broke before I saw what he was doing). So I removed the spring, extracted the broken bolt, and put it back together...painful.

Then (and this is the mistake I own), as I'm cleaning up the shop area I find two spacers from the RHS......sigh...I remember installing 3 on the LHS and only seeing one for the RHS and thinking (that's odd, but maybe that's just the way it is). Now that I found the other two in the shop I realize I'll be pulling a spring again...At least I'm getting really good at it!

Sigh..anyways...just sharing my joys.

Stephen

 

In my experience, much easier to install/remove with assembly installed and the car on the ground.

floor jack under spring seat piece, lift car, remove bolts, slowly lower car.

putting it back, i used the threaded rods to keep everything aligned, used the floor jack again, put bolts back, job done.

i know this wont help you now, maybe put together as is and add the spacer later.

 

Great advice and I think I’m going to have to take care of it. On the side without the shims, I’m noticing the part that rotates on the ball joints (not sure of the name but the hub attaches to it) seems very tight. I’m thinking that without the spacers it may be pinching just enough to restrict movement?

 

I believe this is potentially hazardous unless, before anything else is done, the spring is tethered to the subframe with ratchet strap-type "rope", so if the worst were to happen the spring cannot escape.

 

In the UK it is called the "upright". I do not think the presence or absence of sping shims will affect matters; just a bit of "sticktion" until the weight gets back on the assembly.

 

Well, that is good news that I may not need to take it all apart again....I was definitely not looking forward to that task.

 

Floor jack method is well tested, standard floor jack fits into the recess on the spring plate. Ive done it a few times, there is zero danger.

all tension is off the spring very quickly(maybe a few inches below the A arm).

i was worried about it going “boing” too, it was much less eventful than expected.

you can run without any spacers, shouldnt affect anything, they are there to adjust height, mine had 3 per side(2 top, 1 bottom). I think I removed 2 per side, maybe 1…i need to count the leftover ones in the garage

 

I am with Greg on this 100%.

BUT

We all have our own favourites in many areas.

I HATE coil springs, and that stems from when I was 19, and not with a Jag. The workshop I was at had to remove springs, and one "took off", and collected the mechanics head on its way. Still have nightmares of that sucker.

I have had the Factory Tolo for this, and even with that Monster in there, I get the shakes. Now at 76, NO MORE, whoopee.

So, PLEASE, anyone reading this thread, TAKE CARE, real care/

 

Apologies, but whenever floor jacks, springs, etc. are involved, there is always danger. There is a reason that one should never get under a vehicle supported only by a jack. I'm glad it went well for you, and I hope it might 99 out of 100 times, but it isn't zero danger.

A belt and suspenders approach doesn't add much effort, and anything that reduces risk is just good practice.

 

Jeez guys, try it yourself you will see,

it is not physically possible for the spring to come out using the jack.

Ive heard they even used this method at the dealer.

If the assembly is off the car, you will need threaded rods or the official tool, this is obvious,

but if you simply want to change springs and the assembly is on the car, use a floor jack and save yourself a lot of time(you will
still need the rods for alignment on reassembly)

 

Nick, can you give me pls some guidance ? If I put the floor jack under the spring seat piece and lift the car, after I unscrew the bolts and let down the car again, there is no enough space UNDER the jack, cause I would need to lower it another 2-3 inches to allow the springs fully decompress in order to extract them from their place. Shouldn`t I first put some 4 inches wood pieces under each wheel, in order to have the necessary space for lowering the jack ? And of course, when I lower the jack I pull out that wood spacer from the whell I work on ...
Mike

 

you need the car on stands, the the jack cant be the only thing keeping the car off the ground.

with the car on stands, place the jack under the fully extended suspension arm. Raise the jack until the suspension arm
is raised, undo bolts on spring plate, slowly lower jack.

You dont need to lift the car off the jack stand, just enough so the jack has enough tension on the spring plate so it is held in place when you remove the bolts.

if I coups show you, it would be much easier than trying to explain.

when i do mine, rear is on the tires. Front was on stands with wheels off, raised jack enough to compress suspension but not so much if lifted from stands. Use a proper hydraulic floor jack only, one that fits the recess under the spring plate,

 

Thanks, I let you know after I`m done. If I will be alive ...

 

hehe you will be fine. Just make sure car is secure on stands, dont lift the weight off the stands, just enough to compress the springs

 

One thing I found doing ball joints today (well I got one side done this was my first time on any car doing this job so I was very slow) was that while the jack in the spring pan did feel quite safe but it didn't compress the spring enough for me to get the upper back into place, more lift just lifted the car - eventually had the idea of a bottle jack + block of wood under the lower ball joint and voilŕ compressed the spring nicely and the upper fit right into place with ease!

 

1. So I defenetly can confirm the method Nick shared. It works flawlessly, nothing snaps, nothing shoots out in the garage. You only have to put first under the the car`s jacking points (or at least under the front ones) some woods or anything else to lift the front about 20 cm, in order to have space for the jack to get much lower down than the normal sitting position of the car, when you fully decompress the springs and change them.

2. Unfortunately for me I didn`t get the result I wanted, which was the REASON I wanted to change the front springs, so if anybody knows the answer, pls tell me cause I`m going crazy on this !
When I bought the car the nose was a bit to high ... I presumed the late owner might have mounted V12 springs, so on a lighter car (mine is 4.0) it`s obvious they won`t compress to the normal level. So I ordered at David Manners those "DB7" Eibach springs, mounted them today ... THE NOSE SITS EVEN HIGHER !!! I understand it will set down with 2 cm ... but I need at least 4, if not 5 cm ! If you look at the picture attached, it looks like a "off-road XJS", the gap is HUGE !
Does anybody know the cause ? Is there some "trick" I don`t know ? Could it be possible I put something in a wrong position when I reassembled back the front axle ?

 

Go drive the car. See how far it comes down.

When you lower the car, the suspension kind of jams its self against the tires until you drive.

just lowered mine off the jack, look at that wheel gap lol. It wont sit like that once I drive it a few metres.

 

Just moved it back and forth a few times,

 

Did you use any of the nylon spacers at either end of the spring?