1998 XK8 with around 95k on the clock...

The car's front wheels have been scrubbing the underside of the wheel wells under hard braking/cornering for a couple of weeks now. The problem is more prevalent on the left than right side. The car doesn't appear to be visibly tilted that way at rest, however. The front looks a bit low but not terrible so.

I've only got a couple of inches clearance between the top of the front tires and the inner wheel well. Everything is stock including tire size.

Anyway, the problem is worse when the ambient temperature is warmer or when the car has been driving for a little while. On a cold day when the car is first cranked and driven, there isn't a lot of scrubbing/scraping going on. As it warms up, even small bumps cause the tires to get into the wheel wells. It will rattle a little when warmed up, too.

I'm suspecting new front shocks are needed. Thoughts?

Jess

 

Have the shock mountings every been changed? That is a thing to check out if the car is sitting low and rubbing. Lots of past post on the issue and a common maintenance item.

 

I'm not sure. I would guess probably not. The only thing I can be sure was done were some control arm bushings and lower strut/shock bushings, as I had those things done myself when I purchased it used a couple of years ago.

I spent about an hour with the search feature before making the post ... a lot of good information there, to be sure. I just hadn't found any reference yet to a car that progressively gets worse after warm-up and thought that might make a difference.

Jess

 

I was about to ask about wheel bearings, but then that noise decreases with warmth in my experience. I'll post this anyway just to spark some out of the box thinking to try to help.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, but there's no real noise except when I hit a pothole or bump. No rotational noise, clicking, whirring, etc., like when a wheel bearing is about to go belly-up.

Jess

 

Sounds like upper shock mounts to me making the noise, I'd say replace the shocks and upper mounts, will run you about$250 a side. My car was 1.25" low and replacing these parts put it at 15.5"

 

Have a look at the top mount from inside the engine compartment to see if it's flacking and then under the wheel well at the top. Those two plates should be a good 1/2 to 5/8 inch apart, if not, get out the pocket book and read the forum for a DIY, lots of good info.


Wayne

 

Shock absorbers do not affect ride height - however as others have said the top shock mounting will. Check the struts under the hood - if the top centre retaining bolt is off centre chances are the mounts are gone - try and prise it around with a lever - if it moves then the mount is toast.

 

+1
Shocks do not impact ride height. At 95k miles, you might consider coil springs. However, check those upper shock mounts, lower shock bushings and the ball joints first.

BTW, normal ride height is 15.75 inches measured from center of wheel hub up to apex of wheel arch. Anything at or above 15" is OK. 14.5 should keep it from rubbing. If your stock wheels are rubbing, my guess is you are below 14.5" and that would be coil springs or upper shock mounts and lower shock bushings.

 

my front shock top mounts are gone on mine. It sits low. I was told to look at the mounts from inside the engine bay. Look at the shock towers, if the CENTER bolt is not centered then you have bad mounts. Mine are not even close to center, i have stuff coming out the top of my shock towers from the long ago collapsed mounts and them shredding apart.

 

I just installed the spacers from Auto Zone ($5.00) and they raised the front of the car from 14.25" to a much improved 15.25 inches. They work like a charm and were easy to install. I drilled them and zip tied them to the coils. I inserted them in the 4th coil from the top, 2 on each spring, 60° apart.

The car now rides so much better, smoother, and a little firmer but hardly noticable and overall I am now happy with the ride. Before, the car would scrape the road on severe dips and most drive entrances so that I had to angle the car over them. The front tires have worn holes in the front of the wheel well liners. The front lower plastic valance has been destroyed.

It's a simple, quick almost no cost solution to tired sagging springs.

The clatter I had when I bought it this summer was fixed by replacing the sway bar links.

 

I went through all this awhile back. Same problem, front left wheel hitting the wheel well. Plus scraping the front dam on dips. I replaced the worn out upper shock mounts, still had the same problem. Replacing the springs and shocks have made the car ride like new, and fixed the problem. Yes, it was expensive, $400 for new mounts, $200 for new Bilstein shocks, and $460 for new springs, and about $500 in labor for everything.

Good luck,

Don

 

Drove the car all day today and the $5 fix worked like a charm. It rides smoother, no more rubbing and no more bottoming out. Lots of other things still need fixing, but the front has now been raised an inch at next to no cost.

I love this car.

 

Measured both sides, got around 14.3" on the left and 14.8 on the right side.

I have yet to remove the dust caps from the top of the struts to look at the bolts but I've got a pretty good guess as to what I'm going to find.

Bumps are bad, but cornering (to the right) causes the most scraping. My wife and I rode in the car tonight and just the act of adding a passenger's weight to the car made the problem 2x worse.

I may end up trying the spring spacer fix for a couple of months until I can better afford the "real" fix. Naturally, we're renovating a house right now -- perfect time for the car to need $1500 in work.

Jess

 

John,

I am thinking of using these as well. The coils I have on mine are 6 months new, but I am afraid I ended up with the softer springs for the coupe and they have lowered themselves.

My question is on the drilling of the spacers. I also bought a set from Auto Zone. The metal ones that looks like vertebrae. How exactly did you drill them? Straight through the square hole where the wrench is inserted to install them?

 

I drilled a 1/4" hole through the flat part of the tongue that ends up on the inside of the coil. Jack the car, remove the wheel, pry the fourth coil from the top apart with a looong pry bar purchased from Harbor Freight, wedge in the insert and hit it with a hammer. Twist into final position with a 1/2" ratchet wrench. Tie with zip tie after positioning them by hand 60° apart (facing out) by prying the coils apart slightly. They clear the tires with plenty of space. They do raise the car by 1 inch so only add them if you're down to 14.5" clearance or so.

When reinstalling the wheel, I alwaystighten the lug nuts evenly with a torque wrench.

I don't know if you have to readjust the toe in for the small change in height or if this mod simply brings the alignment back into proper toe.

Regards,

 

mine is low but I am not getting much scrapping when driving or hitting the drive grade upwards into the drive but then I do not hit it hard. When I turn nothing is hitting yet but mine is sitting low.
But for now it will wait. After fubarring around with all the heater hoses and the water pump, then a failed fuel rail dampener issue, then o2 sensor I am just tired of the car, ha ha ha. Just driving it nice and easy for now and ENJOYING a car that does no smell like radiator fluid, leaking gas, leaky water pump. Now if only I could get warm weather so I could rehand my rearview mirror on my own instead of buying a whole new windshield just so I have the parts already attached to it. I am determined to reuse mine and save 800 bucks.

 

Sounds like your car has run you through the mill ths year. Just drive it and enjoy it.
Small stuff can wait. Today is it for me as tomorrow it's supposed to snow.

John

 

I'm happy to have found this thread. My story is pretty much the same with only minor differences ... Since I purchased this car four years ago, the left side made a scuffing noise only on a hard right turn that included a dip.

Later when I was installing WhiteXKR's remote drop top kit (requires removal of LF wheel and LF liner) I noticed the liner had been rubbed through in a spot and another spot was wearing thin as well. I did post here and got the information regarding the distance from wheel center to wheel arch. At that time, mine was OK so I simply covered the hole in the liner with Gorilla tape (both sides) and went on.

Within the last couple of months I've experienced a drop in gas mileage. My typical driving gets me an average of 22 mpg on a tank. It has dropped just below 20 mpg, no matter how carefully I try to manage it (driving like grandma doesn't help).

Two days ago I ended up parking the car with the wheels turned all the way to one side. This exposed an issue with the tires, both are wearing quickly on the inner sides. This told me there is certainly an alignment issue and maybe it's the cause of my poor mileage.

Yesterday I noticed the scuffing now occurs with more moderate turns and on road dips. This morning I see this thread and I go and remeasure the ride height. Uh oh, 14 inches on BOTH sides.

While I'm not remodeling my home (yet), I don't feel like shelling out big bucks to the local mechanic (not that he's a bad guy). I'll be out in the drive doing more diagnosis later this AM and will report back.

Meanwhile, if it's the upper shock mounts, do any national-chain auto parts stores typically carry these? Of course it is the weekend and the local Jag dealer's parts department is closed.

Mail order takes a while but if that's the only option, I suppose I'll be driving the beater F350 diesel crew cab long bed manual transmission for a while ... Reporting back soon and Happy New Year BTW

Scott

 

Don't think any of the national chains carry the upper shock mounts. Online is your best bet as the Jag dealers are right proud of this part.

At 14" you have more of an issue than just upper shock mounts.

As mentioned above, you should also check your lower shock bushing (hint: you can often buy a new shock which includes the bushing for not much more than the bushing by itself).