This has been an ongoing problem with my car since I bought it at 4 years of age. Since buying it to now I had it aligned 7 times by 5 different companies.

2008 XJR - 20x9 Rims

Background:
When I first bought it I noticed a good pull to the left. I had them align the car and I drove it away and called and said it's still pulling to the left. They aligned it again. Once again I drove away and it was still pulling. They said they are not doing it again. Couple of month later I had to replace couple of tires (bubbles on the side) and I cracked a rim and repaired it (still looking to buy a Cremona 20x9 used rim). I had this major Tire Company replace and align the car. Still it didn't align, they aligned it again and still and they blamed it on the tires. Couple of months later I saw drops of liquid on the ground, the car went into the Jaguar dealership. They said it was the lower control arm bushing. (covered under warranty). I got the car and the car was still pulling to the left. They tried again and it still pulled to the left so Jaguar sent the the out to another place that does alignment. It is so much better BUT it still pulls to the left but 50% less then it did.

Questions:

Could there be another problem that could be cause this continuous pull to the left?

Is it because of the rims being 20x9 they are more sensitive or type of tread of the tired?

Any advice would be great. I am trying to take it back again to the guy who got it close.

Thank you!!

 

I had a very similar problem with my alignment due to the technicians not being familiar with the Jaguar setup (although i would have thought the main dealer in your case would have been able to sort!).

Anyway, the reason mine was out was due to the tech trying to adjust camber by moving 2x camber bolts on the bottom arms, the only problem with that is that only one of these bolts actually adjusts the camber (the one directly inboard of the hub assembly), the other one adjusts castor angle. By moving both of these bolts the tech had moved the bottom of the wheel in but at the same time forwards by adjusting the castor obviously this had a detrimental effect on handling.

Solution take a copy of the JTIS guide to setting up the car alignment it gives specific instructions and order of operations to get the car aligned correctly. After doing this the car is now spot on it does exhibit some tramlining but this is to be expected with wide low profile tyres.

Hope that helps, good luck.

 

Assuming your wheels are not bent, and assuming your tires have not worn irregularly, and assuming the camber is not way out (which would be obvious if you stand back and compare the tilt of the wheels with one another), then castor difference is the cause of a pull. For a left pull, you need more castor on the left front, and/or less on the right front.

This also assumes you have no worn parts, front or back. Worn parts in the back will normally make the car feel squirrelly when driving. By that I mean it will pull one way while accelerating, and another way when decelerating. This takes the fun out of the car, as it darts all over the road.

It is possible, since you did crack a rim, that there is a bent part and the techs are simply running out of castor adjustment travel. Do you have the specs they set the suspension to? Modern alignment rigs give a hard copy.

 

The car has only pulled left on acceleration and braking or rough roads. The crack rim is back left because when it was on the back right it would encounter small bumps and pot holes and had to be switched from back right to back left.

tires were brand new both times. the first two alignments they were brand new tires and couple months later they had to be put in the back because it was wearing really bad and fast, so another two new ones were bought.

I will get the stats on the alignment. do you recommend I take the car to check on all the other rims first (the crack one is actually perfect)

 

thank you!! I am going to send this to my jaguar service center guy and see what he says. He hasn't responded to my numerous emails asking if I can take the car back to them (the other guy) to get it aligned again to make it perfect). He said their alignment was bought new in 2000 so that's why they sent it out.

 

If it only pulls under acceleration and braking, I would spend some time looking at the rear suspension components. The rubber suspension bushings can look OK, but flex a lot under load when worn out. A pull caused by the front end usually remains constant under acceleration and cruise, but may change under braking. A pull caused by the rear suspension can change under acceleration or braking, as you describe. All of these descriptions are from worn components, not necessarily a bad alignment.

Concerning the wheels, a good tech will spin the wheels to check for runout. It is easy to check for a bent wheel, but often overlooked.

 

From what I know, only camber is adjustable from the factory. Since the front lower control arm does not have an adjustment bolt, you cannot change caster. Caster is usually the cause of a pulling condition. There my be a kit out there to adjust caster, but no matter how many times they align the car, until you can adjust caster, you can't fix the pull (In general). But it would help if you supply us with the read out of the alignments. The shop should give you a copy of the print out. The car will pull toward the more negative caster side.

 

Castor is adjustable using the camber bolt nearest the front of the car, also detailed in the Jtis not a huge amount of adjustment but still enough!

 

I recently had the same problem.

First, Jaguar dealers are the only ones I've found who know how to do the alignment since everything is adjustable. (Caster, Camber, etc.)

Now, oddly enough, mine was solved by completely draining the air shocks (all 4) by disconnecting the air hose to each shock (disconnect battery first). Then letting the air system pump itself level again. (Make sure you do this on a perfectly level surface).

I've recently had to do some work on suspension, replacing one of the front air shocks. The car was level, as measured from the center of the wheel to the lip of the fender, but I had the same "fight" from the front end.

I punted, drained the air system, and it now drives creamy smooth, one finger in any direction.

I can't even begin to think of a plausible explanation other than the computer actively controlling shocks of differing air pressures to maintain the same perceived ride level (as measured at the singular ride height sensor at the driver's side).

Mark
'04 XJR w/20" Sepangs

 

You can be a a straight road (if they exist) and the car is moving and you are not touching the brake or accelerator and the car will still move to the left. actually is seems to be reverting back to the way it was before the last alignment. It's pulling a little more now.