Today, our local XK8 volunteer, Kevin, came over for measurement. The bottom line is that indeed, as suggested by some of your members, there is insufficuent room between the top of the engine and the bottom of the hood to install a cross bar going from shock tower to shock tower. That pretty much finalizes the idea of a strut brace. However, the following email sent to us by your memeber Steve in Florida, opens up a different possibility. If the Jag community feels there is a need for a product suggested by Steve in the following email, we would be interested in producing the accessory. This item would be reinforcing plates for each shock tower without a cross bar. We will leave it up to you forum members to decide and give us feedback. Now here is the message Steve sent me. Thanks again for your continued interest, Paul @ Strong-Strut

"Unfortunately I am not near AZ, I live in Florida, otherwise, I would be happy to lend my car to the cause. As far as level of interest in the community, maybe some, depending, let me explain. The 1997 through 2006 xk8 and Xkr (which in the series in question here) have a weak point in the upper shock mount design. I say shock because it is not a true McPherson strut design. The weak point in the upper shock mount, which is an assembly consisting of a riveted metal housing with a rubber insert, is that this rubber deteriorates in about 5 to 7 years! And is too flexible to begin with. Replacement consists of removing the entire spring/shock assy from the car, compressing the spring, replacing the mount, and reinstalling etc. total dlearship replacement cost is about $600. now, I say it is not a true strut assy, however, when this top shock mount rubber disintegrates, the top of the shock is higher off the ground, and this lowers ride height and causes negative camber which cannot be adjusted. My recommendation for a product differentiator is to modify the design of your brace. Where your brace is open around the center of the shock hole, it should actually be solid metal, concaved to fit down into the hole in the tower, with a small hole in the center for the top shock threaded rod to protrude through and and then fasten with a nut. Then this allows for the top of the shock to remain centered, (which also is a problem with worn top shock mounts) and allows the top of the shock to remain at the proper height, and your brace ties it all together. Now, if the pricing is correct, at I would guess at around $400 max,I believe there would be real interest. I have no doubt that improved camber, improved stiffness, elimination of the need to dissemble the front end to replace the shock mounts with jaguar inferior designed parts, and likely even improved ride quality would all make this an attractive option. I don't know the pricing of your products, I didn't look, so I don't know if what I suggest is inline or not. Also, the fit between xk8 vs Xkr could be different over the engine due to the the supercharger, I recommend a test fit be made on both, as I don't know if there is any clearance difference. Steve

 

If your new product, when developed, can indeed accomplish the above, I'm definitely in.

Thanks for looking for ways to improve the cars we love.

 

This is something I have been working on, it is an adjustable camber top mount.

The one in the picture below is an Eiback Pro Street top mount, this is what I have been using as a go by, might give you food for thought

 

We weren't thinking of anything quite this ambitious, only a reinforcement plate to address the shortcoming referenced by Steve Edwards in his prior email