I've just replaced the rear wheel bearings on my 98 XK8 and it was easy peasy. I spent hours worrying about doing it, then about 2 hours per side actually doing it. Only special tools required was a hub puller for one side, the hub fell out the other side.
Loosen the centre bolt, mark the bottom casting bolts so you adjust the camber correctly when you reassemble ( I put a chisel mark on the bolt and bottom wishbone) lift the car, remove the road wheel, remove the calliper and disc, remove the bottom bolt (I had to knock mine backwards and forwards with gallons of WD40 to loosen it, but it came out eventually.
Disconnect the ABS sensor wire, but leave the sensor alone as the bolt will snap and the sensor will be stuck in so you might as well only change it if you break it, cut the retaining zip tie so you can get the connector right out of the way, rotate the casting upside down and pull the handbrake cable clip off with pliers, just pull the tab towards you. You can put the bottom bolt back in and pull the hub off now if you want to, or, you can remove the handbrake shoes first and pull the little dowel pin out of the cable end, mark which way up the h/brake mechanism goes so it goes back together easily, pull the h/brake cable out, take the nut you loosened earlier off the drive shaft and remove the whole hub assembly.
If you elected to remove the hub first, the ABS rotor will have fallen out, probably with the smaller seal still attached, if not, it will fall off when you extract the hub. If you don't have a hub extractor, drift the hub out from the rear, using a suitable soft metal drift. With the hub out, you can pop the inner bearings and seals out with a socket or a hammer handle. Drifting the outer races out requires a bit if thought, a series of drifts (Steel bars) and some confidant hammer blows.
There are cutaways in the casting which you can feel with a finger once you've cleaned all the grease away, and with the casting supported on a lump of wood, slide in a drift, preferably, a stout round punch of about 10" long, then making sure you are in contact with the outermost outer race each time, hit down smartly, using dead blows first through one cutaway, then the other until the outer race is free. do the same with the casting the other way up and you should easily punch out both races.
To drift in your new races, I suggest slicing through one of your old outer races so that it cannot get stuck in the the casting, then use this to drift in your new race, the trick here is to keep the hammer blows even, so the race doesn't angle over and create a burr. If you have access to some brass drifts, these are the best tool, aluminium will do, but you'll have to keep grinding the face flat as the race will cut into it. When you have both races snug in their seats, tap them with a steel drift, you can sense when the bearing is flush because the hammer blows will ring differently (Not sound hollow)
Assemble the front bearing and seal, (The biggest ones) put the hub into the front seal and bearing and slide it home. Now supporting the hub (Studs down) on a piece of wood or in the vice, slip the spacer in, fat side down (Taper up) now fit the shim, the rear inner race the seal and lastly, the ABS ring, tap the ABS ring down using a soft drift evenly, be careful you don't damage the ABS sensor which is still in the casting. Of course, clean, clean, clean, everything should be, and as much wheel bearing grease as you can apply at each stage.
I removed, cleaned and re-greased the bottom pivot bearings while I was in the hubs, but that's pretty simple. Re- assembly is a reversal of stripping down, observe the torque settings, Make sure you line up the marks you made on the bottom bolt when you tighten it.
The handbrake shoes are horrible to fit, I used a spare set of hands, put the bottom of shoes onto the lever assay first, then using two spanners, prised the top of shoes apart, while a glamorous assistant fitted the adjuster back in.
You will note, that I haven't mentioned end float or measuring shims, that's because I didn't have any other shims. Long story short, when you re-assemble, your going to find one of 3 outcomes, too much free play, too tight, or just right. Too much free play is a judgement call, a little will be fine, if you have a half inch of movement with the wheel on, you are going to need to address the shims, if the bearings are a little tight, I would give them a little time to bed in, check them again and check your half shaft bolt torque setting again, you may have not drifted the outer races quite well enough. Mine have a little too much play, but it's not outside of tolerance so I'm okay with it, I always prefer to run these big taper rollers loose rather than tight. Bearings are made to such exact tolerances these days that if you bought them from a reputable source, they are likely to be the exact tolerance your hub was set to when they were made.
Hope this helps. Happy miles!

 

Ahhhh, looking at that paragraph makes me dyslexic, any pictures?

 

I was planning to do a youtube video, but it was just so hot and bright today, and I was working outside, couldn't see the screen, yadda yadda yadda. Shame, because I couldn't find one XK8 rear bearing video to work from. All I can say is that it was much easier than I was led to believe, I did find one write up from a guy who said you can do the bearings in situ, he's right, you can. I didn't, because I wanted to check the bottom joint bearings too, but I could have.

 

I blame facebook for using the enter key to post rather than a submit button. I have carved the paragraph into smaller slices.

 

I love it. Looks like I have to face the same job, was concerned that it's out of my league until I read your description.

Thanks for posting it!

John

 

Not a problem. If I'd just got on and done the job instead of worrying about doing it for hours, it would have been done in half the time.

 

 

Redx8, well yes you'll save an hour, but look at the price difference:

New/replacement hub with bearing (most come w/o bearing read carefully ) maybe close to $500 or so.

new bearing: $40 to $100 depending on brand.
new bolt for axle hub ( you always need new bolt) $33 locally. Yes, it's cheaper on line until you add shipping costs.

I hope this helps you decide which way is best for you.

John

 

 

 

Sounds good. Don't forget to buy a new hub nut. Used ones WILL loosen themselves while driving and it doesn't take a long trip.

Do t forget to market the position of the lower bolt or you'll have to get an alignment.

I hope it goes smoothly for you!

John

 

Please let me know where you got the hubs to swap out, i would love to use theirs and send them these
thanks! mudjag

 

Anyone know where to get recondition rear hub bearing assemblies for Jaguar XK8?

 

If anyone is still on this old thread, I'm attempting to replace my rear bearings (and driver's side half-axle and have a very stupid question. I looked in the JTIS and I don't think it helped - unfortunately, then I started having problems with it (it's an e-manual and I'm having problems with Virtual Machine).

In any case, I got the road wheel, calipers, rotor etc off and was able to remove the axle nut and washer. I marked and loosened the bottom bolt and disconnected the wheel speed sensor.

At some point everything seems to indicate that the carrier will fall away from the car - I have a standard hub puller but need to put it through the hub to use it. Should the hub and carrier just pull off of the axle? I don't know if it's seized or I've missed unfastening something or that's not how this particular axle works.

Any sincere advice would be appreciated while I try to get my manual back on-line!

Thanks!

Johnnie

 

Johnie,
My XK8 failed New Hampshire State Inspection for excessive play in both rear wheels. Looks like I will be replacing rear wheel bearings also. I was hoping to get some reconditioned hub assemblies but unable to find a source. Some websites in the UK advertise them but have not responded to my emails. If you Google replacement of the rear wheel bearings fo the XK8 you should find some detailed instructions.

Jack

 

I just wanted to add something to this topic for reference. This latest time I replaced my rear bearing, I purchased the bearing kit from jaguar parts at the local dealership. Price wasn't too bad but the real take away is I was happy to find they sell Timken brand bearings!

As I learned how to do this years ago, at least 2 of the experienced mechanics I spoke to were unequivocal: take the time to find Timken brand bearings. I've since seen several of us recommend then on this site too.

FWIW the bearing kit number is: JLM 1708 (scary that I now remember that by heart!)

John

 

John,

Thanks for that information on Timken bearings. Did you find using the same shim in the rear bearing assembly provided the correct bearing endplay? According to repair procedure I have read the bearing endplay should be measured with dial gauge at 0.075 mm (about 0.003”) and adjusted using the proper shim thickness. I just need to be sure that replacing all the rear hub bearings takes out the looseness that caused my State Inspection failure.

Jack

 

Jack, John -

I haven't had much luck finding videos for rear wheel bearing replacement - though I've watched a lot of others. I've seen videos on using a hub puller, but they've already gotten the axle out. I'm wondering if I've missed a step here before I get rough with it.

 

I'm in this business too. Having replaced both bearings and seals, I tried today to put everything back. After getting both sides done except for brakes, I try to measure play. On right hand side there is massive play, about 7 mm (.28 inches). At the right hand side I use two "adjustable spacers" at about 3.7 mm thickness each.

At the left hand side I have next to no play, I would say a fraction of a mm. At this side I use only one adjustable spacer, about 4 mm thick.

Both right and left hand sides have their hub nuts tightened to around 250 Nm. I know they should be 320 but at this stage the wheels are not on, car on jack stands and therefore difficult to fully tighten.

Have anyone heard of a case where you might need 3 spacers to get rid of the play?

A short film showing the play at right hand side:

 

H, that's a lot of play. Doesn't make sense. I admit I have to sit down and look hard when reassembling the bearing shims and spacers. Put the spacer on upside down and you almost get it back together right. Just not quite. . .

Of course I assume your using the same brand / model bearing on each side. How can there all of a sudden be a 7mm gap?

Thinking out loud: you have the outer bearing cup pressed in all the way right?

Did you maybe drive on the worn bearing that side long enough to scratch and distort the spacer and or shim (i have)?

Reversing the seals won't do this, right?

Inner bearing is all the way on?

H, I'm coming from the perspective that you can't just develop a 7mm difference side to side. If I'm wrong I'm sure someone will correct me. BTW it is a great feeling to find something as simple as the spacer is backwards - hope that's true here.

Let's see what others think mate.

John