My tire was flat today, took it off and found this on the passenger side front tire, inside tire worn to metal. Proceed to check the other tire and same results. Is it time to renew my suspension? Car has 161k miles on it currently, previous owner maintained the car really well but I am unsure of the condition of the suspension. From visually inspecting it myself I don’t see any bushing or anything that is overly worn. Current tires only have 5k-10k miles on them. or do I just need and alignment? The bushings look good if you ask me, minus the top shock mount bushings

Inside tires worn to metal

 

Your alignment is probably out. Mine did the same and the alignment was well out of spec.

 

If your suspension has not been rebuilt in 161,000 miles, it is long past due for shocks, upper shock mounts, control arm bushings, etc. Many threads here on the forum to guide you through the process and explain where to obtain the best components for your rebuild. Wayne (cjd777) is making the best upper shock mounts available for these cars right now. Several forum members have recently installed them and are extremely happy with the results....

 

Appears most like cause is excessive negative camber. Probably due to Defective (BAD) Upper Shock Mounts, possibly weak front coil spring and suspension bushings. Could be Excessive Toe Out but Tread edges not feathered. Probably need Quality New Upper Mounts, possibly new pair coil springs and bushings replaced in upper and lower control arms, possibility Ball Joints. Yes. maybe a complete F/E OH.

 

searched a little bit on the threads, it looks like others have had similar excessive tire wear, I have a lot of reading to do. Ordered a pair of front tires and called a British specialty shop and they charge $187 for an alignment. Debating if I should take it there or to a random Firestone or similar for lifetime alignment for $160 and that way I can, mess with suspension components if need be and get alignment after.

 

The Firestone idea might give you the direction you need to go.
First thing you need to do is measure the distance in inches from the center of the cap on the wheel to the highest part of the curve of the wheel well. 15 1/4 to 14 3/4 would be in the rebuild range for the struts. Much lower and you will need springs.
That will give you a lot of information on the condition of the shock struts. That I can help with, the rest is from dealers of your choice, as it can go from "I can accept that" to OMG.
You are right to read as much as possible and with the XKR, be prepared for a shock on the shocks. I don't provide shocks, but help with the components to rebuild the rubber bits, well, foam, if original.
Wayne

 

Firestone and/or PepBoys are both qualified to give you a complete, 4-wheel alignment, and both offer lifetime alignments for less than $200 (PepBoys often has a discount coupon, too...). I agree with all of the above-mentioned suspension/steering replacements noted above, and don't forget the inner and outer tie rods while you're at it. I've replaced all front/rear suspension & steering components a little at a time, and my one time investment in a 5 year alignment with PepBoys has paid for itself many times. Once completed, you shouldn't have to worry about suspension for another 90,000+ miles!

 

Currently have the car on jacks so won't be able to measure until I get the wheels back but after looking again my top shock mounts definitely need to be replaced. I PM'd you earlier asking for a quote to ship the parts you offer to Arizona 85379. I believe my stocks have been replaced before because they are black instead of the usual green (someone correct me if I'm wrong). I don't know if my rubber/foam is original, will that be an issue? I'm looking for an easy "part for part" swap kind of like how this YouTube video shows it I feel fairly confident I can replicate the replacement of what that video shows.

 

Replaced my shocks mounts using the technique in the above YouTube video. Had to pry the lower wishbone to get enough clearance to remove the strut (like shown in the video). I replaced them with Wayne's shock mounts. I got a lifetime alignment at a local Firestone and here are the results. They said they needed special shims that they couldn't source to adjust the camber, so some things are out of spec. What are you guys thoughts on this alignment? Pretty normal? Or do I have to do an overhaul of my suspension.

2003 xkr coupe with R handling, alignment before and after

 

Steve, That camber is very close.
I'll let the experts come in and give your numbers a going over, but isn't the camber within .1 degrees of being OK?
The caster may be the problem on the right and the shim pack could be changed to help that or your bushings in the upper A arm could need replacement. If you did that, then the shims may be the issue.
Glad you got it back together so quickly and how was the ride.

 

Examining your alignment sheet,. The caster is function of the spacers and bushings in the upper control arm. There are specific locations on the L & R sides for the varying thickness of the spacers. Perhaps the UCA bushings could need replacement due to age or high mileage. Some of the readings approach the Min-Max limits, but are w/i the Factory specs. The Toe In appears w/i Factory Specs as does the Camber. The Camber Specs listed in manual is -1.8 Degree to +.18 degree per side. Your Camber shows -1.3 degree per side. The Toe In (.13') is also w/i the .08 to .13 per side. The Caster Factory Spec per side is 5.87 to 7.27 degree per side. Your Caster appears w/i these limits. This info and specs are from the JTIS P. # 54.
As suggested by Forum Member, Motorcarman, the shop should apply slight force to spread the front wheel outward at leading edge prior to making measurements and adjustments. This force is needed to simulate the wheel-tire orientation as it is actually driven. My XK8 is not too far from your mileage at 157,300 plus I had new Suplex Front Springs at 150K. The Poly Mounts we installed from Wayne are doing great and expect them to last. Energy Suspension Poly is First Class.

 

I'm replacing shocks/mounts/coils on my '02 XK8 with 120k on it. Just curious about which coils to use. I've been reading all the posts concerning this topic but haven't seen any actual spring rates with the various coils. Does anyone know what, if any, difference the coils meant for an adaptive control setup are to a base setup? I believe the part numbers are JLM20706 (ACD) & JLM20712 (base).

Also just curious if anyone has done coilovers like these: Jaguar XK8 XKR Y51 (96~06) CEIKA Custom 1M Coilovers - Ceika Performance (ceika-store.com)

 

I have thought about coilovers in the past but from what I can tell it will improve handling on a track but ruin your ride comfort on the road. Only one I ever considered was the Spires kit XK8 and XKR Coilover Suspension System – Spires (spires-st.com) as they use the same shocks as we already have so it's already going to have the correct shock rate. I don't think it's a worthwhile investment though because you will probably end up not being happy with them so it's a lot of cash to waste. We already do sort of have coilovers so it's not any different really, I have noticed the springs on the aftermarket kits are allways a lot smaller and more compact then our Jaguar springs so I should think they will be a lot stiffer. They likely aren't designed for the weight of our cars.

 

So does anyone know the difference between the JLM20706 and JLM20712 coils? All I can find is one is for adaptive control suspension and the other is not. I don't see any visual difference so are the spring rates different?