Hello everyone. I am experiencing some front suspension issues and I would like some help in identifying which components are to blame. My car rides great and handles like always but when I hit a bump at speed it feels like there is no suspension. Also when going over large dips in a road the front seems to sag and the plastic dam in the front scrapes on the pavement. Visual inspection does not show me anything.
I am guessing maybe shocks need replacement but what do y'al think. ANd if it is shocks which brand should I be looking at?


Thanks!

 

The upper shock mounts have long since crumbled away on these cars by now. Many of us have replaced them along with our shocks to restore the ride height and handling. I like the Welsh Enterprises poly upper shock mounts, along with Bilstein replacement shocks (which can be sourced online now for less than $100 each). The original springs seem to hold up fairly well, but some owners here have also replaced them. Plenty of threads on suspension parts replacement here in the XK8 section. Use "XK8 suspension parts replacement" as your search phrase and you will have at least a couple of hours of reading to do, but it will be well worth your time if your car is still running around on its original shocks, mounts, bump stops, bushings, etc.

 

I would add that you can get numbers by finding the Vehicle Spec Book on Jagrepair.com. The ride height is listed (as well as how to measure it). That number tells the story. Have you checked the inside of your front tires for unusual wear?

 

Tires look ok all around. When I figure how to measure ride height I will post it, thanks.

 

Jon89, pretty much covered it. New upper shock mounts (search XK8 upper shock mount on Ebay and look for Jagjagjags seller - which is Welsh ent) are about $150/pair shipped.


Bilsteins boots and bump stops are less than $115/side shipped.


Taking off the upper wishbone makes it easier to replace the shock/spring and while they are off you can change out the bushings (a little over $100). You can remove the wheel liners, and leave the wishbones in place but 20 year old rubber is not good rubber.


With low miles you should not need ball joints, yet, so be gentle on these (no pickle forks) because they are an pain to replace. Check your inner tie rods for floppiness while you have the suspension apart. If they are floppy, replace them.


The other bushing that can lead to clunkiness is the front sway bar bushing. These aren't hard to swap out with skinny arms and ratchet extensions (and airbox removal on the right side)


Once you do the front, the back will start clunking and you repeat the process with upper shock mount foam and new Bilsteins.

 

I am not sure how to do this :"Ride height is measured from the center of the wheel to the apex of the wheel arch, through the wheel center line." Can I measure from wheel center to under edge of body arch? When I do this I get 14" on passenger side and 13 5/8" driver side.

 

Thanks Jon98. This may be beyond what I want to tackle but I will check out prices for these items.

 

That sounds right for collapsed shock mounts. The shocks may be okay, but unless you're on a very tight budget it would be wise to replace them also.

 

Ok here are my ride height numbers as best as I can measure;

Passenger- front 14", rear 15.5"
Driver - front 13.625", rear 15.375"

 

I think I may be able to replace those items myself. I saw a U-tube video that was very descriptive on how to do this. If I am careful and don't disturb the shims will I still need to do an alignment?

 

No matter where you put the shims, the only thing an alignment will set is the toe. Look up the parallel strings alignment method and set the toe yourself. It isn't worth paying someone $100 for 3 minutes work.

The upper wishbone shims change the caster a little. The difference shim locations from one side to the other is supposed to take into account "road crown". I mostly drive my XK8 in the passing lane of a divided hwy so the road crown I experience most is completely opposite of what the factory settings are supposed to adjust for.

The shims are like the thermostat in your office at work. It may do something, but you won't notice it. If you adjust both sides to "max caster", it will drive fine.

 

Those numbers look like classic upper shock mount numbers.

 

Ed, your front end is way low, like mine was, I replaced the upper shock mounts, upper a arm rubber bushings and lower shock bushings and raised the front to only 14.5", still way too low. It still scrapes. I have twist-in aluminum spring spacers that worked well before, so now I may have to reinstall them to get proper ride height. Very disappointed that all the front end work did not help.

 

I took a look at my front suspension components and I think I will need to replace the lower shock bushings along with the shock and upper mounts. I have attached some pics. I know the outside rubber on the bushing is pretty much gone, but is that enough of a reason to replace the bushing?

 

New shocks come with the bushings installed, so take that route.

 

^^ What he said. Given the age of these cars now, if you are going to take the time and trouble to remove the necessary components to get to the shocks, just bite the bullet and replace them. New Bilstein shocks are available online for less than $100 each with free shipping now from several different suppliers....

 

Besides, the lower shock part you show is more a joint. It has a plastic insert and takes a lot of load. What you see are the rubber boots meant to keep contaminants out of the joint. These have clearly failed. You can get these joints online for about $20 EA. Shocks are $100, your call. I replaced the joints on mine, but in retrospect, that may have been a false economy at about 100k miles. The bad news is that these joints do not seem to offer a lot of give to alter the ride height. Every bit counts, though, and failed joints like this definitely have some play.

 

Thanks to all for the info. I am going to replace the shocks and upper mounts so new bushings are included. Just as an aside, my auto tech guy, who does my oil changes, said he would not do the work because of rust issues on old Jags, even mine has been garage kept and never ridden in the snow since new. (and now resides in the sunny south!)

 

There shouldn't be any rust issues, but the even the sunny south can present some corrosion issues.

The suspension bits are Aluminum and steel. Add water with a little salt in it, say from the beach, and you can get galvanic corrosion that bonds suspension bits together.

Garage kept, away from the ocean, if the car has never been driven through 6" deep or deeper standing water, you should be fine.

The biggest corrosion issue people run into on a front suspension redo is the bushing sleeves rusting solid to the upper wishbone bolts. If the wishbone bolts/nuts loosen and turn freely without the bushings spinning, suspension R&R will be a breeze and your mechanic is missing out on an easy $400.