Hey all, I currently own a xk8, and post over there, however, I am looking at a cruiser I can take my dog in with me. I am looking at a 2005 xj8 with 56000 miles for 13500.00. But, the reading I am doing here scares me regarding the shocks, about every 7 years replacement, OUCH. My questions, is this truly accurate, and what happens if I am on the road and one fails, can I drive it or not. Also, I saw a place selling re-built ones, are they any good? I have a machine shop, and is it something I could do (re-build them)? Your help on these questions would be EXTREMELY helpful and appreciated, as my second choice is a Cadillac, but LOVE the jag.
Many thanks in advance

 

Well, my car is 9 years old and so far has avoided a shock replacement, in fact my local independent says he has never replaced an X350 shock, so here in England at least, they seem to last well.

Failure is normally of the rubber diaphram of the air spring, the shock lasts and lasts, so Arnott Industries in your USA do rebuilt units, but essentially this is the diaphragm replaced, not the shock. However, they also do complete new ones at a competitive price to the Jaguar ones.

Having said this, OEM spring units can be obtained on the internet for around £630 (=$980). NOw you may think this is expensive, and so it is, but generally, the shock units last pretty well, altthough some people have had them fail. The one air suspension component you will almost certainly need to replace will be the compressor, a known short life component. Service exchange units are available from Jaguar dealers and the same on the internet, even new ones. There are US sites also offering the parts, too.

Steering-Suspension | Jaguar XJ - X350 - XJR | British Parts UK

As for one failing whilst driving, this tends to be rare, but if it does, you would have to proceed home slowly, or get recovered if the distance is too great.

One think that seems to scare people is a woosh of air when they arrive home and turn the engine off - "Hell no, my suspension is failing, panic, panic !!". Actually, it is the system exhausting a bit of air back through the compressor to dry out the water trap, all perfectly normal. This is not mentioned in the Driver Handbook hence the panic.

 

Mine did that while I was underneath looking for a small oil leak...
Needless to say I panicked because the frame squeezed me just a little.
Oil leak was from the oil filter not tightened enough.
I won't do that again. Promise.

 

Hey Fraser, thanks, I checked out the car today, I loved it, and bought it. I pick it up next weekend. The only issue I found was a very small part of insulation had degraded exposing a very small piece of copper wire going to the shock. They said they would take car of it. Why are there air lines as well as electrical connections going to the shock 2005 xj8.

 

The airline is to control the airbag in the suspension. It takes the place of a traditional steel coil spring.

The electrical wire controls the dampening of the shock absorber. Sport or Comfort.

The main job of the shock, contrary to popular belief, is not to cushion the vehicle when you hit a bump. That is the job of the spring, or in our case the airbag. The tires also absorb a large amount of bumps. The shock is used to stabilize the spring or airbag and quickly bring it back into equilibrium after hitting a bump. This keeps your tire in contact with the road.

 

Congrats on the car! Make sure you get the exposed wire covered up, as you don't want it to short anything else out that could be even more costly.