While I was in the wheel well, seems the upper ball joint has ‘perished’.

While I’d love to just replace the whole arm and all all three bushes for $90, I’ve read the nightmare of getting the two rear bolts out with the shock spring in the way.
Maybe later, the rear arm bushes look fine to me.

Ordering these two aftermarkets. that’s a bargain.


Here is a gory shot of the upper ball.
This sucker is dead dead. Pretty sure other side looks the same.

 

Does the ball joint have play or make noise? Your car has over 80,000 miles so it makes sense to change it, however, these ball joints are quite robust, and although the boot has perished as they are in most XKs, the ball joint might still be fine.

 

There is zero play in any of the wheels right now.
Up in air. Hard wiggle attempt top/bottom, side-side, back-forth. Also wiggled the components themselves.

Does this mean I will ignore the issue? No.

Does it mean I will put coolant fix & mounts first? Yes.

 

Most of those perished boots ( usually 8 ) can be replaced as the boot only where it isn’t labor intensive. The front upper control arms are an example where cleaning up the ball joint, regreasing and fitting a boot saves the joint and your money for a new arm. The rear upper and lower control arms are super labor intensive and are only done when they fail. Trailing arms/ links are cheap to replace on their own. Your 80,000 mile front ball joint is an example of how long they last with out a rubber boot or grease.

 

Thanks Boca. (Also one of my favorite places, have friends down there)

I’m mathing the $10 ball vs the $90 entire upper control (F) with all bushings installed + effort of each.
To do just the ball, I’ll need a puller kit and a press kit, which are 40-50 bucks and I’ll only use once in as you said 40-60k miles.
The steering ball joints are not as bad but they’re perished as well.
Thinking out loud… Assuming I have 4-8 ball joints to do, plus the cost of the tools, vs 8x$90. I may just come out ahead buying the tools and save dealing with the nightmare of the bolts aimed at the shock springs as well as the brake line running right through the rear uppers.

 

The ball joint on the upper arm isn't replaceable. You have to replace the whole arm.

 

Front or Rear?

 

both

 

If there is zero play on your ball joints, your choices are 1) Do nothing 2) clean up the joint, replace boot ( posts on forum direct you to boot sources ) 3) replace both control arms with aftermarket as OEM are crazy expensive. Personally, I don’t see the replacing of the arms until there is some wear as you may get many miles before needed. To do everything is a full time job. I’d just keep an eye on the suspension. I’ve been told by Jag techs the joints can last a long time depending upon driving and road conditions. FYI…. When our cars were new and under warranty, the boots were already falling apart and I was told that Jaguar refused to replace them under warranty!

 

Well, between you and Sean, seems like my choices are to replace the entire upper arm or wait.
I’ll worry about the mounts and whatever the indie shop finds Thursday first.

Based on the dozen or so threads I’ve read, if something were awry, I’d here noise going over speed bumps and such. Or feel a lot of play in the steering.
Zero metal sounds or squeaks on today’s excursion.
Other than the roar of the engine, no odd sounds or smells for the first time.
Even the air filter I run in the garage seems to have purged the smell of jack fluid.
its a glorious day.

 

Interesting, but after reading your thread, I've decided to address my Front upper control arm boots. I also don't have any play, but I also don't want to experience the creaking that can occur as some wear begins. I'll be taking my car to my Indy soon to replace the boots for the fronts only, as these are the ones that take most of the abuse with speed bumps, steering, and the weight of the engine. For the relatively small cost to have the ball joints cleaned up, rebooted, and injected with grease, to me it's worth it. I'll worry about any other suspension parts when they fail.

 

So this now leads me to ask:
Are any of the ball joints replaceable?
Let’s say, the Front Lower Steering Knuckle Control Arm Ball Joint.

 

I don't believe ANY ball joints are replaceable on our cars.....Only the entire arms.

 

OK well that blows. Guess I get my chance to go “Elbow deep, cuts scratches and all”.

 

The good news (better news?) is that many of the bushings (bushes) are replaceable, since they are a wear item at 90-100K mi. You'll need a press, but if you indy does it, you can take the relevant part and replacement bush in to be pressed in.

Speaking of which, the front lower thrust arm (sometimes called the banana arm) has a replaceable bushing. Much cheaper than getting a new arm. BUT, note this: the arms can be installed reversed, with the bend in the wrong direction. Yep, I did it, even though I've replaced them in BMWs, which are not reverseable So, I'm bragging to the guy in the next rent-a-lift stall how I do all my own work. As I back out the car, there's a gawdawful noise as I turn the wheel...and the cause was installing the arms backwards. Up the lift it goes again, and I kept my mouth shut as I reinstalled the arms. Karma.....

 

After my first date with my indie shop Thursday, I’ll get the “musts” and “shoulds”.
There are primary component kits on eBay for 350 bucks front and $450 rear now.
Thing is, all the arms and legs metal components like shiny new compared to the used ones I see online.
But having a full spare set wouldn’t be a bad thing.

Gonna look up this ret-a-lift thing. Never heard of it.

 

Did you have a part number for this? I've never been able to figure out what that's even called to try and find it and it's always annoyed me that mine was missing.

 

The part# they list is C2P21483AMN
“Convertible Top Access Cover 2006-2014”

We are trying to talk @unklebuck into modelling and printing them.
There is a Euro company called OctoClassic that prints commonly requested parts on demand.
But their parcel service “has suspended shipments to the US”.

Unklebuck could use their site as a starting point for what to make, but you are now the fourth person needing that cap.

 

As far as bushings go, poly bushings will last longer. Maybe you already know this. Poly are great for sharp curves and handling on the track. They are otherwise very firm and you may not like them of every day or weekend driving.

Control Arms. - Eurospare are an officially approved part supplier for Jaguar. Their arms are cheaper than Jaguar brand. But Ford used (and Tata stayed with) the same control arms on many cars. 2002 S-Type will fit our cars as will arms from a 2006 Lincoln LS. In fact you'll often see Ford stamped on Jag parts.

You can also go for the entire set, like Stuart did and that's fine too. He used Autoaceinc on eBay. There's no BBB rating on them that I can find but they have a 99.5% satisfaction rating on eBay and have been there since 2016. He did a write up on it and seems happy with them.

 

Ugh, Indie shop’s Master Tech is out for the week.
Getting pushed to next week.

On a happy note, I found a place that lets you rent a bay with lifts near me.
It is more of a men’s club model with a monthly membership and camaraderie which will be very helpful building my confidence getting my hands dirty.
They also have all major tools and machinery many of us don’t want to buy or store in our garage, free to members.

Will be taking a tour next week as well.