Question for the more informed; seen here in the attached images are boots on steering linkage and tie rod ends which are cracked. While this XKR is a 2007 it has fairly low miles at 24k. Rarely driven in wet conditions, should I be concerned and correct immediately? Are others experiencing this? Appreciate some insight here. Thank you.

Charlie
Cracked boot



Boot cracked

 

I last checked my 2007 XK steering/suspension two weeks ago and there was no sign of any of the boots splitting.

A split rubber boot will allow dirt in and accelerate wear. Just because the boot is split doesn't mean the ball joint will collapse.

Here in the UK, it would be at minimum an 'advisory' on the annual (MoT) inspection and a 'fail' if wear was noticeable.

If it were mine, I'd do it at the earliest opportunity but wouldn't consider putting the vehicle off the road in the meantime.

Graham

 

What grease that was in these joints are or have been squeezed out. That being the case you have started to get metal on metal wear and eventually you will get play in these joints which will cause steering problems and tire wear. The car's mileage was not the problem or not driving in bad weather but this is an age problem with the rubber boots. I would start to replace them going to tie rod ends first followed by ball joints or do them all at once.

 

I had to do almost a complete rebuild on my 2007 suspension, all of the tie rod ends were shot, along with the bushings and shocks. Surprising all of my ball joints were fine.

 

My professional and personal opinion is this. If mine i would not replace without wear. Why? Because by the time you develope wear in the original parts vs replacing with new ones right now. The new ones will have split boots about the time the original develope wear(timevsmileage factored). So you would be replacing 2to1. Now with an extended warranty this is cause for replacement.
Replace stuff that really would be an issue with older low mileage cars like rubber and plastic parts in the cooling system... And tires, upper shock mounts and control arm bushings that are split...

 

I've replaced the boots on several of the joints just measure the diameter and go on ebay or auto stores and a
look up ball joint tie rod boots

 

From member Hafren on the x350 forum:

With all the problems with rubber boots i decided to find polyurethane boots for the front suspension upper a arm ball joints. So i bought from this ebay supplier and am very pleased 2x Polyboots Polyurethane Ball Joint Track Rod Dust Boots Covers 14x31x23 mm

The 14-31-23 is the closest fit and I was able to use the existing retaining clips on the new boots. Part quality is good and i was also suprised how quickly the item, shipped to the US.

 

What a great group! I appreciate everyone's input here.

 

thank you for the link Sean. ran across this company when searching today as well: https://www.suspension.com/universal-dust-boots.asp

 

Yes I changed one out mid 2016 and the other in March

 

do you have to separate the joint to install these boots?

thanks

 

Not sure what you're asking tarokyama. You have to remove the nut and separate the control arm from the mount but the boot is held on with retaining clips. Remove the clip, then slide off. Is that what you were asking?

 

Does anybody know the size for the tie rod ends 2008 XK?

 

Did you ever get an answer to this? What size are the tie rod boots? I'm finding a lot of my boots are falling apart under my 2007 XK. Gonna replace some of them and am wondering whether I should just replace the tie rod ends on the front left and right. I was planning on not messing with the inner tie rod that it screws into. It would make the job easier and I wouldn't need the tie rod tool. But I'm not sure what it may look like in there. Could still be OK? Also gonna replace the boot on the UCA which is badly damaged. I'd like to just replace the tie road boots and not buy the whole part but maybe the joint is messed up from driving while the boots been leaking.

In the rear end there's a lot more boots that are shredded. Gonna replace the UCA boots on the rear. And I'm gonna buy 2 new sway bar links as suggested in another thread on here by GordoCatCar. I think he said the tie rod boots on his fronts were 15-30-23. Maybe it's the same for the rear ones? Gonna buy all these from polyboots.com as suggested. I'm kind of a novice, hell I'm a giant rookie on this suspension stuff and am getting educated by you guys on here nicely in these threads.

Funny this whole suspension issue only came up because I'm painting my calipers right now and putting on new wheels. Once I got into the job I saw all the shredded boots and do recall hearing a big thunk in the back suspension when I hit a bump. That was clearly a problem with the rear suspension. Probably the upper or lower control arm? I haven't even thought about the shocks yet. This is turning out to be kind of a big job but all those parts need to be replaced. I guess it's always the case when you start repairing stuff, you'll find other problems that were kind of out of sight out of mind.

Thanks in advance for any help on this guys. This is a great group and great resource.

 

Theres a bunch of threads on suspension parts. Ive done rear sway bar links, bushings, lower and upper arms, toe links, front upper arms, inner and outer tie rods. All over the last year and a half or so. All due to worn boots and squeaky noises.

Stay away from deutsche parts on eBay. I used Rock auto, Ford Parts, and the Jaguar dealer (for the caliper washers) for most of the parts. I went with replacing the parts and not the boots since most of the joints themselves were shot. Plus i didn't want the aggravation of removing the whole part then spending hours trying to clean, lube and fit new boots.

Rear toe links and front tie rod ends should be done at the same time so you only need to get 1 alignment done. The inner rods do wear, when you disconnect the ends you will see how much play the inners have. They are easy to replace with a large adjustable monkey wrench so you can do it while doing the ends.

For rear upper arms you need to disconnect the brake lines so be ready to do a brake bleed, as well as replace the washers on the calipers. Ford Parts has the OEM Jaguar ones for a fraction of the price.

Rear lower arms are pretty easy, just make sure you do final torqueing with the weight of the car on the suspension. Same with upper arms.

Passenger side upper arm you will need to remove the coolant tank, so get a syringe if you don't want to drain and refill the whole system. Driver side you can get away without removing the ECM.

Ratcheting wrenches, a variety of sockets/extensions, plus a small and large torque wrench will be your friends. Good luck!

 

Any advice / comments on how to install new boots? Did you clean and apply new grease? Degree of difficulty?

Thanks

 

Just had my Jag serviced this week,, they showed me pictures of my four boots. All were split, but grease seemed to stay inside.
My mechanic said it was age, not wear. Recommed replacement but indicated it was not immediately needed. Said the limited amount of driving I do could wait till fall.
If I was driving in dirt roads, or in the winter with salt and sand he would do it now, but dry paved roads in the summer are not a problem
He was going to send me and estimate, but had not arrived. What can I expect to pay ?

 

These split boots come in many sizes from different makers and for different places on the car. Suspension, steering, whatever. They make repairing boots a HUGE amount easier and cheaper. They aren't made to last for 20 years of course, but they'll do good for quite awhile.

 

Just got my estimate back for my local Jag Mech. To replace all four boots w/ factory replacement, $615 out the door. Thought it would be more. Scheduled to have it done next week.