My 97 XK8 needs a front right strut. Is it a strut or a shock with a housing to make it appear to be a strut? I have called several dealers and parts places and I am getting conflicting info. Some what the cars vin, last 6 digits, others say it is a shock, one say that it is a strut. WTF??? help?? The few that gave me a price came in around 275 bucks for the strut that they called it as!!!

 

I think you can go either way, a strut is typically the upper attachment point of the suspension with only a lower control arm and stabilizer link. A shock is usually stand alone with leaf sprung, coil over, torsion bar suspension. The xk uses upper and lower control arm, but the thingy has the coil spring around it similar to what a "strut" has maybe its a hybrid
either way, dont loose sleep over it. I have seen a car manufacturer able to call a part the same name from booking, to parts catalog, to the shop manual...
A bigger concern i would have is that i would recommend you replace "both" front shocks as a pair with anything over 50k miles. Otherwise it can lead to a tetter totter effect over bumps

 

I know both should be replaced but one side is costly enough. The other will have to wait a little bit.

 

Going with Bilsteins Tim?

 

Hell if i know. My shop is working on it now. Hell i just called them and they were just started to track down one. Based on the dealers and european parts places i called many folks are lost on what this car takes. I got no warm fuzzies over this what seem a simple repair.
Bilstiens will be top dollar i would think.

 

I am confused. Is the strut on the car one pc or is it two. An INSERT??? Would'nt it be cheaper to just put in a an insert?

 

my shop looked at car today and days it's the strut. The car still handles well, there is no bounce to that corner of the car but when you push down on that side it squeaks real bad. They say it is not another suspension part. What would be broke with it?

 

BRGJAG, Check out my thread for "front top shock mount replaced". There are some pics that show you the assembly. And by the way the shock/strut whatever you want to call it in my pics is a Bilstien replacement. I bought them from Eshocks.com for like $87.00 ea. Jaguar uses bilsteins from the factory but I guess that green paint just costs alot more. I don't remember the exact part number off the top of my head but you can pull it up on the web site. I do know that when I replaced mine they were identical to the ones I took off less the green paint. Bilstein does'nt offer a replacement for jaguar's adapative ones. But unless there are wires coming out of your shocks you don't have the adaptive ones anyways.

 

Here's the part numer for the fronts: BE5-6726-H0
$97.50 Each, I did mine a couple of years ago.

 

Nice part reference Dpez, most people (including me) would not have known those shock/strut alternatives were available. That's a great price per unit.

 

should the top MOUNT thingy be fixed also??

 

Yes replace the upper mounts too, it would be foolish not to while there

 

YEA BUT THEY ARE 250 A PC I AM TOLD. AT 75K MILES MY SHOP SAYS THEY PROB ARE OK. CAN THEY BE HAD CHEAPER THEN THAT PRICE?
Bilstien shocks, when ordered, do they come with the bellows and the stops???

 

Bilstien can't tell but they say it appears the unit from them does not include BELLOWS or STOPS. So I have to reuse them from the old unit?

 

well if your shop worked on jags all day, they would know its really not so much mileage on that foam rubber material jags uses, but time. It is your money afterall. But it comes down to your expectations of repair and upkeep and what your comfortable with. I drive cars i would never let get in that condition, but hey no issue for that customer. And that meterial when it starts to go, its not a slow process, so if your gonna keep the car and would like it to be clunk free, then again i would still rec replacement now. Its no added labor since theyre there now. But will be another equal labor charge. There are many shops/techs that only want to fix 1 thing at a time and never think to talkk to the customer about money saving/breakdown reduction strategies...
This is 1, like i said it is your decission, but at least you know why...

 

Well I get no clunking right now from the front. I get the "FIX IT NOW" while it is apart stuff. But man this repair hits at a bad time. I am finding all the parts on the net at good prices that are mostly OEM but still. Just frustrating figuring this all out and then to call the dealers for info and they don't know either is just frustrating.

 

OK. I am having issues finding the friggin parts. I found the Bilstein HD front for 88 bucks each, stop bumps for 15 bucks each, but can not find bellows from Bilstein??? Do I need to replace them? Do I need anything else. I know I should replace the mounts also but....

 

All you need from bilstein are the shocks, just reuse the bellows and stop that all already on the car. The bellows and stop do nothing but sit there. your front would have to travel about 3-4 inches before it even touches the foam stopper.

If your going to change the top mounts go to jaguarparts.com they have them for $172.13 each. They are called Upper Mount.

I attached some images, one of the jaguar parts screen and a couple of what the mount looks like as I'm in the midst of changing mine. I did the drivers side but still waiting for the passenger. The only part you really need is the big toilet seal looking thing. They have another piece of the same material sandwiched between the part with the studs but I don't know how much that part actually wears. It's riveted between the two plates that make up the upper part. The lower ring is steel with rubber molded around it. I took dimensions from all the parts because in the future I will make my own. I still have to deterime the proper derometer of the material but still alot cheaper than $350.00 for upper mounts. I Don't see why they just can't sell the foam ring (yeah I do $$$$$)

Hope this helps and good luck.

 

thanks for the clarification. I was ganna order bellows and stops, ha ha ha. If you think they are fine then I will go with out. I was kind of thinking that they prob were ok.
Thanks for all the input guys.

 

I have a good used set of OEM Bilstein front shocks w/ new lower bushings you can have for $40 plus shipping. They have less than 50K miles. When I was rebuilding my front suspension, I thought shocks were causing a problem with shimmy and shake so I got new Bilsteins. Turns out they were not the problem and there was no difference in the ride. The old ones were just as good as the new ones. Now I just want to get them out of the garage. Let me know. Gordon