Good Afternoon Guys,


Please advise if anyone has experienced this after overhauling front end.


After changing all the suspension bushings upper and lower and ball joints the front of car sits a lot higher and steering requires more effort prior to changing parts. the springs are stock and have not been changed.

 

Hi bandre2,

It's normal for the front end to sit a little higher after a rebuild because the bushings sag as they age. If you haven't also rebuilt the rear end, you may feel the front end is too high. Replacing the rear shock bushings, especially the large foam "donut" isolators, along with the large rear subframe bushes, will restore the rear end to the original height.

I can't explain why your steering is requiring more effort unless something happened during the front end rebuild, such as a hydraulic pipe being pinched, or the Servotronic transducer on the steering rack having been disconnected or damaged.

Hopefully others will have some ideas.

Cheers,

Don

 

Hi


Did you put load on the suspension, before final tighting of fulcrum nuts?
If not, search the forum, I recall reading a similiar thread where this was the problem


Happy Holidays


Christian

 

Have you had the alignment checked post rebuild? If it is out by a lot, it could affect steering load.

 

Good Evening Alcon,


I loosened the large lower control arm fulcrum bolt nuts and upper control arm nuts and let sit over night with suspension loaded. Tightened the nuts and drove around, more level but back is sinking and bouncing more than normal. I hope I did not tear the bushings by tightening then putting the suspension strain on the bushing.


The steering has been a lot tighter since I changed out the steering rack, when car is in park the steering is very easy to turn. when moving it becomes more tight. I changed the pump with a used pump and same.

 

Can I just check that the problem is that you feel the steering becomes excessively heavy when the car is moving?
The reason I ask is that the steering is designed to be lighter at parking speeds, and to become heavier as speed increases. This is achieved by varying the pressure in the system via an electrically operated valve which is fed with information relating to the vehicles speed. Is it possible this wasn't working before your recent maintenance, and now is?
Obviously, if the steering weight when moving is excessive, there is a problem, but the fact the steering is satisfactory while stationary would suggest the electrical aspects would be worth checking next.

 

Hi Guys


Good news, called the shop that pressed in the new bushes. Will pick them up this week.
Cant wait to get back in the garage, has been stand still for quite a while.


But The last entrys in this post concerns me a bit.
Maybe Don B could share how to awoid a ureasonable incresed height at the front?
My understanding, is after assembly, you do not tighten the fulcrum nuts
Until the car has been resting on jacks underthe spring plates for a while?
Correct? any additional tips?


Best regards


Christian

 

Ok, à little uppdate on My front suspension project.
Subframe now cleaned and vee mounts, engine mounts and controlarms with new bushings assembled.
Got the subframe bolted back on the car yesterday. Very happy with the work the shop did with the bushes. Extremely tight fit. But now its on, and spirit is high.

Best regards from Sweden

Christian

 

Hi Guys

Working slow but steady.
springs and shocks are now in place.

But front is some what higher than rear, as expected.

All mounts and bushings are made to oem specs, new springs and shocks likewise.
Preloaded shocks before tightning. Checked new springs with old, exact same height.( tension I couldn´t check). But should be standard.

Height

rear left 677 mm from ground to center wheel arch
rear right are 674 mm.
front left 722 mm
front right 716 mm.

Rear springs and dampers changed a year ago to same standards as above.
No bushings change rear.
The large foam sphere mounts was looking good and was not damaged.

My question is : reasonable height increase ?
( guessing front has increased 20mm both sides, was a little higher before rebuild)

Or can I preload more?
with a jack I could put load on springs and dampers before tightning fulcrum bolts, (worry this would increase load on bushings and make front to stiff)

All inputs welcome.

Best regards

Christian

 

Have you driven the car or just lowered it to the ground and measured?

After a rebuild it will take time and miles for new components to bed in and settle. I would drive it 50-100 miles at least and then measure it before going any further (try and pick roads to exercise the suspension as much as possible).

You should certainly not try and adjust the height by forcing the wishbone in to an unnatural position. That will destroy your new bushes very quickly. The fulcrum bolts should be tightened with the full weight of the car on the wheels.

 

Hi Christian,

I agree with Brendan that your front suspension components will compress over time and you will lose some of the new ride height.

The statement above that concerns me is that you did not change any bushings in the rear when that work was done. The large foam "donut" spring isolator bushings compress over time and when I've replaced the rear shocks on our XJ40s I have always replaced all the bushings and have typically gained 3/8 - 1/2 inch / 9.5 - 13 mm in ride height. I would assume that your rear end is sitting too low if the bushings are more than 5 years old.

Cheers,

Don

 

Hi Again

Thank for responding:=)

I understand both your replies as to wait tightening the fulcrum bolts (upper/lower) until the car has driven 100 miles. (I will put slight tension so the bolt or nut dont fall off).

To Don, just to clarify, While replacing the rear dampers, new damper foam mounts was installed and and a new shock bush.
What I did not change was the donut, as it looked quite well. If it had lost height it must be less than 10 mm. (Compared to pictures of new ones, and could not see any obvious difference).

Are there any other bushes in the rear, that might affect ride height?

Once again thank you for responding, as I am very keen to get a good result.

Best regards

Christian

 

Also, should I wait getting the wheel alignment done? till suspension has settled and fulcrums are tightened?
Think it will be difficult to drive a 100 miles safely without an alignment at this point.

Best regards

Christian

 

I understand both your replies as to wait tightening the fulcrum bolts (upper/lower) until the car has driven 100 miles. (I will put slight tension so the bolt or nut dont fall off).



Just to be clear, I was not suggesting that you do not tighten the Fulcrum nut. You must tighten that with the weight on the wheels before you drive it on the road.

Then after completing some miles you can slacken it off and tighten again to ensure the bushes are not stressed in the normal position.

 

Ok, sunday.

Family and a little Jag time to, finished the work today.
Went out for a test drive, ( with everything tightened).
Have not done alignment yet, but still very nice feel to the drive.
General impressions are better control combined with a smooth and nice suspension feel.
This was at low speed in town, and the car was pretty good here before.
Looking forward to high speed test (60-80 mph) as it was here there was some sloppiness.

Also height decreased in the front with 20 mm each side, and the stance overall looks balanced.
Took the bumpiest ride off old town,( cobble stone).

Loosened the fulcrum bolts and will let it stand for a week before I tighten again.

Have a nice sunday.

Christian

 

I've done some front end suspension work on mine. Doing some more now also. My front end lower shock mount bushings keep going out. And they are not easy to do! Everything has to come apart and dropped sans removing the upper and lower control arm wishbones. You'll end up cutting through the middle metal spacer in the bushing with a hack saw blade and then peeling that portion out of the rubber part of the bushing, then you can get the rubber bushing material out; from there is an outer metal portion of the bearing left that you'll need to make a make-shift puller from a bolt, washers, socket piece etc, in order to push out this last part of the bushing. Oh yea, and they only install and remove directionally, from either the front or back side, cant remember at this time. There is a thread on here from someone regarding this repair with pics. Im getting ready to do it again, so I may photo and post along the way. Also doing upper and lower ball joints, I know the uppers are in there pretty tight- Im worried about snapping them, so will let them soak with some loosening fluid a day before, then turn them over to the impack wrench. Im not going as deep as the control arm frame bushings, they look and feel ok. The outter stuff; ball joints, tie rod ends, sway bar bushings, hubs, ets, arent too bad a deal other than the shock bushing cut out and some tight bolts. Looking forward to a smooth ride again. Have parts on order now. I would recommend this; get the higher end $ lower shock bushings, they are a pain in the **** to change out!!

 

Get yourself the Powerflex bushings, then you'll never have to do it again. They are gret, I have them throughout the car. They ride great and it's nice to know I'll never have to do that service again!

 

Hi guys

Alignment done, car is drivning great.
Super comfort and handling. Glad i did the job😃
But there is trouble in paradise.
À vibration from the front occur at 115 km/h with Max att 130 km/h.
Quite alot at 130. No sounds, no clunks. Only Low frekvens vibration.
Wheel nuts are tight.
Any ideas what to look at ?

Best regards

Christian

 

Tyres would be my first thought. A wheel out of balance would typically have a relatively high frequency vibration, and usually at a lower speed. Same goes for a flat spot on a tyre, so I would discount both of these possibilities.
I take it the tyres are at the correct pressure? And that both front tyres are of the same age and tread pattern? ( and the rears come to think of it) .
Are they a winter or mud and snow type of tread pattern which might not enjoy that sort of speed?
When you say you have had the alignment set, was it for all four wheels, or just the front? Given the extent of the work you have undertaken, I think she might benefit from a four wheel check.

 

Hey Papelione,

Was having same issue. Rotors need to be turned. Resolved my issues; front end rebuild, new tires, alignment, then still had some high speed vibration- it was the rotors out of balance. Why you are at it do the bearings and races, relatively inexpensive and easy to do. Les Schwab pulled and installed the new races for me for free after turning them, took a couple minutes to do both.

Steven