Has anyone replaced the front coil springs using a pair of standard spring compressors?

 

 

I have read about al the different tools people have used and the all thread rods and with the home made Jag tool replicas.

 

 

Ron the factory tools are available for free loan to members of JCNA or Patrons of the Coventry Foundation. Personally the threaded rods are dangerous and many have been hurt. If you wish to see more please go to www.jcna.com and review the tool loan section.

 

I've removed springs on these cars numerous times. FWIW, I much prefer the four-threaded-rods method. I'm sure there are write-ups in the archives. If not, post back.

Cheers
DD

 

Doug have you ever used the correct tool/tools. With the long run of this model there are of course two very different tools. Using them is very quick and efficient plus the work area is free from all the rods. While you are a professional and understand the danger and seek to avoid it there are many who do not and there are many grades of threaded rod--some very weak!

 

Same here. If done properly, the threaded rod method is easier, quicker and actually safer as instead of using one veeeeery hard to turn handle, it is easier to use 4 nuts or as I did: 8. Each rod had a spare nut just in case one failed...

 

Daim not sure what you were using--the real tool has a bearing on the operating handle and the handle is forged and pretty large. It takes about 1 min. to compress the spring!

 

Weird, as Jaguar, with the right tools, would charge me €160 (1 hour work) to just compress ONE spring. Not replace them. Just ONE spring. With the correct tools...

 

I would not say weird I would guess they just charged an hour. If the car is on stands/lift and the wheel is off it literally takes a min. or so. So lift car--remove wheel--get tool I can see that nearing an hour but the actual spring work did not--unless the tool is damaged. As an example with springs on the rear of the old IRS units with the correct tools all 4 can be taken apart and new shocks inserted in less than 30 mins. The screw threads are so fine most time is rotating the handle but almost no effort. Have not measured it but my guess is 5 ft lbs or so on the handle. The front coils are harder but the the winged handle is more than long enough to make the job easy. The biggest issue we have had is making sure the "owner" knows which car he has. The XJ-S uses a different tool than the XJS.

 

 

I would have supplied them the entire front axle without brakes and wheels... So I find it had to understand how it can take only 1 min to compress the spring... I did it myself in the end for €19 as I needed to buy some hardend imperial threaded rods which are like hen's teeth over here.

 

Jags and MGs you are of course right--I was thinking through the entire Jaguar range of the time and should have typed XJ-6 (XJ40 ,300,and so) and all with hidden turret tops. I also agree the pin is small but the only issue is making sure the pin is not lost in transport..


To Daim---I can't explain why they charged so much. I would not have moved it from your transport and just removed it in the truck. Did you actually see them use the correct tool or did they just say they did? The other thought is many dealers and dealer techs just do not want to work on older models for various reasons.

Perhaps we should do some videos---thanks

 

 

No, because they would have charged another hour for the other side And their minimum work time is 1/6th of an hour...

 

To pay for the mahogany furniture, marble floors, and chandeliers. That's why

I spent (far too) many years of my life neck-deep in dealership pricing and marketing strategy. I could write a book...on top of the others that have already been written. But, the rawest, simplest gist of the matter is that dealerships depend heavily on profits from service, parts, and body shop departments to cover overhead expenses. XXX-profit is demanded from these departments and all sorts of strategies are used to deliver it.

Cheers
DD

 

Indeed. Where ever you can milk a cow, it shall be milked until the cow is unmilkable and can never be milked again. Then 2 cows are to be milked...

 

The two greatest words when I worked as a dealership mechanic, "customer pay."