Well, in completing my suspension rebuild (just had front ball joints to go, and hubs since they have to come out to press out the ball joints) to get rid of a knock while turning. I decided to go for it and get a set of ball joints from ebay that say they fit our cars. The looked right online, and when I got them the looked right. Well, today was the day. I rented the ball joint press kit from our local parts place and went at it. Results were they are correct and fit perfectly! I don't know if anyone had taken the plunge and tried them out yet (couldn't find anything on here concrete about it) so I can tell everyone that they do in fact fit our cars. Finally, no more needing to get the entire upright for stupid money. I paid about $50 CDN for the pair so no complaints. Even if they only lasted for 2-3 years, they are cheap enough to just replace again, but I have to say they didn't look bad at all and I'm sure they will last for a while.

Now, my knock is still there (was sure it was a ball joint as it made the same noise as a previous ball joint failure) but I'm pretty sure I need to replace the inner/outer tie rods. The inner were about as limp as a wet noodle, so support or stiffness in them at all, so I think my knock may be coming from them, and since it's only when turning and kinda 'feels' like it's coming from farther in under the car (ie. rack/inner rod area), that's my next target.

 

Nice! Did you take pics of the process?

 

Sorry, no pics! I am actually house sitting for the in-laws and took advantage of their garage to do this and between the running around to find things and being under a time constraint (only had about 2.5 hours to finish) I plum forgot! But I can say it was very easy and other than a ball joint press no special tools needed. I was prepared for the worst with the hubs since they are original and being in a Canadian climate for all this time can really seize things up (my wife's STR took a whole day to get the hubs out), but 2 or 3 wacks with a good old 10lb sledge and they popped right out! So to everyone out there, this is a fairly easy DIY job and saves lots of $$$$.

 

I'm having to replace my front end bushes and I was going to do the ball joint too, might as well. Does anybody know if the Parts Geek Lemforder lower ball joints for the XKR fits the XJR? I notice they are for 2001-2006, and my XJR is 2006.
2000-2006 Jaguar XKR Ball Joint - Suspension - Lemfoerder, Front Lower 00-06 XKR Ball Joint - 646-01120583 - PartsGeek

 

I would think it is the same as the aluminium XK uses the same suspension parts except, of course, the air springs.

 

Hi JagsterRJX,

Searching PartsGeek for the XJ ball joints turns up only some Uro Parts items. You might try searching Rock Auto to compare the part numbers. For the definitive answer, check the Jaguar section of the Lemförder catalogs, which you can download at the links below. Just use the Adobe Acrobat search function (Cmd+F or Ctrl+F) to search Jaguar, then scroll to the XJ (X350) and XK (X100) sections to compare part numbers:


Lemförder Steering and Suspension parts:

https://mediaservices.zf.com/Redirec...S6j1CdynG74%3D


Lemförder Rubber-to-Metal parts:

https://mediaservices.zf.com/Redirec...lYT%2FFh49c%3D


Cheers,

Don

 

I can now confirm Winterjag's claim that the Rockauto ball joints fit in the front wheel knuckle/spindle arm. Once I figured out how to use the damn press, it went in very nicely. A perfect fit.

I'll take some pics when I do the other side.

 

Glad to have a second confirmation. Using the press is a bit tricky to get it to work right due to the shape of the links, but once you figure it out, it's easy!

 

Here's a pic of how to orientate the press while pressing in the new ball joint and a pic of the new ball joint all pressed in and ready to go. I'll take some more pics comparing old and new and the pressing out process when I do the other side.

 

Well, I had such a tough time separating the balljoint from the control arm on the driver side that I neglected to take pics of the pressing out process. But I did take a pic comparing the old and new balljoints. The pressing out is pretty simple, the pressing in takes a bit more finesse. Its a bit fiddly to make sure the balljoint goes in straight because of the angles of the spindle arm.

Separating the balljoint from the control arm was the hardest part honestly. Hopefully I won't have to do this again for a very long time.

 

Did you not pour a kettle of boiling water on the hub carrier first ? As it's aluminium it expands it and lets the steel ball joint come out easier. The coefficient of expansion of aluminium is twice that of steel.

 

The other side came out fairly easy with a balljoint separator, so I expected the driver side to be the same. After all else failed, I did put the kettle on, and while I was waiting for it to boil, I started fooling around with the pitman puller and that's when the inner sleeve gave way.

The balljoint was somehow stuck so badly that the thread stud was breaking and bending under the force of the separator and puller before the inner sleeve finally gave up. There was no rust or corrosion that I could see, so I don't know how it got fused the way it did.

 

Little bit of heat, with just the right amount of prestige, and they will eventually, be persuaded, to give way.