Hi all- doing some service maint on a 2007 Jaguar XK Convertible, I had the front driver side wheel off- because the car designers at Jaguar thought that was a convenient space to locate an air cleaner - won't get into that now, or the $300 quote the dealer provided to change it I noticed at the top of the driver side suspension arm this rubber boot or cover that appears to be deteriorated. Not sure the official names of these parts- a quick search shows it to possibly be an upper control arm with ball joint. Is there a part I can buy to replace the worn rubber outside without having to purchase the entire upper control arm unit? The other questions I have are what part suppliers / vendors are recommended and are any special tools needed if I have to remove the old arm and install a new one? I have basic metric wrenches, sockets, breaker bar, lots of jacks, etc. The upper arm piece in the photo looks perfectly fine, it would be a shame if I have to replace the entire unit because this tiny rubber piece is rotted. I guess another option is I keep running the car until there is some visible wear and deal with it later? I can yank on the arm with the tire off, there is no movement detected due to worn bearings/bushings/etc.



Thanks, Doug

 

Hi Doug, Just for your general knowledge of the suspension parts, there are approximately eight other boots that use the same material that has deteriorated on your car. When you have your car up on a lift, check those as well....rear upper control arms, rear outer tie rod ends, rear lower control arms, and rear sway bar links. If you are replacing the fronts, consider the other boots as well. The OEM suspension parts come with the boots as one piece, are fairly expensive and aftermarket might be more feasible on your pockets. There are a number of threads discussing changing just the boots, but not a lot of feedback for those that have attempted that route. Good luck and let us know how you make out.

 

The upper ball joint and cover are not available as separate service parts as they're part of the upper control arm assembly.

SNG Barratt, one of the forum sponsors, have the necessary suspension components:

https://www.sngbarratt.com/English/#...ds=%5B27746%5D

The parts are VIN-specific.

 

Hi, Doug. I recently replaced almost all of the suspension components in my new to me ‘08 XKR. I posted some information you may find helpful in these threads:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...0/#post2573642

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...8/#post2556823

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, I would look to source suspension parts from FCPEuro.com or Autohausaz.com.

Best of luck.

 

and who was that that posted a fix using a latex bushings covering??

 

Thanks Waldo and others for the reply. This Jaguar XK only has 79K miles on it, it's kind of disappointing that major suspension units and connections are already wearing out. I have had Hondas and Acuras go well over 100K miles before suspension wear needed to be attended to. The jagrepair.com site looks useful, I will review that content also. If I go the route to try and order generic boot dust covers to replace I will post my findings & results.

 

It's surprising yours have lasted than long, here in Florida, I get 5 years max. The original parts are not made by Jaguar, but my ZF Lemforder and rotting dust covers aren't unique to Jaguar. But you're correct, many other marques have dust covers which last for many years, including every Land Rover I've owned. There are many threads here on this topic and many sources for low cost equivalents, including Ford Motorcraft.

 

Check out the Suspension DIY section of this forums Stickies. GordoCat did a great write-up on his experience replacing these boots.

 

For those who find rotting boots, unless the ball joint is loose, it's fine and doesn't need to be replaced. Find a boot kit and replace that. Blow out any accumulated grit with a spray solvent.

No reason why these Jag ball joints don't last 150K, since they're Lemfoerder OEM's. BUT replace the boots, since an open balljoint fills with abrasive crud and will shorten the life.

 

V7Sport - that reference to the sticky thread from GordoCat is exactly what I need! There is a gold mine of information there. I feel much more confident now I can track down the parts and tools I need to do the ball joint boot replacements. I just need to find the time Thanks.

 

Ball joint boots for these joints are around £3- polyboots in Bulgaria make the best quality ones.
The boots sticky is excellent.

 

I tried ordering the ball joint boots from Polyboots.com and received a message that they don't sell to private individuals.. Anyone else have the same issue? Is there another vendor with an equivalent product? I was ordering the front boots for a 2010 XK 13-30-32 Thanks all.

 

I wouldn't bother until it makes noise or shows signs of play, that boot will fail years before the joint does.

 

The risk here is if the ball joint actually breaks lose due to a hard suspension jolt and the driver's safety is in jeopardy do to the location of the ball joint.

 

If you have the current boot (or it's still partially on there) carefully slice it off, and take it to a NAPA or O'reillys and compare it to inventory. Three dimensions matter: the top and bottom diameters, and the height. Or, measure it with a caliper. Or, do the procedure below and pull of the old boot and measure it.

here's a typical from ebay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/22221512393...3ABFBM6vuioqJh

Replacement is easy. jack up the car on a jack-stand. remove the tire. unscrew the ball-joint screw using an open end wrench, with a hex key to prevent rotation. The balljoint assembly will move up and separate as you loosen. The knuckle will not move much, since it's held in place by the damper. Clean the balljoint area completely. If there was balljoint grease in the fitting, replace it after cleaning. Doesn't take much -- the size of a peanut is fine. slip the cover over the balljoint shaft, using the wire circlips to hold top and bottom. Screw the nut back on. Torque is 90Nm or 66 ft lbs. Check that any height sensor links haven't been disturbed and are back in the right place. They should be fine since you didn't lower the hub assembly, but check anyway.. Done.

The only challenge in the job is sizing the balljoint boot correctly. Boot: maybe $8-10; replacing the upper front suspension arm: $120 for eurospare, $600+ for the identical Jag unit. Logic: simple.

 

I wish I knew about these because I bought whole
https://www.carparts.com/details/Jag...EPL281516.html

 

Point taken. But, replacing the boot only means you retain a Lemfoerder unit, a very high quality known product. And, you don't have to swap in new arms -- a crappy job because of where Jag placed the bolts.