Took the car to the shop and had the upper shock mount upgrade kit installed, along with new shocks and upper control arm bushings. Lower control arm bushings will be done tomorrow. The camber was improved by .20 degrees today on both sides, barely bringing it back into the acceptable range. We've come from 1.01 on the left from 1.44 (when we first started with the camber bolts a few weeks ago), and 1.30 on the right from 1.68 over the same time period. Not exactly what I was hoping for today, but we still have the lower arm bushings tomorrow.

The steering wheel shimmy seemed a little lessened, but still very present, at highway speeds on the way home. That was a big disappointment, since the camber is technicaly in the green, but there's still tomorrow I guess.

I noticed the left shock mount after the kit was installed had the uneven lip around the opening, and I asked the tech if that would matter, and he said no. Anyone disagree? I don't know enough to know.

Here it is installed...


I'm beginning to suspect the shimmy is not related directly to the camber issue, that it's likely something bent in the (sub)frame or steering (rack). It's been doing it since I bought it last Aug. I am going to take XKRacer's advice and ask about the V mounts and the front suspension sub frame.

Any ideas? I'm running out.

 

These cars are Extremely Sensitive to Out-of-Round or Bent Wheels.

I had a Shimmy That was only fixed when 2 (very slightly) bent wheels were repaired and re-installed.

 

That's completely unacceptable. First of all, the rubber looks like it's pinched and cut. It's going to start to tear where it has been cut. It might be fine now, but after driving for a while that cut is just going to spread and the rubber bit will have a giant tear in it.

Second, the mount is rebuilt OUTSIDE of the car. It's not like he made a boo-boo and didn't notice until he got the mount reinstalled. He had to see that it was all fouled up and he reinstalled it anyway! He should have drilled out the rivets and started over.

Now that it's reinstalled, the entire mount has to be removed to fix what could have been easily corrected when the mount was still out of the car.

Furthermore... It looks like crap! Any time you pop the hood to show people the groovy engine they are going to notice the F'ed up shock mount. I'm not a stickler for detail like h20boy, but that would bug the heck out of me. I'd make them do it over again. It's definitely going to break down sooner, and it's a cosmetic eyesore.

 

I just had the wheels (18's) trued and roadforce balanced after a recent purchase, but I suppose I could have them checked again. The other set (17's) are brand new and roadforced and had the shimmy too, though not as bad.

 

I agree, I was disappointed when he blew it off, and I did mention it while it was still out of the car. Can it still be used, or will that require another bushing kit?

 

When I bought my 2002 XKR convertible about two years ago with about 60K miles on it, I was somewhat shocked at how much shimmy there was in the front end of the car. Although I loved the car's appearance, its classic looks, the power and torque, the joy of driving it was spoiled for me by the way it shook. I tried to "justify" it to myself by reasoning that I had never owned a convertible before and that this was related to a looseness of the structure of convertibles, aka cowl shake, but I knew this couldn't explain how badly that steering wheel felt in my hands. I also could not understand how the car seemed to bottom out over minimal dips. I purchased an aftermarket polyurethane bushing/front end kit for the XKR, had all the bushings replaced as well as a couple of other bits and pieces, and both the bottoming out and the shimmy improved somewhat. There is still more of both than I would expect in any car, let alone a luxury auto that originally cost nearly a $100K, however, I have enjoyed every other aspect of the car including having the top down nearly every day in the past two years (the advantages of living in the San Fernando Valley). I use the XKR as a daily driver and have put nearly 30K miles on it (choosing to leave my Buick Enclave to my wife to use), and whereas the bevy of electronic warnings, drive me crazy until I have them fixed (the usual suspects, abs/traction control, etc.), I love driving the damn thing even with all of its faults. I am still surprised/disappointed at how non-compliant the suspension is, with little damping ability compared to any modern suspension system, and less than even my ancient '72 De Tomaso Pantera's. But, I still love driving and looking at it, and every weekend when I pick up my best friend of over 50 years, we can easily fit two sets of golf clubs in the trunk. Try doing that in a new luxury converitble sports car!

 

What is the part number for the upgrade kit? thanks

 

i would want the machanics guts for garters if he did that to my car

 

Before having the tires and wheels RF balanced (or any sort of balanced, for that matter) did you mount them on the car and drive them for 10-15 miles? Performance tires, any performance tires, will have taken a 'set' while stocked in tire racks, on their sides in a store, etc. They especially take a set after driving then cooling on a cool surface like the concrete in a garage. Until that 'set' is eliminated by warming up the tires by driving there is absolutely no friggin' way to properly balance them, RF or not. Don't let anyone tell you the pressure roller on the RF balancer is adequate - it isn't. It does help seat the beads of a newly mounted tire to the rim but the operative word here is 'helps'. On my personal cars I don't even bother balancing new tires until I've driven on them for a few days, just to be sure the beads are completely settled in. Then I drive on the expressway for about 15-20 minutes, head directly for the rack and balance them before they cool off. I realize that's difficult for most peeps to accomplish but you can see what I'm getting at, can't you? Now, add in how low-profile tires have almost no sidewalls to flex and absorb small tire and/or wheel issues and it's easier to realize how important doing the job correctly adds up.

As a rule of thumb, alignments will not cause vibrations or shimmy. Some vehicles may have caster specs in excess of 4-5 degrees and will be susceptible to road-force induced vibration (a.k.a. death shake - an extremely violent, wrench the steering wheel from your hands type thing. Think of a grocery cart with a wobbling wheel. Now picture that cart weighing two tons and going 70 mph...) Alignment can cause wandering, pulling, darting, etc. Vibration and shimmy are caused by out-of-round/balance rotating masses or loose parts being subjected to road forces (road ripples, holes, bumps, etc.)

 

Not sure, but I think I found most of the problem here:https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...so-sure-65810/

 

Have to agree with Beav. Over the years, I Have had a few cases of Shimmy and they were all caused by defective tires or bent or out-of-round Wheels.

 

Did you see this? https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...so-sure-65810/

I'd like your opinion on it.

 

Some years ago I had some Firestone tires that had Steel Belt problems. Depending on whether the 2 opposite wheels were in, or out of, "Sync", the shimmy would vary from none to very bad.

That would explain the condition in the above post.

Bad Wheels/Tires, (in my experience) will usually exhibit bad behavior at lower, as well as highway Speeds.

 

Say it ain't so, Paul - Firestones with problems? Probably 721's? Or did you have a Ford 4x4? (BTW Firestone - Bridgestone, they're all the same now)

Personally, my experience over the past 15-20 years has been to buy Korean tires - here's why: One can buy really expensive Michelin, Pirelli, etc. performance tires. As a rule of thumb, the more they cost the shorter their life. So you spend $2,000 on a set of hoops and 8,000 miles later they look like Brillo pads. Hopefully they made it to 8,000 miles - what if one suffered a puncture (which always removes every bit of speed rating it once had) or some other damage that renders it useless at mid-life? Are you going to buy a new set because one tire took a dive? Who wants an oddball tire on their car? (don't forget even performance tires don't grip their best until the first few 1/32's are worn off. so now you have a set of three tires that grip and one that doesn't...) Next, I'd like to see a single set of performance tires where at least one of the tires didn't develop a balance or noise issue along the way. Again, are you willing to pony up for a new set because of one or two tires? So I buy Korean tires - Kumho, etc. Good value for the money. Maybe they'll last 12-16,000 miles. Maybe a lot more. I've never had one make horrible noise or develop balance issues, mine have always stayed round and relatively low-noise. Maybe I've just been lucky but I've put hundreds on customer's cars over the years and haven't heard any complaints. And if one suffers a blow-out at midlife? Geez, I only spent $400 for the set, I won't feel too hurt...at least nowhere near as "owwww...take it out, it huuurts!" as I would with one of the major players (which, again in my experience, has never delivered four tires together that went full-life without issues.)

 

The camber is not the source of the shimmy. Something is unbalanced, out of round, or loose.

 

What would be a good Korean tire for the XK8?

 

I got my car with Continentals and they were crap nearly crashed a couple of time when the back let go in the wet. Then I had a set of Michelins they were good but lasted only 12K miles now have Hankook which are a little less grippey than Michelins but good enough and for the price way better than Michelins.

My XKR 2001 had a wheel alignment at 25K miles and since then I have had no problems 53K miles now. I did change the sway bar bushings due to a knock over sleeping policemen, but my car travel straight and true with no vibration at the steering wheel what so ever.

 

Be careful making generalizations across an entire brand. Continental and Michelin both make some great high performance tires, and also make some tires that are less than great.

Which Continentals let go in the wet? Which Michelins only gave you 12,000 miles?

Otherwise, it's a bit like someone saying that "Nissans aren't fast enough." And of course, we don't know if they're talking about the Nissan Leaf, or the Nissan GT-R.

 

that bushing is split and needs to be replaced. Ive installed those several times. you have to go evenly and slow with NO lube or they slip sideways. I no longer use those due to this and the PIA installation. Its right under the cost of OEM and not worth the extra hassle and issues. But he needs to rpelace that one he installed incorrectly. FYI you install 3 bolts and EVENLY tighten them to not **** or split the bushing. once its fairly centered and tight THEN you install the rivits. If you mess up the rivits you have to get the correct flush mount ones in the kit, Theyre not regular rivits.

 

Skid Mark, take your car back to the shop and show the service manager the mangled bushing. If he doesn't voluntarily replace it, explain that one of the most experienced Jaguar techs in the world (Brutal) said it needs to be replaced.