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Took my car into the shop for wheel alignment because it started pulling to the right. I was worried I would need a wheel bearing and it turned out to be the case, which I'd prefer doing myself. A couple of questions if someone could help
(a) Is there a hub and wheel bearing assembly as a unit I can purchase for the xk8? If there is, it this a good idea or should I stick with the separate components.
(b) If a single unit is not available should I replace the hub a the same time?
(c) the shop said the wheel bearings looked factory - should I do both front wheels as precaution?
(d) any tutorials / videos / manual /. notes that I can refer to.
^^
The front wheel bearings were a tad under-engineered on the early cars. If you can source a pair of hubs from a 99 on without sacrifing a kidney, and refurb those, it could save you some downtime.
I've attached the JTIS procedure. Note it calls for a bunch of special tools - you might be able to improvise.
Some have found it less painful just to cut the old ABS ring off and replace.
Took my car into the shop for wheel alignment because it started pulling to the right. I was worried I would need a wheel bearing and it turned out to be the case, which I'd prefer doing myself. A couple of questions if someone could help
(a) Is there a hub and wheel bearing assembly as a unit I can purchase for the xk8? If there is, it this a good idea or should I stick with the separate components.
(b) If a single unit is not available should I replace the hub a the same time?
(c) the shop said the wheel bearings looked factory - should I do both front wheels as precaution?
(d) any tutorials / videos / manual /. notes that I can refer to.
Thanks
You will definitely need a very good hydraulic press as you will need to buy the bearing separately. Mine needed a 30 ton press and a gas cutting torch to get the old bearing assembly hot enough to come out. You also need the special castellated tool to remove the rotor nut and a long piece of scaffolding bar as you are talking about a torque of something like 300Nm (check the manual as I assisted with this job many years ago). It will be the most force you have ever applied to a car component!
Ok mines a later MY05 but I had a go getting the ABS ring off to get to the wheel bearing on a couple spare hubs I bought with no joy. I even had the special tool but those are on tighter than ‘Boyce’s wallet’. I moved the bench and vice before that thing would give. Good luck
I found a couple of refurbished bearing and hub assembly in UK - sent out an inquiry to ask about those. Shipping included cost about 350 USD - I might go down that way if these are available. With those in hand, I won't mind giving this the old college try knowing I have an alternative if I needed it.
I don't see very many wheel bearing or hub problems being reported here on the 4.2 cars. Looks like Jaguar learned their lesson after the early 4.0 cars....
I don't see very many wheel bearing or hub problems being reported here on the 4.2 cars. Looks like Jaguar learned their lesson after the early 4.0 cars....
The 4 litre cars were designed to be 4 wheel drive. Once Jaguar decided that this was going to be too expensive and reverted to rear wheel drive, they did not change the design of the hub and bearing assembly which then left a double bearing assembly but with too high a force acting on the outboard end of the axle. My original first front bearings lasted about 30,000 miles but the replacements have lasted 50,000 so far so I suspect that Jaguar beefed up the spec of the bearings.
Indeed so. The XJ41 / XJ42 was basically the prototype for both the XK8 and the DB7. I don't know whether Aston Martin remodelled the front steering and suspension to move it away from the possibility of drive to the front wheels but Jaguar did not.
Indeed so. The XJ41 / XJ42 was basically the prototype for both the XK8 and the DB7. I don't know whether Aston Martin remodelled the front steering and suspension to move it away from the possibility of drive to the front wheels but Jaguar did not. Richard
Clearly, neither model was ever going to be 4WD, but it is interesting that;
The X100 steering knuckle uprights are ‘thru-axle’ design which can support mounting of a CV joint.
The DB7 steering knuckle uprights are ‘stub axle’ design which cannot provide mount for a CV joint.
Any design alteration to the uprights was expensive (handed drop-forge tooling) so maybe this is why Jaguar stayed with the available components it had committed to.
Clearly, neither model was ever going to be 4WD, but it is interesting that;
The X100 steering knuckle uprights are ‘thru-axle’ design which can support mounting of a CV joint.
The DB7 steering knuckle uprights are ‘stub axle’ design which cannot provide mount for a CV joint.
Any design alteration to the uprights was expensive (handed drop-forge tooling) so maybe this is why Jaguar stayed with the available components it had committed to.
Every time I do any work on my front hubs. I look at the design and think how obvious it is that they were designed to take a drive shaft and have often pointed it out to anyone who happens to be in the garage with me.
Unfortunately, this led to the two bearings being positioned such that the force exerted by the weight of the car through the wheel is not distributed optimally through both the bearings and the outer one can wear out far too quickly. Back in the early 2000's, the Jaguar dealer told me that some owners were only getting 20k miles out of them!
I think Jaguar might have beefed up the bearing in later models to give them a reasonable life span.
Although I didn't know it before your post, Aston clearly had the right idea and could see the issue so redesigned the hubs. Thanks.
This is interesting. Aside from the weak wheel bearings in the early cars, are there any other disadvantages to this design from a weight, or suspension geometry perspective? Why did Jaguar ultimately choose to forgo AWD. Could, with enough money being thrown at it, our cars be converted to AWD? Is there any advantage other than tooling costs, of the actual design?
This is interesting. Aside from the weak wheel bearings in the early cars, are there any other disadvantages to this design from a weight, or suspension geometry perspective? Why did Jaguar ultimately choose to forgo AWD. Could, with enough money being thrown at it, our cars be converted to AWD? Is there any advantage other than tooling costs, of the actual design?
I'm sure that it would not be possible to convert the XK8 to AWD even if you fitted a different engine with drive outputs at the front. There are no parts available such as the shafts etc as these never went into production. I'm sure that the AWD option was never pursued because Jaguar was presumably virtually bankrupt which is why Ford got involved. I believe that it was Ford who decided that Jaguar should proceed with the replacement for the XJS but it had to be a modest cost project rather than continuing with the expensive XJ41 prototype so a cut-down version of the XJ41 was inevitable as there was nothing else in development. Aston proved that it could be done.
If you think about the design, without a shaft on the engine side of the front wheels, all the force from the wheel is being amplified through the hub axle and acting on the bearing from one side only. With a shaft in place, there are forces acting across the width of the entire hub from the wheel on one side and the drive shaft/engine on the other side. Removing the shaft without the redesign that Aston clearly implemented was always going to leave an imbalance in the design.
Ok, this makes sense. However, there’s one thing that is still a mystery to me. The DB7 came out before the XK8 and had the superior knuckle design. Why didn’t Jaguar use Aston’s parts instead?
G, if I'm reading the parts catalogue correctly, the knuckle and hub are shared with the XJ's of the same era. For parts commonality, cost and probably crash certification(?), it would have saved a couple of dollars to have one unit in the inventory.
I found it easier -- and maybe cheaper -- to replace the entire hubs with refurbs with new bearings installed. I found mine at Auto Reserve Jaguar of Derbyshire. I was able to order two remanufactured hubs for about $150 each and $70 shipping. They arrived -- UK to US -- in about four days. Couldn't be happier.
Front wheel bearing replacement
