Howdy everyone, my control arm bushings on my front end need replacement, both the upper and lower ones. I figured if I'm gonna be replacing those puppies, I might as well get the ball joints and sway bar links done too. I've done this sort of work before on a town car, but I want to make sure I know what I'm getting into with all of this on a Jaguar.

All that I've personally got are a few jacks, hand tools (and I don't mind getting some more, it's almost Christmas after all), and a (flat) driveway. I do not have immediate access to a lift unless I pay a shop their labour rates to do it for me.

So, what I have read suggests that the upper control arm bushings are relatively easy, but the lower bushings are a pain in the ***. I am also finding little about how to actually remove the lower control arms; is there anyone I should be looking for this process? I read in Grant's "worksheet" that I should detach the front suspension cradle, but that doesn't sound practical to do without a lift. And, if I do so, does the cradle mount have bushings that need replacing?

Next, I've heard all kinds of things about different sorts of bushings everybody uses, particularly around poly bushings, and how they wear out in no time, last forever, they handle better or worse, whatever the speaker seems to think. If I'm not worried too much about how exactly tight the suspension is, what sorts of bushings should I go for? I'm looking at a kit right now, SU3014from SNG Barratt.

Next, is there anything I should be aware of with regards to the ball joints? This was an easy enough process on the town car with a manual ball joint press. What about the sway bar links?

Next, suppose I also wanted to replace the CV shaft and joints. The boots look okay but that doesn't mean the rest of it isn't suffering from the last 30 years. This seems doable with the front cradle out but, again, I am having trouble finding this process anywhere.

Lastly, is there any other front end components I should keep in mind? If I'm going to do any of this work, I might as well do most or all of it now and not have to tear the whole thing down again.

I'm a little daunted by all of this, but I'd still like to give it a shot. Cheers

 

OK,

Front springs are your #1 concern, they must come out.

I had the Jaguar Toll years ago, easy, but the car needed to be quite high to use it.
Others have used the 4 threaded rod method, and there are plenty of tutorials in here on that. I have not done it that way.

Bushes:

Lower inner, Metalstik (AKA OE Genuine) ONLY.
Upper inner, I used Poly on mine and liked the feel, others stick with OE, YOUR car.
Sway link rubbers, RUBBER ONLY, NO Poly, those hex shaft threads can snap of with poly.
Sway Bar "S" bushes, Poly is my choice.
Front cradle REAR mounts (AKA V mounts) Genuine OE ONLY
Front cradle Front mounts (AKA 6 shots) OE ONLY here.
Shocker top bushes, I tried rubber, TOO thumpy, went back to OE "foamy" style, and replace ever 5 years, simple task.
Steering Rack, I use Poly, some use JagSport, your car again.
Engine Mounts, OE ONLY.

I suggest purchasing 2 of those Lower Arm Shafts. Sometimes, they need to be cut out, especially in snow countries where salt etc is used.

Balljoints, whatever known brand name, and I mostly try for units WITH grease nipples.
Tie rod ends, Same.
Lemforder if your market supports that brand.

URO brand I stay well clear of, never had any luck with them at all.

 

I just did just about all that you said above in a garage without a lift to my 89 XJS convertible with a bunch of pictures that might help, but there might be slight differences. I have pictures of just about the entire process. I did it without a lift or anything, just good research, the right tools, and asking questions to the awesomeness that is this forum.

When you say lower wishbone bushings, you're taking on a pretty big task, but it totally can be done and is absolutely worth it, if it hasn't been done yet.

I'm handicapped because I have a wife, 4 kids, a dog, a cat, and I live in Texas. Took me 6 months, but I really took my time and just wanted to do everything right (see my handicap, 2 weeks tops if I had all the parts and no "distractions").

I asked a ton of ?s on this forum and here's some pics of the process... I've got pics of the Lemforder tie rods also that I'll post if needed...







Here's some pics from the process...


Mount to lift the engine...

That's the lower fulrum wishbone bolt... It's long!!

 

The main thing you have to grasp is that, assuming yours is a V12 car, the engine has to be supported by a cross beam across the wing gutters first. Chains then go down from the beam to the lifting eyes on the engine to support it. Only then can you lower the front subframe and change the lower wishbone (control arm) bushes. The subframe has to be lowered otherwise the wishbone pins cannot be withdrawn rearwards as they foul the engine.
This is not a task to be undertaken, in my view, unless the car is in covered space. It is a pretty big job, and if the car is on the driveway in the open, it will be far more difficult, as the job will take some time.
The work is all doable, please do not think I am dissuading you from doing it, but being able to shut the garage door and come back to it when you feel ready, I have found is a vital part of working on these demanding tasks.
Finally, the CV joints you refer to, what do you have in mind? These are normally associate with front wheel drive cars, there are no CV or universal joints, on the front suspension of an XJS.

 

Well Spooky, I'll be watching. I'm in the same situation. The suspension arm bushings are something that can't be done properly without removing the springs. I tried replacing the lower front arm bushings by themselves, but they didn't last very long. (I may give it another try though.) There are threads here that detail how to make the special spring compressor that's needed. You can buy an engine support bar at Harbor Freight for a reasonable price. You will have to at least disconnect the motor and pivot the subframe down to get space to allow the pivot bolt to clear. They obviously did not engineer this car to be easy to service. I'm waiting to clear my garage out enough to work inside and maybe procrastination is also involved. Good luck be very careful with the springs.

 

Hi Pirk, is that upper ball joint in your picture a Lemforder one?

I replaced both my upper & lower with Lemforder not long ago, but the upper one didn't look anything like that. It had a black painted body & didn't have completely machined flat mating surfaces on the sides like that one does... I much prefer that design you've shown there.

 

I changed only bushings which needed replacing 2 years ago - I know one was steering. I believe I purchased from Welsh Enterprises with their advice by phone.
I went Poly on those which I replaced, and the steering and cornering was much improved afterwards.
However a "90 year in business" suspension specialist would not install.
I took to a Jag Specialist at $175/hr for about 5 hrs.
I've been working on cars for 40 years, but I personally would not do the job - and I needed alignment afterwards anyway....and I'm not fond of suspension work.

 

Yeah - so, I ordered those from RockAuto, but they sent me knock-offs - even though the order actually says Lemforder. I sent them a nice email saying that they had not sent me Lemforders and they paid for shipping back and sent me Lemforders. A bit of a pain, but at least they righted the mistake. The quality difference between the two was easily noticed.

The way to tell Lemforders is that they'll have a triangle with an owl looking thing in the middle stamped on the casing.



The crap on the left is what RockAuto sent originally - no Lemforder box and obviously not Lemforder.

 

More pics I dug up when I was doing this...








McMaster-Carr if you're in the states for the Grade 8 bolts and nuts - don't use a lesser strength grade, it'll strip and tear the threads and you'll end up having the replace them. Grease the rods as the plate scraps going in and out. When I got comfortable with how it worked by hand, I dropped my floor jack which has a nice rubber pad onto the spring plate and it took about 10 minutes. Use the jack to lower the plate on to the washer and nuts, then spin the nuts a couple of inches, drop the jack, etc. Reverse putting it up - although I did about 4 inches at a time going back on.


This was the first side I did and I made it hard on myself. See how there's only one washer, you should use a metal spacer or a washer stack so you've got better clearance over the oval part of the plate.

If you have a yellow fan like this, most recommend replacing. Also take care as this is attached to the engine and if you're lifting the engine, don't lift too much as you'll jam the fan into the shroud. I'm replacing mine with a Derale 16" Tornado which I'll have pictures of as soon as the Derale arrives.