Just had the car in to check out a squeak. Diagnosis ball joints, upper and lower control arms and as if that weren't enough, the front shocks need replacing too. Does anybody know where I can get a decent deal on the parts?

 

Try www.welshent.com
I've had good luck there. Ask for Horky.

 

Save yourself some money and do the upper control arm bushings yourself (See Reverend Sam's video instructional in the FAQ or recent thread list)...unless that ball joint is shot. The uppers last a little longer. The lowers...well, I can believe it. Check the price between just bushing replacement vs ordering the part w/ new bushings and ball joint (rear and front lowers) and just bolt on. It may end up cheaper. The front and rear parts can be found around $260 each. Call Dan at Nalley and give him a shot. You can also see the parts here at Gaudin Jaguar. .

 

Matt,Wow, the prices at Gaudin are a lot cheaper than I've been finding! You mentioned Dan at Nally. Who is that?

 

In for a penny, in for a pound. Should I consider replacing the rear control arms at the same time as the front? I've heard that once the front suspension is redone that the rear may no longer be in spec. Not sure if that makes sense or not.

 

Nalley Jag is a forum sponsor, and Dan takes all calls from members if he's there. Check the vendor directory or his For Sale thread for his contact info. Free shipping over $25 and 15% discount. Nalley and Gaudin are very close on prices. It may come down to who has what in stock.

My rears are just fine, but it really depends on where you live. A quick inspection should reveal any problems in the rear. Rears will increasingly get more negative camber too, just not as bad as the front. If you find too much tire wear in the rear, first try lowering your air pressure (Im at 29 psi now). I also did a 'rear shim kit' that improved camber when I was doing thousands in front suspension work a couple years ago.

Did I mention my front lower arm bushing is failing again? Its got power steering fluid eating away at it from another leak. dangit

 

Turns out the front suspension isn't shot but the mechanic should be. I went to another shop to get a labor price for the front suspension. They looked it over and as it turns out the problem "squeak" was the mounting bolt for the upper control arm. They undid the bolt, sprayed it with penetrating oil and bolted it back in. Squeak is gone. He said all the bushings were fine. There is still the issue with the torn dusk cover for the left side ball joint. He filled it with grease so it's good for awhile. Last question...does anybody know if that dust cover (rubber boot) be purchased separately?

 

I was going to suggest that you have it checked by another location. My car has been looked at my two locations the first being a dealership and the second an independent. I was told that my lower ball joints were worn and needed replacing the second place asked me what seemed to be the problem because he could not identify anything wrong.

Kudos to you for getting a second opinion!

 

No it can not I am afraid, it would be easier to change the ball joint

 

Gus, Thanks. If I had stopped at the first two places, I would be in for $3900 and $2400 respectively. The $47 dollars the third place charged seems like quite a bargain.

XK Racer, I was afraid of that. Oh well, one ball joint is better than all the stuff those other shops had planned for me.

 

“Hey, Bubba! What we got here is one of them fancy Jag-wire racin’ type cars. Guy mus’ have a buncha cash. Les see if we can relieve him of a wad of it.”

Sometimes they see us coming.

 

LOL! Won't be takin' the Jag Wire back to Bubba anytime soon.

 

You need to be careful about the bolt for the top wishbone, (aka control arm). The bolt must NOT move; if it does it will elongate its housing and make the subframe scrap. The wishbone bushes must, (obviously), be the only parts that allow the wishbone to track up and down, so if these are seized they should be replaced asap. Once they seize the only way the suspension can move is the securing bolt has to rotate in its housing.

Seizure of these wishbone bushes is a fairly common issue on these XKs once they are getting on in years, and I read an article on this fault in a UK Jaguar magazine about 12 months ago.

 

Fraser, Not sure what the problem was. The mechanic unbolted it, sprayed it with penetrating oil and then tightened it again but not as tight as it was originally. He said all the bushings looked good. Only problem remaining is the boot for the ball joint is ripped so I guess I still need to replace the upper control arm, though he didn't think that was an emergency. Thoughts?

 

My ball joint has been ripped for probably 3 months now. I was just under it this last weekend and its still pretty clean under it, has some joint appears to have some silver grease on it still. I have two new ball joints from jaguar sitting in the garage...was wondering if I should do them both at once, but then realized my bushings on one side is being obliterated by the power steering fluid leak, and I might as well change the whole arm to fix it (and of course, bjoint comes with it. So...not sure which way I'm going on this. Probably replace the bad joint, then get a new arm for the deteriorating side. If the ball joint dries out, I'd replace it sooner, but as of right now, it isn't. When the rainy season hits FL, I'd keep an eye on it.

 

Hey Matt,
If you're going to do it, check out the link to Gaudin Jaguar in this thread. They had really good prices on the parts.