Bent front lower control arm?
 

Well I'm doing the lower bushings and ball joints now, and while it was in no way easy, the right side is done. The left, however, is even more stubborn than the right, which took about 4 hours to press out everything. Now the front part of the lower control arm is especially tricky to get on the press, so I did the right side with the control arm bolted together, and it worked. The left side refuses to budge, and now looks like it has a bend in it. I didn't think it was possible to bend a casting; I thought it would have just cracked. Can someone please verify that this is indeed bent? I really don't think it's supposed to look like this, and I can't see the other side that I reinstalled already (and don't really want to take it back out) and all of the pictures online are at angles that do not show this...

Marty, it does look kinked a little to the left. Can you get a straight edge on the other side and compare the gaps.

Wayne

I don't remember a kink in mine, but don't have an ideal picture to compare.


Here are a couple, I am having to do mine again after only 18 month due to using cheap aftermarket parts, so don't make the mistake I did. This time I plan to use Powerflex poly bushes which will at least be easier to push in, getting the old ones out fills me with dread though.


http://racediagnostics.com/cms/uploa...spension61.jpg


http://racediagnostics.com/cms/uploa...spension63.jpg

It is most certainly kinked to the left. Should it be perfectly straight? I guess I'm buying a new control arm now too.

That bushing looks almost as bad as the passenger side front that I took out. Mine was done with a hack saw, drill, angle grinder, 4lb mini sledge, chisel, and finally a 20 ton press. The back part, on the other hand, slipped right out after I ground the lip off and put it on the press. Maybe I should invest in one of those specific bushing C-clamp kits like you have in your second picture.

You know, everything on this car is made to be 10 times harder to repair than it needs to be; I have been working on cars (including other Jags) for a long time, and this one is by far the worst. I swear there is some retired Jaguar engineer out there laughing his ass off about how his kindergarten scribblings were used in a luxury car design... If it weren't my favorite body design of all time, I'm sure I'd be substantially more angry at the car right now.

Marty, I got that kit from Advance Auto on a rent basics. It's a big up front $190, but you get it all back when finished and there was no set time. Well worth it. I do have a 20 ton press but not taking some parts off the car or truck is a big plus.

Wayne

Free rental, huh? I didn't know that anybody did that anymore.

Hang on, check out the pictures in this link:
Jaguar XK8 Driver Left Front Lower Control Arm Brace Bracket Support MJA1348 | eBay

It looks like it is bent. The question is how much?

Does anyone have a direct-on picture of the control arm like the one I had in my first post?

Well it's bent beyond repair. The lesson here is: before you try to press a bushing out, hack the crap out of it first. Worked great on the other side.

almost national auto parts discount stores loan out the tools for a deposit. orielys loaned me the ones i needed even tho i didnt buy the parts there.

Ebay has a few used ones at decent prices.

harbor freight has a set i picked up, don't remember what i paid less than 100, several sleavs and plates i used it several times, once to press out lower shock bushing on my adaptive xkr, which if u read most people who don't have adaptive just replace the shock since it's such a pain, this kit worked ok.