So my new to me 2007 XKR seems to have some issues on the rear suspension, all of the rubber boots around the upper and lower control arms, the sway bar drop links and the tie bars have all perished and will be letting in road dirt. The car has only 31000 miles and i am thinking the lack of use has resulted in the boots going hard and then after being used after a long hibernation they have just torn apart.

I have looked online and can certainly buy all of the new upper and lower arms etc but i was wondering if anyone has tried just replacing the bushes and if it's even worth doing this. i know these can be a royal pain to get out and back in again and with these rubber boots I'm pretty sure it's a recipe for disaster in not trying to tear them getting the new ones in.

Thanks

 

the big front and big rear can be pressed no problem just pour hot water and don't crack them. $110 for bushings vs $400 for brand new arms in the rear

upper arms aren't really worth it you can just go on ebay and buy them for like 70 bucks a pair.

 

Your rubber bushings perished due to time, not lack of use, particularly if they're the 14-year old originals.

 

There is a sticky about replacing the ball joint/tie rod/stabilising link boots- Ive just done the job myself- whole car for £30. As for the grease seal on the bushes, these can perish with time, but are not a structural part of the bush. I found a short height tie rod boot that saved a bush that had no play in it, for £3.75 posted. The size I used there was 18-28-16.

 

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...5/#post2241347

this is the sticky I mentioned.

 

Excellent, thank you!!!!!

This will be a good fix for the drop links etc. i will still need to replace the bushes in the lower/upper control arms as these are also perished.

Looking online i see powerflex and polybush offer a full set of bushes for our cars, i was wondering if anyone has fitted them and what their opinions are with the ride vs std.

thanks

 

Answered my own question, will stick with the OE gease filled...

 

That's the grease seals, not a structural part of the bushing. My advice- check for play- if there's none you could get away with fitting a boot that is roughly 20-30-10 from my memory. I went for 18-28-16 as its the closest I could get. These are tie rod boots technically- used here they are far superior to the awful material that was used in the OEM equipment, at 16mm high they are a little squashed up but that gives they huge capacity not to break under extreme movement, their only purpose is to prevent grease migration.
Please check measurements as I actually did this repair on an upper arm bushing but I think the diameters are the same.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UNIVERSAL...53.m2749.l2649

 

Thank you again, I'll get under the car this weekend and check for play.

 

here are photos of a new arm I bought where the grease seals had perished in storage! I was given a refund on the part and decided to see what I could do with it. I used a silicon based grease for repacking.