Listers,
I have recently lowered the rear of my 98 xk8 approximately 1 and half inches and am need of camber adjustment. I have been reading up on all things shims related (thanks to all on this great forum), however I have not found any step by step instructions for the actual replacement of said shims. I'm aware that they are installed between the axle shaft and differential, however my JTIS CD does not seem to provide the procedures so I'm at a loss. Has anyone done this and would be so kind as to share this info? High degree of difficulty?
Big time thanks to all.

 

I needed to change the camber on the right rear of my 2004. I found there was a 4mm shim from the factory, so I ordered a 6mm shim (as recommended by my alignment man) from one of our online dealers for about $45. It put me where I needed to be. It's a simple job. Raise the car on a hoist or jackstands. Remove 4 nuts on the stubshaft and pull the assembly outward enough to allow shim replacement. Support the assembly in some fashion while you are apart to prevent excessive pulling on the brake hose. You are going to have to take an eductaed guess at the shim requirement. At $45 each, it's not cheap. I'm sure others have made the same mods. Anyone???

 

How much did going from 4mm to 6mm change the camber?

 

I decided to post this because I found it really hard to find any one place that contained all the information about installing lower (sport) suspension springs on an XK8 and then dealing with the resulting rear camber adjustment issues.

I have encountered numerous sources (including some Jaguar dealers) stating that the XK8’s rear suspension cannot be adjusted for camber or at least cannot be adjusted enough to compensate when lowered springs are installed. I am here to tell you that the required camber adjustment is possible (I am not saying that there isn’t some effort and cost involved).

I installed a set of H&R Sport Springs on my 1998 XK8 (non-CATS) purchased from Tire Rack (http://www.tirerack.com) that lowered the car approximately 1.5-inches front and rear. The H&R Sport Springs cost substantially less than any other option (Mina, Arden, etc.) I could find.

The resulting rear camber measurement was left -2.5 degrees, right -2.8 degrees (the correct setting should be -0.5 for both sides). When viewed from behind, the top of the rear wheels tilted inward noticeably looking like the car was heavily loaded. The rear camber adjustment on the XK8 is accomplished by inserting shims between the differential and the axel half-shafts to add positive camber (moving the top of the wheel outward).

According to an article I found: "0.5mm of shim per 0.2 (positive) degrees" (http://www.justanswer.com/jaguar/6yqh3-jaguar-xxk8-xk8-1997-need-wheel-alignment.html) which meant that I would need 5.0 mm of shim on the left and 5.5 mm of shim on the right.

To be on the safe side, I ordered two 3.5 mm shims and 12 0.46 mm shims (these things are only available in 7.5 mm, 3.5 mm, and 0.46 mm thicknesses). The 3.5 mm shim was $39, while the 0.46 mm shims were $1.00 each (that’s why I didn’t mind getting a few extra). Please note: I could not find anywhere that said the 0.46 mm shims would even work on an XK8. Because both the 3.5 mm and the 0.46 mm were listing as working on a late XJS, I thought I would give it a shot.

Well, after some trial and error (installing both 3.5 mm shims and adding / removing the 0.46 mm shims as needed) the rear camber measurement is -0.6 degrees left and -0.3 degrees right. When viewed from the rear, the car looks as it should with the wheels / tires filling out the wheel wells nicely.

Below are the parts numbers and vendors for the shims. Jagbits had the best pictures and descriptions, Jaguar Parts Cheap had better prices (you have to search using the part numbers).

http://jaguar-parts.jagbits.com/rear-camber-shim

http://www.jaguarpartscheap.com/

Part #: C16621 .46 MM Shim
Part #: CBC480635 3.5 MM Shim
Part #: CBC480675 7.5 MM Shim

I hope all of this is of help to anyone contemplating the installation of lower springs on their XK8. Good luck!

 

There are posts that suggest the shims should not be stacked because of the locating lip.

 

I'm under the belief that there already shims installed, yes? So when you needed 5mm, that was in addition to the existing shims, right? Do you know what thickness the original ones were? Did you end up stacking them? What was your final shim thickness? Thanks in advance!