I'm chasing down a front end clonk over small sharp bumps (kerbs, potholes, etc). Swaybar bushes, links, and shock upper mounts are new.

All the remaining bushes I've attacked with a prybar and they seem OK, and I can't find any loose bolts.

Only thing I can find which seems not right is that at full rebound (wheel jacked off the ground), there's a visible gap between the top of the lower shock bushing and the shock itself - see attached photo. It seems solid enough when the wheel's on the ground, so I'm not sure if that's a stuffed bush or just overloading the rubber as it takes the full spring force at full extension.

Is it feasible (and does it require any special tools) to replace the bush with the shock still on the car?

 

The front lower damper bushes get worn and 'clunk'.
They are available from Jaguar parts.

I just replaced my upper mount bushes with the set from BPI (Motorcars LTD) and the lowers from the Jag parts dept. (BPI requires a username and password)

I replaced the stabilizer bar bushes but there was still some noise at low speed over bumps. The lower damper bush replacement cured the rest of the noise on both my 1999 XJ8L and 2001 XJ8.

bob gauff