My front driver side tire rubs the tire well when I hit bumps. Previous owner told me that the previous owner before him installed larger sized tires/wheels that cause it. I brought it to a Jaguar dealership for overall inspection, and he said that the ball joint is bad and needs replacement. With all the work I've had done recently, I had the control arm w/ball joint replaced with a junkyard part. That did not fix the problem. The indy Jag mechanic I have doing work for me now says that it's the shocks.

Thoughts?

Suggestions for new shocks? All I come across are these Billsteins. Bilstein, Innovation and High Quality Since 1873

 

Bilstein's are good. Just be glad you don't have the air suspension.

 

I don't see how it could possibly be a bad shock. Shocks don't affect your suspension geometry. You could completely remove the shock, or you could put a steel bar in place of the shock and the geometry wouldn't change.

Are the wheels Jag wheels? What size tires are on the car? Did you check to see that someone didn't accidentally put one of the rear wheels on the front? The rears are larger than the fronts.

 

I'm guessing your ride height is low on the drivers side.

I went through this problem when I bought my 1999 XK8. I hit the fender liner on the smallest dip or pot hole.

My upper shock mounts were squished flat. Had them replaced and it improved my situation quite a bit, but not perfect.

I also put a couple of spring blocks on the drivers side to give me additional 1/2" of ride height. It's so much better but not perfect.

I think the cause is a weak spring. Per the" REV" it's not the shock.

New springs are available in England. I could not find any new springs in the USA when I looked last year. I wouldn't buy a used one.

 

That still makes no sense. Even if the suspension bottomed out on the bump-stops it still shouldn't rub the wheel well. The stock front tires on my car are 245/35-19. I'm currently running 275/35-19's which are over an inch wider and about 3/4 inch bigger in diameter. They never rub. Either the new wheels have the wrong offset, you're running huge tires, a rear wheel is mounted on the front, or maybe the previous owner added some spacers. Spacers would push the wheels out farther, but then when you turned the wheel they would give the wheel a longer moment arm and possibly cause it to rub.

 

upper mounts, sure...shocks, possibly. Don't discount the fatigue on them also, I improved my ride height by 0.5 inch with new shocks on the front. Reverend makes some good points about the geometry also being a potential problem. What is your ride height on each corner... center of wheel to lip of fender? Got any pics?

 

For what it's worth, I just discovered that my newly acquired '03 XK8's driver side wheels were installed wrong, with the narrower wheel in back and the wide wheel in front... and even though the previous owner mounted 245's on the wheel calling for 255's, the front tire never rubbed or bumped into the wheel liner. As an aside, it's a miracle I didn't get into a bad situation with the setup on the drive from NC to KY - worse than the potential of the mismatched tires discussed in another thread!

 

I've got double 5s on my '98. When I received it the tires were worn but not rubbing. After replaceing the tires the LF began rubbing on long dips. A quick measurement reveals ~1.5" low on LF - a spring issue. I've priced replacements from Jag (where I used to work) @ $275/pr. Next fall I'll probably take the time to source a spring shop that will twist up a set for me. Automotive coil springs typically run around $75-$150/pr. If I can find a reasonable price I'll see what a bulk discount might be.

 

Ok guys, I've got some of the info you've requested in the previous comments:

Tire info on the tire: Kumho 255/50R17 101W

And Here is the way it looks like on the passenger front side:

0509011924.jpg?t=1304985193

And on the driver's front side:

0509011923.jpg?t=1304985472

Sorry about the picture quality, taken with a camera phone.


The tire on the driver's side is so high that if I stick a pen horizontally above the tire, it basically touches the fender at the same time. There's much more of a gap on the passenger side. Oh and btw I'm not 500lbs so I can't figure out what this is about. Thanks again for the suggestions. I also went ahead with the shock purchase on TireRack. The mechanic said that the shock on the driver's side was pushed in and stuck causing this. I'd like to know if it's something else before hand so I don't flip out when it's done.

 

If the shock was frozen it would, very obviously, ride and drive like crap.

I don't know why everyone thinks that shocks cause a sagging problem. They have, maybe, a 30-50psi charge in them to control foaming - and that normally piddles away in a year or so. If new shocks were to actually lift a car a few tenths of an inch I'd bet it won't last more than a month or two. Their sole purpose is to control motion, NOT support weight.

Just like most everything on the planet, springs sag/droop with age. If the ride height is below spec they need to be replaced. It's really that simple.

 

UPDATE: I had the shocks changed, and the rubbing has definitely decreased, but I still get some rubbing. When I hit a bump, it doesn't rub anymore like it used to. Also, on fast turns the rubbing has decreased. The main place where I get rubbing still is when my car goes into "dips" in the road, where the momentum pulls the car down. My mechanic said he's going to look into doing something else.

 

Shocks are not really there for ride height, just ride control. If anything, I would say you have a problem with the spring on the low side.

 

I agree with Beav and George.

And myself.