Hi Guys,

My 2003 XKR has been riding low since I have owned it. This results in the camber being way off spec and is causing me to chew through front tires at a rapid clip (they seem to last only 5-6000 miles or so). My readings seem to be around 14-14.25" on both sides which is way off the 15.75" listed in the spec book. I replaced the upper shock mounts and thought that I had fixed it as the car was sitting very close to spec but after a little while it had settled in to the 14-14.25".

My research leads me to believe that it has to be the springs. Frankly, I do not know what the PO has done to the car and there is a chance that the springs are not original but my mechanic feels that there is no way it could be the springs given the mileage is 80,000 and he has never seen springs go bad so early on. The only other thing I can think of is that there are other bushings that are worn but I cannot see how that would lead to the car being 1.5" out of spec. The lower shock bushings look like they need replacement so perhaps that will get another .25-.5". Do you guys know if bad bushings all around add on each other. For instance, let's say they are all bad and if I replaced the lower and upper A-arm bushings along with the lower shock bushings could that add 0.25-0.50" for each set that is off thereby leading to the 1.50" that I am short or would the problem have to lie with the springs?

Thanks!

Corey

 

Corey, my bet is on the springs. I can't think of what else could do this.

John

 

What upper shock mounts?


There was a "bad batch" from a vendor a while back that compressed to nothing in less than a year.

 

My first thought would be springs too. I wonder if the PO put lowering springs onto the front? Your right about the spec. If I remember rightly from centre of wheel to wheel arch is 15.5 inches? So if you loose an inch at the front you would probably be out by 2 inches at the rear?

One good thing is as it is now lower at the front, negative rake?, then you will get over steer slightly thus giving you greater down force at the front. Our cars suffer from quite light steering a low front should help to give it a more positive steering experience.

 

Double check the shock mounts, especially if stock and a few years old. Stock ones are not great, and some after market parts are terrible (literally melt). Most are happy with the Welsh mounts.

You can get new lower shock joints for fairly cheap, but they need to be pressed in, so some work is involved. Consider new shocks instead, with the lower joint already in place. There is the possibility of play, but there is not much to work with to restore the ride height.

If you are unsure of the origin of the springs, they are likely your problem area. Try and see if they have been cut (see if the top of the spring still has that taper). Sagging springs are not terribly uncommon.

While this is being figured out, you can use cheap spring inserts from the parts store.

Best of luck, keep us posted.

 

Thanks for all of the suggestions. The upper shock mounts are from Uro Parts and I installed them about a month ago. I do have the spring spreaders so I think I will follow fmertz's advice to insert them and then look into springs. Probably should add new shocks while I am in there especially if the lower bushing is bad. There is always the chance that the PO installed lower springs. I recall seeing a taper on the top of the spring when I installed the mounts.

As for steering, it is pretty bad. The car shoots all over the road. It rides fairly straight on a smooth, new road, but on older roads it pulls every which way. I am thinking that has to do with the camber being so negative and the car riding on the inside point of the tire as opposed to the weight being evenly distributed along the surface of the tire.

 

Cars with a lot of negative camber will tramline more... grooved pavement or ruts will cause feedback in the steering and some directional change.


I have H&R lowering springs on mine, but with new bisteins and the front is about 14.75", but I have noticed no abnormal tire wear in 10K + miles since the swap and the tire's tread was pretty low to begin with.

 

Inside tire wear is more often caused by incorrect toe in than camber.

 

It may be worth your while once you have sorted out springs etc to get a "Hunters Alignment" done. These are quite accurate and can point out any weakness in your setup.
Do not know if its available on your side of the pond but it will be worth looking up.

 

I had never heard of a Hunters Alignment so I googled it. I know that there is no such thing available around here....but it may exist in larger centres on the mainland or the US.

 

OK in Stephenville say they have the Hunter equipment https://www.oktirestephenville.com/a...alignment.aspx

 

In your first post you said you replaced the shock mounts and it was close to spec, then fell back to 14+. That should not have happened unless the new mounts are faulty.

You can increase the ride height by up to 3/8" by making spacers to fit between the mount and the body, but that won't solve the problem.

 

Stephenville is 750km away from me

 

Might be a tad too far then.

 

Most Hunter equipment in my neck of the woods is for balancing tires and wheels, not aligning them. Also known as a Hunter Road Force Balance. I always get one as part of the deal from my trusty Discount Tire store manager whenever I purchase a new set of tires for any of our vehicles. It especially makes a beneficial difference on my wife's XK8....

 

A new perspective for you. I googled 2003 Jaguar XKR ride height. Then clicked images and took a look at as many side profiles I could find. To my eye all the clear ones I could see were much lower at the front than the rear. The front barely missing the wheel arch and the rear with a good gap where you could easily slip your hand or fist in.
Could be the 2003 model not made to spec? Or they have put the wrong info in the JTIF software?
Just more for you to think about.

 

Never heard of Hunter balancing but Hunter Alignment is definitely a real thing.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVkO...ature=youtu.be

Pretty slick.

 

There isn't much that can be adjusted on an XK8 for alignment. On a few of my other cars I get +/- 8 degrees of Caster and +/- 4 degrees of camber.

On an XK8, ride height sets the Camber (no real adjustment), shims can tweak the Caster a tad (but not significantly alter it), so all you really have adjustment for is Toe.

If the inner/outer tie rods are bad, that can present some toe issues, but if they are good, a little toe in can take some load off the inside.

Because of the lack of adjustability, I didn't even align my XK8 after I rebuilt the suspension a few years ago. I replaced the tie rods one side at a time and reset the toe based on steering wheel position (about 5 up/down a straight street), then took it up to highway speeds, pulled over quickly and felt for temp differences across the tread.

Feeling none, I called it good. That was over 10K miles ago.

 

Hi Guys,

Have an update on the alignment of the XKR. I brought it in to have the new tires installed and asked them to look at the toe and set it. The toe was off for sure and after they set it I noticed a marked improvement in the handling and also steering wheel alignment. The steering wheel was cockeyed, kicked to the right a bit, and after the toe adjustment it was perfectly square and the car handles much better. I am hoping that the tire wear problem will dissipate significantly with this adjustment. As for the ride height, a few had asked about my rear. It sits in spec at I think around 16-16.5. It is only the front-end that sits low and I agree that it has to be the springs. There is no way for me to contact the PO to determine whether it was lowered but I am thinking it was at some point. For now, my plan is to replace the upper and lower A-arm bushings as well as start to research new shocks. If I replace the shocks, I will likely do springs as well since it makes sense to do both at the same time for labor costs. I will follow-up with the group to let y'all know how the tire wear is progressing once I get some wear on the tires.

Really appreciate everyone's input! Happy motoring to all!

Corey