Now then folks, im sure this has been asked before but i have a few questions on the handling side of things.

My 96 celebration seems to be getting worse to drive, although i cant see much wrong under there on my ramp or on my hydralic ramp shaker plates.

Heres the symptoms....(car is fitted with 17" xjr6 alloys)

*car seems to wander and track all over the road, epecially uneven/bumby roads. Is this because of the wheel size i have?

*when cornering hard or just on normal fast sweeping bends, the back end seems to suddenly want to rear steer and makes the car feel pretty unstable.

*when setting off from standstill, there seems to be a clunk / click from the rear.

I know your all probs gunna say bushes, but any specific ones i should be looking for with these symptoms?

Any info is appreciated

cheers guys

Dan.

 

I'd start with the small trailing arm bushes first. Then check the large ones, then the cage mounts. Then U joints and the wheel bearings. Since the drive shaft is the upper contol arm any play in a wheel bearing or U joint can also cause squirly handling

 

Agree with all of the above, particularly the radius arm bushes.

The other thing could be the steering rack bushes which can cause weird cornering behaviour when worn because of the whole design of them which means the rack moves sideways first before the wheels suddenly turn. Change for poly bushes.

Good luck

Paul

 

Yeah, definitely check bushings, and all my XJSs have absolutely felt like they are being steered from the rear. Not sure if they all suffered from the same deficiency, or if that's just how they are. Nice looking facelift - I'm generally not a fan, but it looks good in that color. Another fellow recently posted from New York I think with a dark grey one that was quite sharp as well. Guess they're growing on me a bit??

 

Agreed with all of the above but I'd focus on the subframe 'vee' mounts *first* . No matter; you have to check all the mounts and bushings and replace any that are faulty.

Good point on axle movement from Icsamerica. I had that problem on my XJS. Causes a big camber change while cornering. Scary.

At least *some* of your problem might indeed be caused by the wheel/tire combination. Lower profile tires are prone to tramlining....some worse than others. In fact, since you have the XJR wheels, I'll mention that the XJRs are outright notorious for tramlining, sometime the to point of being scary. I wouldn't let my teenage daughter drive my XJR at freeway speeds for that reason.

Cheers
DD

 

cheers for the info guys. i will probs buy a full car polly bush kit and just go through it bit by bit. it now has the power from the xjr6 motor, just need to get it handling right. even my 69 chevelle was more predictable on corners (if not actually better) than the Jag, which is just clearly backwards lol.

 

Check the rear wheel axel nuts could be loose

 

Further to the guys' points about the rear axle:
Check that the lower rear wishbone inner fulcrum bearings are not worn, AND that the casting bolted up to the diff sides low down that carries these bearings is not loose on its bolts. They DO come loose.

Secondly, the outer fulcrum bearings at the bottom of the hub casting also wear and allow the hub casting to move. These bearings are slightly pre-loaded. if, with the wheels off, the shocks disconnected at the bottom, and the drive shaft flange undone by the diff, the hub feels loose on this outer fulcrum, the bearings need changing.

if all these points have not been greased regularly, deterioration sets in quite fast. With the engine you have, a full rebuild of the rear would have the car tracking like a guided missile. FWIW, I believe the poly bushes are not needed to get the car handling wonderfully, providing all the OEM bits are right, it is most likely you have a cumulative effect from a number of things being a bit worn.. The bits you need to redo it all are not very expensive considering the transformation they will make.
Greg