If anyone has any advice on how to remove the bushings on the front, upper control arms (wishbones) of my 2001 XJ8, you may just save my life.

I spent three hours this afternoon failing utterly to remove the bushings from my upper control arms. One problem seems to be that no cup from my ball joint press kit can properly do the job as the lip of the bushing sits pretty much exactly flush with the outside of the upper control arm, so no real leverage can be obtained to push the bushing through. The most I was able to do was push out the inner part of the bushing; the outer portion remains seemingly welded to the inside of the bushing mount.

Called around to a bunch of automotive shops in my area to see if they could press the bushings out for me; all pointedly refuse or seem to have no idea what I’m talking about, as if I’m the first person that has ever needed to replace bushings.

The last thing I wanted to do was spend a fortune to buy new upper control arms; now I”m pretty much confronting the fact that I will have to. However, now I’m afraid that even after buying new control arms, I won’t be able to press in new ball joints and/or bushings!!!!

Any ideas/guidance/help on how to remove the bushings would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

 

You can insert a hacksaw and cut the outer sleeve at one or two opposite points.

 

On some very pesky bushes I have burned the rubber mostly out. Then as Stonajovic said, cut the outer sleeve atleast one point. After that it will slide out very easily. Putting new ones back is another headache if you don't have socket or similiar to push bush in from the outer race only.

 

The jaguar x308 seems to have two types of control arm bushes:
1. the easy ones that are only found in the manual and on youtube.
2. the really hard ones that need drilling or burning out, only found on the car itself, the one you own. :-)

Personally, my only workable method is to drill around the rubber bit (I don't like using heat on them), then to cut slots in the metal sleeve.
If you use a hacksaw to cut all the way through (take extra care as you do this so as not to cut the surrounding metal) and then cut another slot slightly through, you create a "hinge" to the door.
Use a punch to pop the metal sleeve inwards.
This can relieve a lot of the tension, allowing you to extract the old bush.

Here's pix of the lower control arm, but I used the same method on the upper iirc...


Lower control arm - drill out rubber

Remove centre piece (takes a lot of drilling out the rubber though)

Cut slots through the metal with a hacksaw

Extract sleeve by punching the sleeve inwards, then using pliers to remove.

 

Here's a pic or two from when I was practising removing the top bushings.
Slightly different from the lower...


Upper control arm bushings: Push out the central part

Remove the rubber part by whatever means takes your fancy

Cut twice through the steel sleeve (through the middle and through the top flats), but not as badly as I did. Then use a hammer and punch to knock the sleeve inwards

 

xj8esquire,

wish i could help. im definitely following the thread. Im going to replace all the front end rubber and shocks on my 2001 xj8 after i fix the o2 sensor on my 2002 xj8.

I thought changing the bushings would be easy. good luck please forward any strategies you come up with.

jeff xj8

 

Hello Forum -

Thread starter here. I want to thank everyone for their thoughts and innovative ideas to what seemed like an easy job - but proved to be seemingly impossible. Jaguar did not make it easy on an amateur like myself. That being said, after sweating through a couple changes of clothes and almost giving up on my car several times, I was able to devise a solution that ultimately proved easy, provided that you have a 3 pound hammer.

First, for anyone else looking to do this job, my XJ8 has control arm part numbers JLM 21375 and JLM 21376 (a/k/a MNC 142 4 AB/F) - so my method works for these parts. Photos below. In my darkest time, when I gave up all hope of doing the job myself, I did research and found that jaguar parts websites sell these components. Websites say the purchase includes a new control arm, new bushings, and a new upper ball joint PREINSTALLED. Cost a fortune, but (again after losing all hope) I actually put in an order although it blew my mind. Turns out that Jaguar no longer sells the arm/bushing/joint all-in-one combo; they’d sell me all the parts separately though and for even more money (not what I wanted). So that expensive but simple solution went out the window.

Second, I few comments on my failures before I get to my solution:

1) Ball Joint Press - Didn’t work. A pulled 2 ball joint presses from Advanced Auto Parts to try to push these bushings out, a 10 piece set and a 23 piece set. Neither did the job pushing them out. Don’t waste the time.
2) Hammer + Punch/Cold Chisel - Didn’t work for me. I attempted to use a cold chisel to push in an edge of the outer bushing and could not make this work. I purchased the smallest chisel I could find, but given that you have to push/punch/chisel from the inside of the control arm, there simply wasn’t enough space to get the hammer swing I needed to bend the metal of the bushing sleeve. This method I threw out almost immediately.
3) Hacksaw! - Didn’t work for me. Seemed like if only I had the energy and could put enough force into the saw motion this would have eventually worked. But, it would have take forever and my hacksaw blade continually got mired by the rubber of the bushing sleeve. I had hopes for this method but it proved useless to me. Plus, I figured that if I could even get through the metal of the bushing sleeve with the hacksaw...I’d probably end up gouging the inside of the control arm where the bushing sits, and I didn’t want to damage my control arm.

Here is how I changed the bushings on the upper control arm of my 2001 XJ8:

Tools you will need:

1) A ball joint press
2) A 22mm impact socket
3) A 10” impact socket extension
4) A Hammer - I used a 3 pounder
5) Also: shop towels, penetrating fluid, patience

Here are the upper control arms that I worked with - JLM21375/JLM21376 a/k/a MNC 142 4 AB/F:



Here’s a photo of the bushings themselves (inner sleeve separated from outer):



STEP ONE:

Use a ball joint press to push out the inner sleeve of the bushing. Just keep cranking away until it pops completely out. Repeat for all 4 bushings.

STEP TWO:

A: Holding the control arm kind of like a harp, so that one bushing is pointed at the floor and the other at the ceiling. Place a cup from the ball joint press kit under the bushing pointed at the floor (as if the cup would catch the bushing when it pops out it like it’s supposed to).
B: Place a 22mm impact socket on the inside of the bushing. It MUST be a 22mm. Any larger or smaller won’t work. Use IMPACT SOCKETS, not normal sockets which could shatter.
C: Place a 10“ impact socket extension THROUGH the bushing pointed at the ceiling—from the outside INTO the middle of the control arm and connect it to the 22mm socket on the inside of the bushing you will be removing.
D: Pound the impact socket extension until the bushing pops out.

Here’s a visual:



Use plenty of penetrating fluid.
I wrapped the socket extension in a shop towel to protect the inside of the bushing housing while pounding.

Good luck and god speed to all of you blessed Jaguar owners.