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I was hitting the wheel bearing grease points today, and I had the right rear wheel off and the car on a jack + jack stand while on a sloped driveway. Something came over me, and I decided to let out the parking brake while the car was raised like this. The car rolled forward about 6 inches til it hit the curb and it fell off the jack and stand and hit the one wheel hub. It probably fell a foot or so.
So far what I can tell is this sheered off the jack point, and (ironically) the grease point for this rear bearing. I cannot spot any damage besides this and a dent in the rear trunk from the jack stand (I had it under the IRS housing), which I am not too worried about at this point. Here are some pictures of my carnage:
I have not tried moving the car from this position, not by pushing or rolling or driving it. I am sure I am going to have to replace the housing this grease point connects to because it looks like it sheered off part of the housing, best case is it will happily let junk into the hole and worst case I don't even wanna know.
The steps from here are clear, step one never do that again, and pay some dang attention to what I am doing. Step two is to figure out what I might have damaged with this drop -- what should I consider or be looking for? Plus, what exactly is the name of whatever I broke this grease point off of?
Update, looks like that grease point goes to the rear hub carrier. So assuming I've got to replace this thing, I'm seeing a whole bunch of different things online saying you CAN or CANNOT use different jags' carriers on the XJS, I don't think I want to mess with using a different one unless the price difference is crazy.
Reading a bit more into the rear suspension and it makes sense why a lot of different models have interchangeable parts, it's the same suspension more or less, I just gotta make sure I get the right revision's parts. I took another look around and the -only- damage I can see is to the hub carrier, everything else in the suspension looks straight and fine.
Last edited by spooky horn; 08-30-2020 at 05:15 PM.
I have always worried about myself and others (as I've gotten to know people here) in terms of accidents, gravity, jacks and being squished under a car...
That's not the grease point for the axle bearing. Its the grease point for the,,,, can't remember the name,,,, joint that the carrier unit itself hinges on,,, attached to the car. I've been looking for a way to incorporate a grease fitting to the axle bearing itself,,,, anyways.
I think the only thing you're going to need to do is get a reverse thread style bit and turn the sheared off section, the treaded part of the grease fitting/nipple, out of the hub carrier. Then, thread in a new one. They are cheap and can be gotten anywhere. And that's it,,, as far as I can see in the photos.
You're absolutely right Jay, I feel very lucky right now for my car, and most especially for me. I was actually telling someone who asked me about what tools to get for basic service on their car, to be very careful about the car if it is raised... And now I see first hand how bad that can be.
I think I might have been getting dehydrated and just not realized it, as it is bloody hot out there right now. Think from now on I need to step back any time I'm bout to do something and just think for a second.
So here's how it sits right now... Haven't moved it since this happened. The driveway slopes DOWN so it wants to roll forwards. I had the right rear end jacked up at the jack point in front of the wheel and the car was a good 6 or 8 inches further up the driveway than it is now. All other wheels were on the ground. By the time it was done rolling the jack was knocked over and the wheel hub carrier in the first picture was sitting right on the concrete. It skid on the carrier probably 3 inches, there's a mark.
It rolled off due to the slope and since I didn't have it securely sitting on the jack stands, there was a little play, and the jack readily toppled over. Simply, nothing stopped it from rolling and I did not use the jack stands correctly.
Well, I will look into tapping I think... I'm going to give the suspension another good look and maybe roll it down the block and back once if I don't see anything amiss. If it looks good and there aren't any demons in there I've got my taps ready and a local parts store sells a selection of zerk fittings, so I'll just get a new one.
I'm looking into how to remove the hub carrier and it does not seem so bad, but I also do not know if I'm missing any pitfalls. I found this exploded diagram which has been helpful so far: https://photos.smugmug.com/Rebuildin...e_irs-1-XL.jpg
What I am seeing suggests that I just need to remove the hub, and then disconnect the wishbone and the thing should come off no problem. What I am not certain about is, are there any "gotchas" in disconnecting the wishbone? What I think right now is no, if the car is jacked up and there is no load on that side of the suspension from the car, then I can safely disconnect it without doing anything else and it won't do anything crazy. Does that sound right?
I think its probably fine, and getting the half axle out of the hub carrier is a real pain. The hub does support a quarter of the car's weight, so I really doubt you will have caused any serious damage.
You're very lucky, I remember on the Jag-Lovers list about 10 years ago a member was killed when his car fell on him. Not nice at all when his wife came out to the garage wondering why he hadn't come in yet and found him under the car, dead.
So perhaps take this as a learning experience and make sure that the car is secure in all directions before working on it - both from falling down and from rolling.
The threaded part of the grease nipple should be easy to remove. Get an easy out screw remover, and since the grease nipple has a hole in it already you have a place to put the easy out. Then you can install a new grease fitting and be on the road.
The suspension will be fine, just check the radius arm is not bent or the large bush torn.
The grease fitting sheered off bit will come out easily enough. Use a 1/8 inch anticlockwise drill bit. The new fitting needs a 1/4 inch thread. If the the gets damaged, just tap in a (eg) 7 or 8mm thread for a new fittings. There is nothing inside above that hole to damage if the drill touches anything.
I realise you are braced for "good advice" (and I admire your honesty in posting this); but mine is you MUST chock wheels fore and aft, and NEVER jack up a car on a slope.
Last edited by Greg in France; 08-31-2020 at 01:27 AM.
So here's how it sits right now... Haven't moved it since this happened. The driveway slopes DOWN so it wants to roll forwards. I had the right rear end jacked up at the jack point in front of the wheel and the car was a good 6 or 8 inches further up the driveway than it is now. All other wheels were on the ground. By the time it was done rolling the jack was knocked over and the wheel hub carrier in the first picture was sitting right on the concrete. It skid on the carrier probably 3 inches, there's a mark.
It rolled off due to the slope and since I didn't have it securely sitting on the jack stands, there was a little play, and the jack readily toppled over. Simply, nothing stopped it from rolling and I did not use the jack stands correctly.
What kind of jack are you using? At this point, when working on the car and ALWAYS when I'm under it (in addition to LARGE based jack stands and most always one of the wheels, if not 2 stacked on top of eachother UNDER the car with me) I have a 3 ton rolling floor style jack . It may sound like overkill BUT, for roadside emergency stuff (haven't used them yet roadside) I keep a 1 1/2 ton in the trunk of all my cars except the hatch back 928. Don't want a 1 1/2 jack flying around inside the cabin in the event of a collision or accident.
Scissor and other style jacks might be find to change a tire quickly on the side of the road but, IMHO, should never be used when servicing a car. I can move the entire car twisting on some bolts and trying to get thing on off and to "fit". The whole car will move..
Ok so,,, keep it real,,, what sort of jack were you using when this happened?
As others have said, really good to hear that nothing bad happened to you, and well done for 'fessing up to it!
I also would never use a scissor or pillar jack unless I needed to change a wheel and that was all I had with me whilst out driving. 3 ton trolley jacks are the only thing I use at home along with heavy duty axle stands. If you don't have a trolley jack, do invest in one now. You'll never maintain an XJS without one!
As regards that broken grease nipple; buy some Easi-outs or similar. Because the grease nipple is hollow, you won't need to drill or tap anything. I bet it'll be out in 5 mins with an Easi-out which you can easily do in situ so you won't need to dismantle anything.
they make drill bits that cut in the opposite direction for this. It loosens while you drill.
That would work too. Broken grease fittings are generally pretty easy to extract. Could probably even just use a torx bit slightly larger than the hole in the grease fitting hammer it in and spin it out with your fingers. Generally stuff that is broken because it was struck or sheered is Easyer than extracting things that broke because the threads are damaged or rusted.
08-30-2020, 04:22 PM
88 rolled off jack and fell on a bare wheel hub
