I am changing over my suspension bushings to polyurethane PowerFlex this week but needed new ball joints. I was unsuccessful in locating any manufacturers offering them separately and the price for new upper arms from Jaguar was ridiculous, $600 each for the fronts and $350 each for the rears. I spent several days looking at aftermarket replacements from several manufacturers but was leery of quality particularly after reading several threads on other forms such as Audi and BMW. I was thrown for a bit of a loop by Jaguar having changed part numbers several times and specifying completely different part numbers across different models. So in my research I discovered that Ford sells them and for a huge savings, I paid just over $100 each for the fronts and $150 each for the rears and also as far as I can tell, Jaguar's varying part numbers mean nothing, I received everything today and the Ford Motorcraft parts are stamped JAGUAR and made in the UK and the stamped numbers match the stamped numbers on the ones currently fitted to the car and also match the ones for the S-type, X150, XF & F-type.

There are several sources including Amazon and Rock Auto with excellent pricing.

FRONT
MotorCraft MCSOE38 = 6W4Z3084AA
MotorCraft MCSOE39 = 6W4Z3085AA

REAR
6W4Z5500AB
6W4Z5500AA

 

Just a question JA - why would Ford be selling these - good find by the way

 

Didn't want to bore with to many details but these are the same arms used in the Lincoln LS and Ford Thunderbird. This is not the first time I have found genuine Jaguar parts for huge savings from sources other than Jaguar. Unipart is the logistics company contracted by Jaguar to provide distribution of replacement parts and there were a few times I located the same parts from other retailers part of that group.

 

I'm not finding so good prices in Canada $187 & $200 respectively - but still way better than a Jag dealer.

https://www.autopartsway.ca/search.c...search:mcsoe38

 

Ya, I just noticed on amazon being listed as Thunderbird.

 

Where/how are you cross referencing those numbers to an XK? I see a reference to the front arms on an S-Type but don't see where they are used on any other Jag product.

 

Beck Arnley's website indicated all were compatible across multiple platforms and stock photos I found online showed the numbers stamped on the parts. I compared them to the numbers on the parts from my car and when I received them I compared the new parts to the old and they were indeed the same.

 

That brand is not OEM and those can be had in the US for under $100 each. Look on eBay, there are dozens of aftermarket some even as low as $70 for a pair shipped!

2PCS Front Upper Control Arms w/Ball Joint Ford Thunderbird Jaguar S-Type LS | eBay

 

Jahummer.

Your thread raises an interesting question. We have never had a satisfactory answer on why Jag has such huge markups on replacement parts.

I once paid over $100 for a $5 vacuum valve at a dealership in Denver. I was certain a mistake existed on the price list. That was in 1980. I contested the price all the way up to Jag North American HQ in NJ. All I got was conformation that the price was indeed correct, no mistake and no explanation for it. I was not able to talk to a decision maker ever but at least 2 or the 3 guys I talked to seemed to give a s --t but had no authority to correct an obvious screw up. As it has transpired, the issue is pricing "policy" not simple mistakes.

Somebody, somewhere in the Jag organization must have the rationalization that the parts pricing policy is counterproductive. When you see 10 year old Jags headed to the wrecking yard because maintenance cost exceeds the value of the car and the value of the car is plunging due to high maintenance cost -- well ya gotta know something ain't right.

Mind you this conundrum does not apply to those of us willing and able to source Jag parts closer to the original source in the supply chain. Some of us are able to keep our Jags on the road years longer than you would expect but we pay the price in the abnormal depreciation of our cars.

 

Companies know selling service and parts, at exorbitant prices, is a good profit center. Companies that I have worked for, especially a government contractor in particular, relied on service and parts for their profit. (They would have gotten at least $250 for that $5 vacuum valve.) Sure it does not make for good customer relations. But someone already bought the new product. Are they going to scrap the $100,000 product instead of getting gouged on the $5 repair part? I doubt it.

It is not just Jaguar and my government contractor. Look at parts for your refrigerator, home A/C, or dishwasher. The markup is equally staggering. They know they have you over a barrel and you will pay their price.

 

theyre all basically the same suspension. I have a set of 2010 xf rear control arms on my 04 xj. They all align correctly which is what you should be most concern with

 

I don't know what there reasoning is for pricing. I don't think it's to gouge or make huge profits even though sometimes that is the net result. I have bought tens of thousands of dollars worth of parts over the last 7-8 years as I stopped leasing Jags and started keeping them. Pricing makes no sense sometimes. Look at the paddle shifters as one example, cost is about $25 each, is a unique part to Jaguar, has electrics built in unless of course you look at the aluminum version and the price jumps by about 15X. Many other parts I have purchased that one would think should be more expensive such as leather & suede, interior trim pieces, XKR-S rocker side sill covers for just over $200 each, etc have been very low priced, IMHO while other parts have been way over priced. I have also seen parts price change drastically. Last year I ordered new console side panels to match the new dash. When I ordered them, they were both under $300 each but by the time the left side arrived the price had nearly doubled and the right side which Jaguar had none available and had to be custom made by their vendor remained at the original low price even though it took them about 6 months to fabricate it. I have had the same ting happen with other parts as well.

 

I think "shelf time" might be factored in on parts Jaguar doesn't expect to be needed often. Trim pieces get broken by people, suspension parts may be more resilient.

Good find though.

 

There is absolutely no difference between the Ford and Jaguar branded parts. I've renewed my entire suspension with mostly Lincoln LS and Ford Thunderbird parts. And even for the Jag branded stuff, there's often a price discrepancy between XJ, XK and S-type parts, even if they're exactly the same.

Also a lot of times, there's different part numbers spread over several model years for exactly the same part. For example, I've got Jahummer's old 08 XKR rear brakes installed on my 05 X350 with zero modifications necessary. Straight bolt on upgrade, even though the XJ and XK wheel knuckles have different numbers and prices.

 

I would have cut off paid with valuable pieces of my anatomy for this information in December. I spent days on google and never figured out which ford parts were useable in the suspicion. Wound up rebuilding the control arms with new bushings which was a huge project without a lift and press.

 

As I replaced the springs yesterday, I noticed that the bushings on my REAR LOWER control arms were dry-rotted.

I've done a little research and see that there is an OEM option and an aftermarket option for them.

As you were doing your research, did you (or anyone else reading) happen to see any options where the bushings themselves can be purchased? My car has 18k on it so they aren't actually worn; just dry-rotted.

Thanks!

 

Yes you have several choices. New OE bushes, poly bushes, aftermarket arms or original arms. Personally I would buy the whole assembly so as not to have to go through the hassle and cost as the price for new bushes is almost the same as new arms!

In this case the Ford source ones XW4Z-5A649-ZZ are about the same price as Jaguar around $250 each. Rock Auto has some Moogs for about $150 each but there are several other brands for around the same price.

 

I think I came to the same conclusion; you are right that the cost for the bushings and the effort to install them offsets and cost savings.

Good info! Thanks.

 

Jahummer,

THANK YOU! I'm due for new upper control arms (front only) on both sides. Any reason to suspect your parts would not be compatible for my N/A '07 XK? It seems like the XK and XKR share many of the same suspension components.

Thank you again...I had read about this part compatibility in theory but didn't see anyone actually confirm it.

 

Excellent thread. I want to follow it.