Happy Thanksgiving All.


I just purchased my fourth Jaguar, this time a 1997 XK8 with 56K on the clock. The previous owner had all of the service records and, when I picked up the car a week ago, he handed me a brand new lower ball joint. He said that his mechanic said it needed to be replaced. The car drives straight and true with no clunking or noise up front. I don't mind having the ball joint replaced, but I lean toward the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" philosophy.


I already have a repair quote of $130 (1.5 hours) from a respected local front end shop, plus an additional $60 for an alignment. If I had not been told about, it would be the last thing I would worry about on this near perfect specimen.


The question is -- how will I know when it needs to be replaced? What's the worst thing that can happen?


Again, it is not the money so much as why fix a seemingly perfectly fine car.


Thanks.

 

If its a lower ball joint the main symptom is premature inner tire wear. On most cars you can drive over a speed bump slow and the bad ball joint will go "Clunk". But not these, mine passed that test but I had inner tire wear and it took some brute force with the car in the lift to see the play. This also didn't show up on the alignment I had done because of the inner tire wear. The bottom of the tires tend to spread when the car is moving causing the wear so it doesn't always show up on an alignment.


Dave

 

If it's a lower BJ the price quoted is exceptional as they are a PIA, uppers are no big deal.

 

I was quoted $120 each for just the labor.



Dave

 

It certainly tells you the PO was a meticulous owner.

Ball joint separation is something I haven't seen for years so it's very unlikely to cause you safety concerns. If it was getting that bad, you would certainly feel it through the steering.

As others have said, the usual result is uneven tyre wear. Jack the vehicle up and with the load off the suspension and you can check for lower ball joint wear by movement at top and bottom of the wheel (see arrows):



If there is excessive movement, be sure to verify it's at the lower ball joint and not the upper joint, bushes or the wheel bearing.

Graham

 

120 and 130 seems like a steal for the lowers. Personally at that age I'd consider having all 4 done, replacing the strut and strut mount if they haven't been done, replacing track rod and all the bushes. Plan on doing my 97 in the spring. It is just of that age.