Hello,

I have been researching the forums for a few days now for information on replacing the front springs, mounts, struts etc. I'm going to do this work myself.

I think I may be more confused now .

I have purchased the upper mounts, so that is done. I am trying to find proper struts and springs, but I am having some trouble.

A few online places have said the springs are no longer available. Has anyone purchased springs lately for their XKR? If so, what brand and where?

I have been searching for new struts, and don't know if I have found any matches for the XKR (some want to know R Option) which I thought all XKR's have? Sorry for all the questions, I have only owned this car since August.

The reason for this fix is (previous post with tires rubbing question, https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...03-xkr-124181/)

I just figure if I'm in there changing the mounts, I may want to just replace the springs and struts too.

Thanks in advance.

 

Try some of the forum sponsors, like SNG Barratt or Coventry West. I have had good luck with RockAuto and PartsGeek as well. There is also Guadin Jaguar, but they are usually more expensive. Mention the forum with SNG Barratt and get a 10% discount.

Be very specific about the springs. They vary not only by model (XK8 vs. XKR) but also by coupe vs. convertible. Ask the man who knows. The shocks are Bilsteins and should be readily available in several places.

Since you are replacing shocks,springs and mounts, be sure and get the other bits as well. The coil/spring assembly uses a rubber gaiter, an "assister" (think bushing) plus a spring seat and washer. You may be able to use the original spring washer as they are now made differently. After 100k miles, mine was reusable.

BTW, have a shop disassemble and reassemble the coil springs. Cost me $50 and a half hour's time when I took them in already off the car. A lot less work and not as dangerous as using the rental tools from the auto parts places.

 

I wasn't able to find oem springs for my coupe and ended up with Adamesh lowering spring because they were the smallest amount of lowering I could find.

There are two different shock types for the R model, regular and what they call the R package, which is a little firmer damping.

Both are about the same price and you can fit whichever you prefer, but be prepared, each of those active shocks is going to set you back about $400.

 

Thank you. This is solid information. I was going to use the compression tool, you advise against it?

 

here's a possibility:


Steering-Suspension | Jaguar XK8 - XKR | British Parts UK


I looked at the page again and it does say: EXCLUDES ADaptive Control Damping

 

You can do it yourself, but you should have a GOOD spring compressor, not the harbor freight junk.

The springs are tapered and need to be compressed pretty tightly so the tool needs to be pretty compact.

 

Thanks. If I can find springs and struts, I may just take the lot in and have someone assemble them.

 

All is well and thanks for all the info.

I got the upper mounts from Jagbits.

Cherry Hill Jaguar had the springs believe it or not they gave me a great price with struts and springs together.

A local shop will put it all together for $50.

 

Warning about Black Dog "improved" neoprene upper bushing kit.

The original bushings were perishing on my 2000 XK8 and I purchased the Black Dog "Improved" neoprene bushing kit. For those who are not familiar with this - it is a circular upper shock bushing contained within two steel mounting plates that are pop rivet together and then fastened to the car at the top of the shock. I disassembled the original, Cleaned and painted the bushing plates, installed the new neoprene bushing and pop riveted them together. I then went to bed for the night and left them beside the vehicle on the garage floor.

The next day when I came back to install these upper bushings both neoprene bushings had split totally through on the sides. This was before they were even installed on the shock. I could not understand if they were properly designed how they could split when they were in a fixed position between two plates without any forces from the suspension. It is an obvious fault in their design if it self-destructs this easily. I contacted Black Dog several times with no response.

I would be extremely careful about dealing with that company. Good luck.

 

Am replacing the badly worn upper strut mount on the front of a 2003 XKR convertible, and am told the springs appear to be OK. Vehicle has just 40k miles. But given the zero labor cost, is it advisable to replace the springs while in there? The car was riding too low up front and my 20" tires (2005 BBS Victory Edition rims) were rubbing over dips. the mechanic thinks the new mounts will remedy that. Greatly appreciate all thoughts!

 

I just completed redoing my set up: new mounts, new shocks (w/lower shock bushing), new bump stops (original gator still good), new spring pads and metal spring seats (original white spring seat still in good shape and reused it), new control arm bushings and new control arm ball joints . WITHOUT DOUBT the worst part was using the spring compressors from local parts shop (free rental) - this a nightmare. I will never use them again and wished I had taken to local garage to have them do them for me. I would have paid $100 to have had them do this for me.

 

I think the trick to using these spring compressors is to have several different versions of them to work with. When Wayne (cjd777) and I did this job back in October 2014 (rears) and January 2016 (fronts), he already had a pair and I purchased a different pair and brought them with me to his home shop. We wound up shortening one pair by cutting them, and that allowed us to properly position them into the tight spaces required during shock assembly removal and installation. I believe we used a total of three on each corner, and we may have used all four on one particularly finicky corner (I cannot remember which one)....