At about 65 or 70 you feel a front end shimmy. Front tires seem to be wearing evenly. First thought is to get a front end alignment. Is there something else I should be looking for?

Thanks in advance.

 

Worn control arm bushes can cause this.

 

+1 on the bushes, have you balanced the wheels lately?

John

 

First try reducing your tire pressures to 32 psi front and 29 psi rear. For my 19" tires that is the sweet spot for ride quality.

Have you changed any of these yet? If not then try replacing them in the order listed. All are relatively cheap if you can DIY.

1. anti-roll (sway) bar bushings
2. anti-roll (sway) bar links
3. steering rack mounts
4. tie rod ends (requires realignment)
5. upper control arm bushings (requires realignment)
6. lower control arm bushings, ball joints, wheel bearings (requires realignment)

 

Thanks

 

+1 on the wheel balance. Just had mine checked and I was off 1oz/1.5oz. Plenty to create a vibration.

 

There's a lot of bushes on the front end and the crossbeam itself has bushes and Vee mountings connecting it to the body. Upper wishbone bushes are usually the first to go (20 - 30K miles) but I'd get the vehicle up in the air and check all the suspension and steering before going for an alignment.

Graham

 

Got the tires balanced. That helped. Got the tire pressure set correctly that helped more. Still shimmies between 70 & 75 mph. fine at all other speeds. Shimmies more if you are loosely holding the steering wheel.The tires are 6 years old but in great shape. lots of tread and no cracks. My understanding is front end alignment with parts and labor will be about $800. Does that sound right. Plus from what I can tell that has nothing to do with the shimmy.

 

An alignment is a couple hundred bucks max. Can you get more details about what your $800 is paying for exactly?

 

Labor was quoted at $400 and a kit would be required $ 300 was his guessdament.

 

It wouldn't cost that unless he's replacing the control arms themselves. Go to another alignment shop, that guy is overcharging. An alignment should cost between $70 and $150 at the most. I bought a year's worth of alignments from Advanced Auto for $75. I can go in as many times I want for the next year to get a 4 wheel alignment and not be billed a single dime.

 

There isn't much to align of an XK8. Basically just front toe and rear toe. Camber is not adjustable, caster is "adjustable", but would have to have been screwed up at the factory to be off.

I swapped shocks, springs, wheel bearings, Inner/outer tie rods, control arm bushings and lower ball joints and didn't even take it in for an alignment: I did one side at a time and drove it up and down my street (about 1/4 mile straight/flat) and adjusted the toe until the steering wheel was straight after each side I put 10,000 miles on it after that on the same old tires with no noticeable wear.

Get him to tell you exactly what parts a being replaced.

Inner/outer tie rods? upper and lower Control arm bushings?

Is he going to guarantee the shimmy goes away for $800 or its free?

Be aware grooved pavement will feedback to the steering wheel. Make sure the shimmy isn't being cause by road grooves.

 

mscott,

For USD800, you should be getting a substantial amount of parts changed out, ie the list in Rothwell's post #4 above which seems comprehensive. Check with mechanic what he's planning.
Plus the wheel inspection, balancing, alignment are a 100% must do afterwards.

Regardless of the suspension, mis-matched / old / bad / hard / worn tyres, I bet, are the cause of at least 50%, of all cases, for "shimmy" problems. You may just be in the other 50%!

Reading Forum posts the X100 does seems hard wearing on front suspension components. Must be geometry, kerb weight and long wheel base set up.

 

If a kit is "required", it means the alignment shop is trying to "fight" the suspension design. Ask for specifics, basically which number is out of spec. Taking a guess, it likely has too much negative camber, i.e. your upper shock mounts are likely shot, causing the suspension to collapse and the top of the wheel tucking in. This is a VERY common problem, the Jaguar part is junk,

Best of luck, keep us posted.