I realize this may fall in the “well, duh” department, but … I have ordered the new plates with pressed in bushings from Parts Geek for my ‘03 VDP and have all the wrenches/sockets necessary, And it now dawns on me all the videos I have watched show the shocks being replaced at the same time. In each case, a wheel comes off and the car is on jackstands.

I only intend to replace the mounting plate where the foam material is deteriorating. Not being a mechanical genius, I’d like to think this can be done without jacking the car up and using a jackstand … right? I thought I read one description of the owner “pressing” the plate back into place for the task of bolting it back into position. I don’t have jackstands and hope I can do this without them.

Thanks in advance for what amounts to remedial education for this old fart.

 

I just completed this job today (bought the plates with the bushings already set from Meyle). After a lot of reading, we elected to use the factory spare tire jack to lift each side separately.

The shock itself is compressed under the plate, and will expand when the plate is removed. This left us with one of two options - either 1.) try to secure the plate, while compressing the shock using the bolts for the plate, or 2.) lift the car slightly, secure the plate without the resistance of the shock (though making sure it was straight and coming through the Mount/bushing, and then lower it allowing the car and the plate to compress the shock. We chose to lift it up just so the tire on the side we were working was just on the ground. We removed the old plate, and screwed down the new plate. We did not tighten the bolt on the shock itself with the car on the jack. We lowered the car after securing the plate, the shock compressed, and et voila. Once the car was lowered, we secured the bolt on the shock itself.

It seems to me lifting the car with the Jack to remove the plate and install the plate, and then lower it to resecure the bolt in the center of the plate was the best approach, because we did not have to fight resistance from underneath.

the only issue we ran into was that that shock itself turned when we removed and reinstalled the center bolt. I have read that this is not ideal, though I could not tell the impact after everything was installed. The ride was noticeably improved with the new bushings.

 

Steve: Many thanks for that guidance. I have to work on a slightly inclined townhouse parking lot. My space runs perpendicular to the slope. Your experience tells me I will work on the uphill side first, lifting the car as you describe with the tire just touching the ground, then reverse the car in the spot to allow working again on the uphill side. I do so regret ditching my jack stands a few years back during a wife-induced cleaning binge. Another Jag owner "duh" action.

Eliot

 

It's pretty easy to swap them out with the car on the ground. Yeah you've gotta fight the shock a bit when pushing down the new plate but it's not that hard, just push down with one hand and make sure to get all the mounting bolts threaded in by hand before starting to tighten things. You can even get it just enough in place to hand thread one or two bolts, then you can take a break and let go and it'll be easier to hand tighten the rest.

 

Thanks for the extra guidance, Nilanium. I'll report back upon completion. I just wish I'd not pitched out the jack stands. otherwise, I'd do the front shocks as well at the same time, though they seem just fine at the moment. Even an idiot like me could accomplish that simple replacement. As an added bonus, it doesn't involve that mysterious stuff called electricity!

Ordinarily, now that I've hit my mid-70s, I'd give the whole package to my indy mechanic. Sadly, he suffered a horrible accident involving a circular saw and his right (dominant) thumb and index finger that may mean he can't mechanic any more once all is said and done. Fingers crossed for him because I have a long and distinguished list of things to work through.

Cheers.

Eliot

 

This should help:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...2169af-266115/

This is my DIY guide about that topic.
On one side I only actually replaced the inner rubber part, on the other side, I messed it up, and I did it the easy way - replaced the OE part, as you are probably going to do it...

 

Very simple job, the springs are holding the weight of the car, not the shock. If you have the CATs system (electrical connectors on the top of the shock), make sure you do not let the shock shaft turn when removing the nut, that is very important.

 

To finish off this thread: I did the job today and a substantial amount of the suspension noise is gone. I tried getting the shock nut off in the morning but had to spray both with penetrant and leave them for after lunch. In total, the job took me 1:45. It was easy (a big THANKS for all the guidance offered here). The right bushing was in poor condition, the left appeared to be much newer. Since I bought plates for both sides, I renewed both sides. Delays were caused by:

I tried the job with the wheel on the ground, but had trouble lining up the bottom bolt hole on the first side (right) while pressing down, so I jacked it up and it worked well. I found a channel lock would not hold the top of the shock, so in the afternoon I got a crescent wrench/adjustable spanner to hold it. I dropped a washer on a right side bolt, had to back out that bolt and start fresh. I found I’d also dropped the washer for the shock tower nut, so I had to back that off as well and rethread it with the washer. On the left side, the only issue of consequence (beyond dropping washers and a PS grommet), was in replacing the PS reservoir. I snugged down the two top bolts/nuts first, then found I’d closed off most of the access to the one on the lower right. I took off the top ones, threaded the bottom right one, then all fell into place.

In the course this job I found that the unused original spare had a manufacturing date of the week of Sept. 24, 2001. I believe it’s unused because the jack kit was pristine, no scratches, nothing. The car has a manufacturing date of July 2002.

I took pictures, but everyone here knows what they look like. Now I can concentrate on the last practice before a 9/23 band gig. It’s my 74th birthday and Bruce Springsteen’s as well. I keep offering a backstage pass to my shows. I don’t get squat from Bruce! Oh yeah, I’d have done the front shocks if I had not tossed my jackstands. Then again, my back is pissed off at me and my wife reminds me I can hire that sort of thing out.

Cheers to all, and thanks again for the help.

 

An FYI,,,,after an extensive search I have been unable to find the (white/yellow/pink) OEM type bushings for the front shocks by themselves. ( MOSS has the hard black version, Welsh discontinued them.) Rock Auto, PartsGeek and MOSS sell the assembled "tower" with the softer OEM type bushings...but Moss does not make a distinction for the CATS version. Rock Auto and Parts Geek make the distinction between CATS and non-CATS. (The assembled CATS version is about $100 more per pair). For me it's worth the extra $100 to avoid disassembly and transfer of the yellow bushings to my original metal "towers". Has anyone seen the OEM style bushings for sale separate from the metal tower assembly?

Thanks

 

CBC225455
This part fits an XJ40 as a rear upper shock mount insulator. You’ll need a total of 4 to do a front set of upper shock mounts. I have put the same part number bushings on both a CATS and non-CATS front upper shock mount plates and I have had no issues. It is preferable that the mount plates you rebuild are the original Jaguar made ones as I haven’t tried rebuilding a set of the aftermarket ones.

 

OK, I'll check it out. Thanks.