What do you recommend for a floor jack and where are the jack points on the car? I'd like to have just enough to take off tires for occasional detailing brakes and inside wheel. Do I need something special to take off the wheels?

 

Any smaller 2 ton rated floor jack will lift any of the corners on the XK. The jacking points are behind the front wheel and ahead of the rear wheel. They are imprinted into the plastic lower body trim by a triangular arrow. I usually use 2x4 or any other hard flatbar about 2" inboard from the arrows as to have the support of solid chassis and not the plastic skirt that has the arrows on it.

Be sure to also use a solid stand support while you are working, particularly if you go under the car, and not rely on the hydraulic lifter. They are known to come down on their own.

Nothing special to take the wheels off, just the lug-nuts.

Albert

 

At 65lbs each... A strong back is helpful

Vince

 

One of the wheel nuts is different. There's a toolkit in the boot with a gadget for taking the cover off it and (hopefully) a special key that fits it.
Do yourself a favour, take all the wheels off (one at a time!), clean up where they mount onto the hub, put some CopaSlip or similar on the contact areas and wheel nuts then torque them up to 70 lb/ft.
You may have to beat the wheel rims with a fibre mallet to spring them off the hub and the nuts will have been done up by a half witted gorilla with some sort of steam catapult.
Neither of these are things you need to find out with a flat tyre in the dark during a thunderstorm.

 

FWIW My manual calls for 92 ft. lbs. on the lug nuts. I would be very concerned about 70 lb/ft????

 

Odd, what manual is that ?
XK Owners and Vehicle care manuals say
At the earliest opportunity have the wheel nuts tightened with a torque wrench to 65 – 75 lbf.ft (88 – 102 Nm). Do not exceed this torque.

Sure you're not working in Nm?

 

Sreve,

Page 282 of my 07 XK "Owners Handbook" states 92 lb.ft(125 Nm). It was the same for my previous Jag an 05 XJR, although I no longer can quote from that handbook.

70 lb.ft is not good. It's little more than hand tight. Beware.

 

This is weird !
My handbook, the JTIS for 2004 XK (quote -To install, reverse the removal procedure.Tighten to 102 Nm) and half a dozen tyre firm torque charts all go for 70 lb/ft.

 

It looks like you are both right, I checked the X100 and X150 manuals and the wheel nut torque specs are different, and the figures you quote are correct for the two models.

 

So the OP's nuts (!) need Tarheal's torque not mine.
Thanks for sorting it out.
I wonder what the design difference is - or have wheels been falling off ?

 

Had another look, 1999 to Vin #024786, states the lower figure of 65 to 75.

I would guess that it is wheel and lugnut style specific.

Be a good idea to check against your Vin.

Agree with the floor jack comments a 2ton is good enough for home use. But with your lowish XK you want one where the nose profile is low enough to slide under the car with a protective pad.

A great big bus jack with lift your whole car into the air, but you would have to dig a hole just to get it underneath.

The other thing with small trolley jacks is that the higher you go the more they tend to want to move away from you generally with the car also moving.

Good idea to chock the other side of the car, or be prepared to follow.

For quick R&R, brake pads etc, I tend to chuck the removed wheel under the car at the side of the jack. Maybe not so good with your expensive alloys, but a leg is more expensive should things go wrong.

 

I always use an Ice Hockey Puck on the floor jack pad; works great, better than 2X4.
Don't know why it's 92 ft lbs for XK's; it does seem to be high, my Acura MDX is 80 and Discount tire uses 75 on our XK8.
Good idea to check with Dealers; bet they are all different!!! I'll check mine..............

Adrian