Hi everyone and thanks in advance for some advice. Unfortunately for me I haven't owned a Jaguar since selling my 1950 XK120 many years ago. However I still get to work on Jags because my sister owns a '97 XK8 Coupe. I have however, been very active on non-Jag owner's forums and can tell that this is a very good and active community.

I've been doing a lot of searching and have found some answers but finaly decided to get some more specific advice. The subject is upper control arm bushings.

The upper rights are definitely gone and need to be replaced asap before the subframe is damaged. It looks very straightforward but I'd like some input on the following:

At 85,000 miles, how likely is it that the upper ball joint is at end of life? I can't produce any free play movement but don't want to get the thing apart and then decide I should have ordered the arm in addition to the bushings. SHould we bite the bullet and get an arm? FYI, she's probably going to sell the car in the next 3 - 6 months.

I guess I have the same question about the lower bushings and joints but that seems like a project for another day - again, no noticeable play but how much life expectancy is left?

Finally, not to reopen any long running debates, but are factory bushings (and Control Arm if needed) strongly preferable to aftermarket/oes parts? Can anyone point me to a thread that discusses this? Any trusted parts suppliers in the Jaguar world that you can recommend (both factory and not factory?)

OK, I think I've exceeded the allowance for newbie questions so I'll stop. (at least this isn't one of the dreaded, "Is this a good price?" or "What problems should I look for?" newbie threads

Thanks,

Ron

 

Ron,

The bushing choice is effectively between OE / aftermarket equivalent / Powerflex polybushes.

You'll find supporters of each of those options here. The main difference in the choice is that Powerflex give a firmer ride than OE and last longer. Depends what you're after.

The bushes themselves last around 30K miles but this is very dependent on driving conditions. I've changed several sets on previous XJ saloons and XK8's but never needed to replace an upper ball joint.

A full replacement arm is a very expensive option and probably OTT for the wear you'll find when you take it apart.

Lower bushes last a lot longer than the uppers.

I'll not comment on parts sources as I'm a long way from Ohio!

Graham

 

I will throw my hat into the Powerflex camp because they give the car a more sporting feel. But since you expect to be selling the car, maybe the OEM option would be better for the future buyer.

As to a supplier, I've actually gotten some parts from Jaguar Cleveland and their prices are among the better ones for a dealer.
http://www.partswebsite.com/jaguarparts/

Upside is they are close to you. Downside is you pay tax and it may not be the absolute BEST price.

My XK needed lower bushings and ball joints at about 70k, but like GGG said, it depends a lot on driving conditions and mine definitely did not live its previous life in the land of well kept roads.

 

Graham, Charlie:

Thanks for the quick response and useful advice/info. I'm going to start with just the top bushings and see how things look once I'm in there. I checked with a local suspension shop and they, too report few instances of early ball joint failure. And this car has spent it's life in the slow lane with a decidedly non-aggressive driver. I've ordered the parts (OE) and will report back.

Thanks again.

 

I promised a follow up report. It took me most of the weekend but my sister reports the car drives like new. Not surprising as she's had NO top rear bushings at the front for probably more than a year! (I did not live nearby until recently)

Most of what I experienced is well-documented in other top bushing posts. I would have had the off side (right) done in about an hour - but then there was the 2 hours of pounding and heating because both front and rear bushings were rust-welded to the fulcrum pin. Very nasty situation!

The drivers side had no rust and the fulcurm slipped right out. Same environment (they use salt here) and loss of bushing rubber but totally rust free - go figure.

My only concern is that the rear tubes of both a-arms have been beaten, hogged out of round and somewhat eroded by rust. See photo. The other arm is actually a bit worse than the one pictured. I had no choice but to clean them out and reassemble as is - and the busings were actually tight, but I'm wondering if I shouldn't recommend biting the bullet and getting new arms. There is no way I can see that in normal driving (boulevard cruising in her case) that the tubes could crack open - they still have at least 60% of the thickness intact. But I guess if she wants to keep the car for a long time it may eat bushings. Any input/advice would be appreciated.

Many thanks to all and for the great forum.

Ron

 

Ron,

Your wishbone does look a bit worse than ones I've done. Here's a typical example after cleaning up with emery:



The bushes only sit about one quarter inch into the wishbone so provided that area is not too corroded, you shouldn't need to go for replacements.

Graham

 

Welcome XK120 to the forum. Many years ago I too sold an early Jaguar and boy was that a mistake. It was an XK150S. But now I have two Jags, a 95 XJ6 and a 2000 XK8. My wife thinks the XK8 is her car since she drives it all the time.

You didn't mention any other work that you have done on your sisters car. If you are not aware of the cam chain problems that is something I recommend you do a lot of research on. The upper tensioners are the most critical and with that many miles on the car you are overdue. I included a link below that shows how I did the job along with a few tips. A lot of forum guys are very smart in that area.

Again, welcome to the forum.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ics-how-52653/

 

GGG: Thanks for the input and continued help. Nice restoration job on the arm! And how do you keep that workbench so clean?

Good point about the depth of the bushing. Most of the erosion is on the outer rear lip and the center of the tubes are close to original thickness. She's in the process of deciding to keep or sell so I'll wait and see about new arms.

Hi EZDriver! Thanks for heads up on the tensioner - I definitely need to check on that. Despite the DWNB (driving with no bushings) episode, she and her husband maintain thier cars close to the book so hopefully the tensioners were changed by a dealer sometime in the past- but I need to check. If not, it may help her decide on the sell vs keep question. The car needs some other minor work but otherwise it's a beautiful white coupe. Would be a great deal for a DIY type. (just not me at this time

Thanks once more to all.

Ron