I've just received a full set of suspension mounts from Baxtor and started dismantling the front suspension today. The Upper Wishbone bushes aren't in great shape so I might as well replace them whilst I'm at it. I've read lots of feedback on the various options but does anyone have recent feedback? I'm looking at the SNG Barret site and they give three options:

• Jaguar OEM - about £220 for the full set
• Aftermarket set - about £70 and these seem to be about the prices that other Jag specialists sell at for aftermarket
• "Uprated" Polybush - about the same as the OEMs

I want original ride - I'm more of a cruiser than a track warrior - and would rather pay £70 than £220.

Does anyone have any strong recommendation? Any reason I shouldn't go with the £70 option?

CHeers

 

How easy did the fulcrum pin come out? Do you want to do the job again in another 25 years time or in a few years?

Answer those questions and you have your answer.

 

They came out surprisingly easily. One of the inner shims on one side grabbed the fulcrum pin but that was easily fixed when I identified which one. The bushes themselves just fell out.

Nevertheless, it’s not something I want to do regularly. I’m guessing that kicks out the cheap aftermarket stuff so OEM or Poly? AI tells me that the a combination of OEM lower bushes (which are in good shape) and Poly upper bushes are a good combination but that might just be based on a single review so not reliable.

What’s your advice? I’m only replacing the upper wishbone bushes.

To your longevity point, the bushes appear to have been replaced only three years ago..

 

I've done this job twice - the second time I used Baxtor's mounts and OEM bushings. The first time I used non-OEM for both and they simply didn't last very long (less than 5 years). Both times the fulcrum pins were a PITA to get out, hence why I thought I'll see if I can fit parts that will last this time. How long it will last is another question. Like you I like a soft ride, so I avoided the poly type bushes.

In the scheme of things 70 versus 220 is not that much difference over the number of years you hope it will last and well worth it if you can avoid having to do the job again, or at least prolong the inevitable.

 

Using poly bushes on the front upper wishbone should not make the ride harder - they handle the pivoting action rather than ‘up and down’ movement. My Jag specialist recommends using poly bushes for this for longevity but not for the rest of the front suspension where more flexibility seems beneficial

 

I recently replaced my XKR's upper bushings with polyurethane, and it didn't have a noticeable impact on ride quality. One more vote in their favor.

 

This is true on smooth roads. Where I live the roads resemble the surface of the moon. I switched from poly uppers back to rubber because the ride was too harsh. OE bushes fixed that.

If you slightly increase the inner diameter of the shims so that they slide more easily in the fulcrum bolt, removal should be easier the next time around.

 

Thanks for all the feedback. First decision was, of course, to pay for the stuff that should last - thanks for the sense check @dibbit .

I've decided to try Poly Bushes on the basis that it was actually fairly easy to remove the old one so if I've made a mistake and I don't like the results, I'll go back to OEM.

I thought you might be interested in the bushes that came out. I've got a record of the upper wishbone bushes being replaced about three years ago before I owned the car. The bushes I removed differ between sides of the car. Those on the Left in the picture below are in reasonable shape and have "Metalastik" branding. Those on the right are in a state and have no branding. A mystery - did someone replace the lefts with OEM then give up on the right, or did they run out of the good stuff and just chuck in an aftermarket on the right?

 

@markdpeter - you still have to use the 4 spacer washers each side with poly bushes - my garage didn’t know that and threw them away. I ended up buying a new set and fitting them as per the workshop manual’s factory locations.

 

Thanks. I've kept the washers/shims to put them back but was presuming that I don't need to put back the shims below which, by their shape, are more part of the bushes.

Interesting looking at that diagram. My car has all those shims but not laid out as shown. It looks as though someone has either guessed where they should go before or has wanted to do some weird caster adjustments..

 

That is correct, the caster shims are smaller in diameter. There should be 2 x thin and 2 x thick and they need to be distributed according to the chart displayed elsewhere or as your alignment tech may require.

 

Thanks @baxtor I reassembled the shocks today with your Mounting bushes and spring isolators. I’m hoping to get everything back in the car tomorrow so I can drive it. I’m looking forward to some great improvement.

 

Here's where I ended up.

I've replaced the upper shock mount bushes with the Polyurethane bushes from @baxtor . £150 including shipping from Australia but this included the front spring isolators, and the rear top mount isolators and damper mount bushes. Adamesh charge £150 plus postage for the similar US products produced by Peter Hobman. They would have arrived more quickly but I liked the option to do the rears and the novelty of them coming from Australia! Baxtor also includes the lower shock mounting bushes for both the OEM and Welsh brand mounts, and the Uro brand. My car had the OEM/Welsh version. The hardest part of this work was getting right the alignment between the top mount fixing studs and the bottom shock to lower control arm bushing. It took two goes on each side to get it right.

I decided to go for the Powerflex Road (Purple) upper wishbone polybushes. I got these from Auto Reserve Jaguar for £144 including the shipping. This was the best price I found and I like dealing with Auto Reserve so a no-brainer. These slipped in easily with lots of PTFE Silicon grease. I'd left them in the freezer overnight and presumed this helped but I don't think it would have been too hard anyway.

When putting the fulcrum shaft back in, I realised that the shim which had been "grabbing" it when I tried to take it out was a non-standard size. It was the same thickness as one of the thick shims but had a greater diameter - about the same as the bushes themselves. I'm guessing this was a replacement for a lost thick shim but had a slightly smaller bore than standard. As @giandanielxk8 suggested, I opened the bore up a little and it slipped on and off easily.

The only other bits I needed were some extra PTFE Silicon grease - Powerflex are a bit stingy with what they include with the bushes, not helped when you kneel on the pouch and a load shoots across the garage floor - and two new damper nuts from JLR Classic as they aren't supposed to be renewable.

I'll post some photos before and after a bit later but took the car out for a 50 mile drive first, making sure to cover some rough tarmac on the route. I've got to be honest that I wasn't expecting a dramatic improvement but I've been pleasantly surprised:

• There's no additional NVH that I can feel
• There's actually less noise over rough surfaces - it was a bit "crashy" before
• The whole front end feels tighter. It's much closer to a new car feel than what I'd got used to in a 28 year old convertible that we know is heavy on its suspension components.

I now wish I'd done it sooner but better late than never. Thanks for the feedback and to @baxtor for a great product and service.

 

Photos as promised

From left to right - original upper mounting bush, original lower mounting bush, Polyurethane lower mounting bush. Note that the poly bushes are the ones I have left over which are for Uro brand mounts. The bushes I put in my OEM mount were wider and deeper - a lovely snug fit. The originals weren't awful but had definitely seen better days:




Before and after shot of the Upper Mounting bush. The Poly bush just looks so much a better engineered solution:



A couple of photos of the fitted Powerflex bushes - sorry, I completely forgot to take photos before I fitted them and before I put the wheels back on!