Maybe a bit late for questions since I have already finished the work, but I'm still curious on this.

I was checking out the front end of the XKR last week to look for the source of a slight wobble I was feeling in the steering wheel when I hit a bump. I found that I had a bad wheel bearing. But when I looked closer to check all of the ball joints as well, I saw that the drivers side tie rod from the steering rack had a heck of a kink in it.

It was sort of bent down near the start of the threads, then up right where the out tie rod ended - making a nice S bend.

The first part that puzzles me is that after a lot of calling around to various places it seems the tie rods are not available? You need to replace the entire steering rack? Is this really true? Every place I asked thought they could get one, them came back and said no, new rack only.

I went Saturday and picked up a used rack for $200 Vs $1200 for a rebuilt one from the dealer, and swapped it in. My second question comes from the JTIS.

I glanced at the instructions really quick to get the idea of swapping the rack out. It was fairly easy, with the exception of disconnecting and reconnecting the steering column - that was a bear. But I was surprised at the end where it said to "replace the power steering fluid reservoir." Why would that need replacing? I simply refilled it and purged the air when I was finished.

 

my indy shop retrofit an s-type outer tie rod, they discovered this by accident once trying the same repair w/o any parts available for the xk8/r...they had an s-type in also, so tried it, and it worked.

 

The outer tie rod wasn't the problem. It was damaged as well, but the local Car Quest had a replacement for that within a few hours.

The inner was the one that was bent, and no replacement seemed available.

That seems odd because when I talked with the dealer about getting one they said the bent tie rods are pretty common. Apparently when the tow hooks are missing a lot of tow truck drivers just grab the tie rods and bend them.

It ssems like something that is dmaaged that often would have a replacement part, especially when the alternative can be so much more expensive.

 

Inner/outer, I get them confused sometimes, I did mean the one out the between the steering rack and the tie rod end, connection under that boot. I knew we were talking about the same thing though.

 

When changing the steering rack, do you have to remove the reservoir? If so, then replacing it would simply mean to re-install it. Maybe??

 

Yep the part circled in red. I wonder why they don't list a part if it is available for the S-type and they are interchangeable? I did find out that the rack is the same between XK8, XKR and XJR, but NOT the XJ8.

No, to service the rack you don't have to touch the fluid reservoir other than to take the cap off to add fluid when you are done.

I think I did find the answer to that question though digging deeper into the JTIS description and operation section on the Steering. It seems the power steering reservoir has a filter in it. I assume they want you to replace it after any major work to have a clean filter...

 

Probably for the same reason the entire reach motor and cable is replaced when just the cable becomes stripped...sorry, the nut becomes stripped.

Anyway, for others that do need a new inner tie rod, I can get the S-type part number used on my car.

 

I hope that this is not agaisnt the rules but the inner tie rod for the XJ8 and XK8 is available separately. We actually have them manufactured. Here is the link.
Coventry West - Online Parts Catalog
I was going to PM but could not see how to do that as you can in Jag-Lovers.

 

I wish I had checked into this a bit more earlier!

However I was kind of stuck. My plan was to not change it out until I could see for sure that it would not be possible to align with the bend. But once I got into it I could see that tie rod was trashed. I was past the point of no reurn on a Saturday morning, and the only option I saw to finish the job that day was the used rack route.

Of course now I have a spare rack that seems it could be easily repaired...

 

I am about to do my suspension overhaul upper and lower ball joints control arm poly upper bushings and tie rod ends mechanic told me I need inner tie rods What part or part number or year are the inner tie rods from the sType that fit the XKR?? and are these a pain to replace?

 

use the coventry part linked above, though u can fit the s-type inner tie rod, it does have to be cut slightly to get it installed.