Very unlikely, I think he just wants to sell you shocks. Put your weight on the fender and release. Bad shocks will let it bounce up and down.

 

Every alignment should start with an overview of the 'before' readings, the actual base to decide if an alignment is necessary.
Ask for those (scientific) results.
I am rather sure your mechanic based his ''advice'' on his ''experience'' only.
Consider your alternatives and be prepared to walk ...

 

Any suggestions where to buy polyurethane bushings for the suspension. Thanks for all your help.

 

Forget poly bushings until the problem is diagnosed.

The first step is to pull out your wallet and pay for
an alignment at a reputable shop that knows what
they are doing.

 

+1 find a dealer or a good alignment shop: they will check out all parts in the suspension. Shocks are not part of the alignment in these cars and the Bilsteins rarely wear out (although the shock mounts do).

Your problem looks like toe settings are way off.

 

One thing to check is for any play in the rear suspension. I mention this as i had alignment checked and it was ok static, but I had increased inner front tire wear on one side. Turned out that the rear diagonally opposite suspension had a worn/broken lower push that dramatically created an offset drive and increased wear.

 

Well I just got the 2000 xjr back from a reputable shop . Turns out the alignment was way out. Two new front tires. They adjusted to the max to correct the problem. It's not perfect but they said for a 16 year old car that drives on northeast roads this is to be expected. Seems like that solved that problem.

 

The big quesstion is, WHY WAS THE ALIGNMENT OUT IN THE FIRST PLACE?

Are your bushings worn out?
Bad Rod ends?
Bad Bearings?
Bad steering rack?
Damage to suspension parts?

It is always a bad idea to just do a new allignment and skip the actual cause of the problem.
Else your new tires will wear out prematurely again.

 

The shop said they looked at all the suspension parts and could not find anything that was loose. He said the part had to have play in it in order to justify replacing it. They also said that the car settles in over time. I guess I could change every bushing in the front end just to be sure.

 

Don't be stampeded into spending more money by others
pursuing perfection in your car.

It is characteristic of the XJR to be lower than the other
models as new. Then, over time, the springs and other
bits sag a little resulting in lower ride height.

The layout of the double wishbone suspension in the
X308 dictates that lowering is accompanied by a decrease
in toe-in and an increase in negative camber. This is a given.

The alignment shop has probably reduced negative camber as
much as possible given the available travel in the eccentrics
and then set the tracking to toe the wheels properly.

What you can do to promote even tire wear is to rotate the tires
at 5000 mile or 10,000 kilometer intervals. It's an easy, although
sweaty diy. Or, you can have it done at oil change time.

If you have non-directional tires you can use a full rotation,
otherwise switch front to back.

Can you post a copy of the alignment printout? It would be
interesting to see.

++

 

I just see this done over and over again, people just realign the suspension, but as the rubber in bushings, joints and so on flex beyond what they where design to do because of wear and age the problem just keep getting back.
And then they start blaming the workshop because the alignment has to be off, because the car is still eating tires. When the actual problem never was solved because all the bushings "seemed to be good" as the car was stationary.
15yr old rubber will not be acting the same as new..

Sure you could be lucky and it is just sagging springs and the realignment actually cured the problem. But if so i would say you are lucky.

 

Thanks for the info, here is the printout of the alignment

 

It seems prior to the alignment you had toe-out
on both ends instead of toe-in with wild toe-out
in the rear.

The result looks good. The left front camber is
is actually in spec for a XJR. The tech might have
set the machine to the base XJ during the job.
But the number is in spec.

The rear camber is only 0.1 to 0.2 out of spec.
You could achieve 0.2 movement just by bumping
the car while it is still on the rack.

 

You are being an alarmist and willfully blind.

The shop itself deemed the suspension to be in
good condition. These are the people who had
actually eyeballs on the parts as opposed to
a crystal ball over the internet.

The rear toe is set using eccentrics. It is not
surprising that they moved over the years. In
addition, some spring sag in the rear will lead
to toe-out even if the bolts did not move at all.

 

Im truly sorry for bringing up my concerns whom i see happens time after time after time.
It IS surprising if the eccentrics move over the years, unless someone at the factory forgot to tighten the nuts!
What is not surprising is that bushings get worn over time and allow the suspension to move beyond its intended limits.
And workshops often does not consider the bushings bad unless they have fallen apart completly, people make mistakes.

But fine, I will quit posting my knowledge, as you obviously have all the answers.

 

While various bits can wear out, they are not the only
reasons for a wheel alignment to go astray. Especially toe.

The rear toe was especially bad and it is on eccentrics
unlike the front. Compound eccentric movement with
spring settling and you have excessive toe out. Not
really a big mystery.

Bringing up the possibility of suspension damage is
worthwhile. Doggedly pursuing damage as the sole
possibliity in light of a professional opinion of the
wheel alignment operator to the contrary is simply
being argumentative for no good reason.

Yes, eccentrics can and do move even when torqued
to spec. Easy to find instances of this using a popular
search engine.

As for people making mistakes, yes they do. But, the
person having the suspension right in front of him has
a huge advantage over a person pounding on his keyboard
intent on promoting a single possibility miles away in his
living room.

The real proof of the pudding is of course the experience of
the owner post alignment over time. Furthermore, as Sacho
appears to be in the UK, a backup opinion will be available
as soon as his MOT becomes due.