, Hi, what you describe is often caused by a failure in one of the control arm connections, ie; a bush or ball joint. it allows the wheel to move over the uneven surface, dragging the car with it afterwards. Also look at the ball joints on the steering rack. Its not rocket science, so your dealer should be on to it straight away. Good Luck.

 

I used the poly bushings on my 99 XK8 convertible 99,000mi. It did stiffen the ride. If you have or intend running low profile tires I would NOT use the ploy bushings. I also rebuilt the entire front end, which helped a lot with the ride
Mitch. .

 

One other thing: I believe the bushings on our cars are not solid rubber, but filled with a "jelly" compound sort of like vaseline. Kind of like a jelly donut. So when the bushing cracks, that all leaks out, which makes it worse.

 

There’s a reason our cars feel so good and solid on the roads when effectively maintained. Upper and lower wishbones, anti sway bars and bushings galore. Jag designers know what they are doing. If you want a car that feels not like a jaguar, change the bushings type.

 

Although I've not had this problem with my X150, I did have a similar issue with my X100. The rear end felt like it was try to overcome the front end and was downright scary feeling. It felt like the rear was coming up along the side of the car when I was on the freeway. It turned out that a shot rear wheel bearing was the culprit, had it replaced and the problem disappeared. it was quite unnerving.

 

Reminds me... my very first car was a fiat 124 (spider). And living in Toronto, I could put the car on the tram tracks and she would follow the tracks on her own... even the turns.

 

I have noticed this tramlining issue on my '07. I finally got the front end picked up, and my toe links (steering rack to wheel hub) were toast on both sides. Luckily for me, the rest of the front end looked great, so the last owner may have actually fixed something. I have it scheduled to go in for alignment and front tires next week after the snow quits. I will follow up with my observations once that is done. With that and the rear end work I did last fall, I'm counting on a ride that feels like brand new.

 

Can't say for sure but I've had a similar experience with wandering off course, my condition resulted from a worn rack and pinion. Mechanics were not able to make the determination by looking so I experimented and made the determination on my own. My finding was that the vehicle only experiences this condition when added weight was introduced in the rear, apparently affecting the overall weight of the front end.

 

JJ, in reading between the lines, I'm assuming that you replaced the rack & pinion assembly and it solved the issue? Did you use salvage rack & pinion to do that, or did you go with new? How tough was it to swap that out?

 

I did change out the rack and pinion on a Sunday about 4.5 hours. Used new parts acquired from a dealer in Texas who understood my dilemma while traveling across country and, was kind enough to open his place of business on a Sunday, sell me the parts and loan me tools. This was a few years back 1981, 79 Jag. when there wasnt so much coverings, splash pans etc.
Before I would attempt to do it again I would seek out an honest Jaguar pmechanic or pay the price of having it diagnosed at a dealer. I would not want to know the price of replacement from a dealer in todays market, or the price of the R&P.
Sadly to say, it did improve the ride but wasnt the real issue. It was the weight distribution in the rear of the vehicle making the front end ride lighter while towing a trailer. Once the load was removed no more problems. A well learned lesson to say the least.
My remark on the R&P was a suggestion to be looked at.

I'm presently dealing with a door lock replacement on our 2009 XF, dealer wanting 1k and part is $328.00. I'm a searching by calling dealers all over S California for a better price on the lock, can do the work myself.
Good luck on your quest.

 

Hi and further to the original post regarding my XK Convertible that tended to follow road undulations and white lines. Due to an MOT failure on a leaking rear shock and misting front shock I had all 4 replaced today and bought them from an ebay seller specialising in suspension components.
I have included the link underneath this post. After having had them fitted I am deeply disappointed with the ride quality, the beautifully composed and supple ride has gone and the car crashes into every minor ripple in the road and the car seems to "jiggle along". To be fair the wandering seems to have improved which is something but I'm not sure whether I've made a terrible mistake buying cheap parts. When I was originally looking most of the recognised Jaguar suppliers were asking £200 plus each for front struts and I paid £170 for a pair, though they were advertised as genuine OEM Bilstein.
Am I being over concerned? will the ride improve as they "bed in" or is it the old adage Pay Cheap, Pay Twice.

Cheers Ian

​​​​​​

 

Ian,

Your Wandering Jag - 2 post was automatically locked for moderation because it included an ebay link. I've removed the link, approved the post and merged it with your original Wandering Jag thread.

Graham

 

If you have CATS, are they tested and connected? Manual says a disconnected or otherwise defective CATS damper defaults to Hard setting.

 

Hi, yes all the struts are connected. I took it out for a longer drive last night and halfway through the drive I disconnected the front shocks, the car indicated a CATS fault on the dashboard but the car drove the same, very bumpy and stiff, reconnecting the struts puts the fault light out. I'm absolutely gutted, the car is ruined and I don't know what to do next. The seller insists the parts are genuine and I don't think the garage could have installed them incorrectly.
Is there any way to test the solenoids are actually being activated?
Cheers Ian

 

Are you sure the shocks are correct for your model year?
I replaced the front shocks on my ‘07 with ones that are for 2010-2011 cars. I originally thought they were too soft, but in reality they are always hard, causing the front to be bouncy on rough surfaces. Sounds like your problem is OEM shocks for the wrong year.

 

i concur. the dynamic dampers were changed. Was this done at the dealer??

 

Hi and thanks for the replies. I've compared the part numbers on the old dampers and the new and they are the same apart from the last two letters with the old dampers being BA. As I run a couple of older Land Rovers my diagnostic machine will look at the live date on the Jaguar and I can see a 0.5 Amp signal on each of the struts when in usual driving which should be 'soft mode,' if I drive a little more enthusiastically I can see the signal change to zero Amps which 'stiffens' the suspension though the car feels like it's always stiff. The seller has been very keen to help and has given me the number of his technical chap who I had a chat with today. I've tested all the dampers electrically and the technical chap indicated the coils in the solenoid should have a resistance of 2.5 Ohms which on testing they do, though when I tested my old dampers they have a resistance of 5.8 Ohms. Would the difference in resistance make any difference to how the damper works? I'm just a mechanical engineer so I'm well out of my comfort zone here. Everything seems to be ok but the car feels like it has iron girders in place of dampers.
Regards
Ian

 

I promised to follow up with observations, so here they are: I have determined that my tramlining was more than 1 issue. I drove it sparingly after changing the steering link and before getting it aligned. I noticed that the sloppiness in the steering feel was vastly reduced. The tramlining feel persisted, however. I had new tires installed (don't want to start anything, but the name starts with an M) and voila! Arrow straight and feels tight!

As far as the Bilsteins go, I think they're always going to be fairly stiff. I can tell a difference between the 2 modes, but it never gets 'soft' like my Dodge wagon is. There's just not as much travel with these low cars. Also, when I replaced the ones in the rear, it seemed like they needed a break-in period and got slightly better after a few weeks. They started out very stiff. Of course, that is subjective and could just be that I got used to it. I have not replaced the dampers on the front end yet.