Has anyone dealt with the possibility of lessening the cowl shake on this car? This bad boy shakes rattles and rolls! I'm thinking there must be a way to stiffen up this structure somehow. But, I am no engineer. Although I can weld some supports in

 

After driving around in my 95 Corvette coupe with the targa panel removed, in comparison my XKR convertible with the top down feels rock solid. I have not noticed any objectionable cowl shake in the Jaguar but I guess it the perception depends on what you are comparing it with.

Doug

 

There was, about a year ago, discussion about a company in Phoenix building a carbon fiber brace to bolt to the strut towers. Not hearing any more from them I guess they never got it to work properly.

The XK8 is rock solid rigid compared to the wife's Miata.

 

doesn't the older xks also have that X brace under the car? Is yours still there squirrel?

 

Lessen the shake by driving on good roads only ! Seriously though, the car is based on the XJS, and the last of the convertibles of this model had a bracing frame underneath the front. Shouldn't the XK8 have it as well ?? Other than than, not much to be done, I'm afraid. As Microsoft might say, "it's not a bug, it's a feature" !!

 

You find irony in life, I'm comparing it to a 95 corvette convertible. which had all the structural integrity of jello. In fact the hood used to pop when I hit speed bumps... .

I had one of those 2 thought it was the best of the lot next to the pair of 2001 mustang convertables, the vette and this jag.

 

That seems odd as the Corvette convertibles all came with cross-bracing underneath. As a matter of fact, adding the convertible cross-bracing to the coupe was one recommended retrofit to drastically reduce the flexing that occurs when the targa is removed. Perhaps someone had removed the bracing from your convertible?

Doug

 

Something wrong with the Miata? I have owned 3 and they all were stiffer up front with the top down then my 97 XK8 with it's top down. I don't consider the cowl shake on my 97 bad either. And I do have that X thingy under the front end of mine.

 

You may want to check with Gordo . I think he had the same problem and was successful in identifying the problem and a fix.

 

That x brace was the most god awful, bandaided, pile of trash, i have ever seen bolted to a car. It took out several inches of ground clearence and hung up on speed bumps. More over it was slapped on instead of really addressing the real shortcomings of the car for a decade. Just thinking about it makes me angry.

My vette and the Jag have an x brace. The corvettes was considerably meatier.

 

Yea I agree, I was looking at it this past weekend when I changed the oil and thought that it looked chincy, something I would have found under my 1993 Geo Metro Covert. YES YES I did own one of those. Just married, no kids, little money, our first new car (never have had one since), and we traveled from Cincy to Nashville a ton so MPG wise it came in very handy and for what it was it was a pretty nice litle car. I think it will be a odd ball collector car down the road.

 

I rebuilt the complete front end, new front shocks, tires, etc. trying to dampen the body flex. IMO the flex is coming from the weak rockers and body under the doors. Put the top and windows up and that stiffens the structure considerably.

There is nothing else I know of except to get into the longitudinal bracing under the doors. I have not been able to confirm this for a fact, however, I think the 2003 plus have extra meat under there which is apparent by their beefier rocker panels.

Forget about a front strut tower brace. That is not going to stiffen up the flex between the A and B pillars. The only thing that works besides top up driving is running less air in the tires to cushion the ride before it gets to the springs.

 

I was just about to head down that road Gordo. You just saved me a pike of money in front end parts.

 

If any suspension components are loose, or the tires are out-of-balance, that will exasperate the condition. But there is an inherent flex in the chassis. Those that do not complain about it; either do not have a good reference point to compare what a solid chassis should feel like; or they have just given up, accepted the situation, and drive on smoother roads.