I noticed my xj8 started to squeak from the back-right so I wandered into my local mechanics shop this morning so he could check it out. My first thought was cheapin' out on my coil-over conversion last year (Suncore instead of Arnott/Bilstien) was coming back to haunt me. Turns out coil-overs are fine but all the bushings on the rear suspension are trashed at 70K miles. The front bushing are fine though. Go figure.

Anyway, new control arms are pretty expensive and their bushings don't seem to be available seperately. But ebay vendors are selling S-Type control arm bushings as XJ8 replacements. Does anyone know for sure if they are in fact interchangeable? I'd hate for my mechanic to pull it all apart only to find out that they really don't fit.

One ebay vendor is selling a complete rebuild kit for the rear end of an 04'-12' XJ8 for $800+ (not sure what they're using for control arm bushings) but I think I can do better piecing parts together, if the S-Type bushings fit. Replacing just the bushing instead of 4 whole control arms would save several hundred dollars.

Thanks for the help and I hope this wasn't all to confusing. But the squeaking is just driving me nuts!

 

You can use the Lemforder catalogue to look at both vehicles, and select the correct part.

https://webcat.zf.com/

 

The same year should be fine. I would go back with Lemforder if available. Heard rumors the others squeak.
There some Uro and other brands out there. Price is low, not like the Power-flex.
Two years ago Lincoln arms were only a little more than Powerflex bushings. One of my original rear lower bushings was bolt (steel) on arm (aluminum). Think that was not rebushable.

 

I have witnessed the squeak on a friend's x350 and it was one of the bushes in the rear upper wishbone.

I did not squeak in the rain!

Try bouncing the wing up and down to confirm.

 

First off, thanks for the replies. Much appreciated.

We did the bounce test and it's definently the upper wishbone bushing(s). But all of the bushings in the rear suspension are trashed. The ball joints and sway bar links are reasonable enough but the complete control arms (and there are four of them) are $370 each aftermarket on ebay. $750-$875 from a Jaguar dealer! I'm just trying to find a way to replace just the bushings and not the whole control arms. Control arm bushings for the 2004 XJ8 don't seem to be available separately. I'm hoping someone has already used S-Type bushings (or something else) on their XJ8.

My mechanic is allowing me to shop around but I have to know for sure that the parts will fit.

Thanks again.

Gene

BTW, I love this car.

 

Prices have come up for these arms. I just looked and Rock Auto has Lemforder rear lower arms for 309.73. Search under 2005 Ford Thunderbird. They have Jaguar cast into the arms. Gaudin Ford has the uppers for 170.00 each. This is on eBay. I searched for Lincoln LS Control arms.
These are all made by Lemforder. I purchased mine from Delray Ford. Not sure they still sell over the internet. The local Ford dealer told my installer they wanted 500.00, Delray was 279.00 for lower rear arms.