I wouldnt be driving that car like that, Ive never in my life seen a jaguar with
the tires so low and wheels so inward, in my life. Something is very wrong, and im betting your front and rear are mixed, or your spring have the incorrect load capacity or tension rating=too soft.


I understand, some parts are no longer OEM,but wow! Looking at your front end, actually made me quite angry someone would present your vehicle back to you in that condition.

 

I have h&r lowering springs on mine and even with the original mounts I was an inch higher than yours. Did you replace your engine with a big block lump and not remember it by chance?

 

Haha! No, don't recall swapping out for a big block. Still says Jaguar V8 on the plastic covers

The car is my daily driver so I can't just park it until it's sorted out. I may try to get some rubber spring spacers to temporarily fix it. Anyone know of some that will fit?

Like these:
Hi! Didn't know you were on this forum
I'll take a look for those stickers. But I don't recall seeing any stickers/markings on the springs themselves, only on the box.

Thanks for the help so far guys!

 

The Front Springs have a larger Diameter at the Top than the Bottom. The Rear Springs have the same Diameter, Top to Bottom.

 

Drove by an Autozone and picked up one of those spring booster kits. I'll try to fit it tomorrow to temporarily fix the low nose. Hope it fits.

 

wiljurin,

How did you end up with your low front end? I just got my Suplex coil springs in today and will be tackling this over the weekend. Shock mounts and shocks have been on the bench waiting for weeks now.

That is assuming Mother's Day doesn't get in the way.

 

Man good luck and keep us posted...

 

Well, my front end is still too low. I installed those spring spacers from Autozone. It made the front end a little better. Now the wheels only touch the arches on some major bumps, instead of every bump
Been quite busy lately and haven't had time too look more into it yet. Good luck with your spring changes and keep us posted!

 

Good luck, Just remember to compare the old springs to the new ones before you install new ones. New ones should be the same height or taller then old ones as long as they are direct replacement springs. That way if there is any issues later you'll know where you stand on that. Watch yourself those springs are pretty stout especially under pressure, work safe.

 

So today I finished the install of my shock mounts (SNG Barratt), coil springs (Suplex from SNG Barratt), shocks (Bilstein from PartsGeek) and all the related accessory pieces. Squeak is gone and ride feels much better. The front end is now level, instead of leaning to the right.

A few thoughts and findings:

• When done, ride height was ~15 3/4" on each side. After driving for about 20 minutes, height is now 14 3/4". The new coils were maybe 1/4" taller than the old OEMs when on the bench side-by-side, so the Suplex springs must be softer. I'll check again tomorrow after driving to/from work.
• The aftermarket upper shock mounts from SNG Barratt seem to be good quality; however, they have painted (powder coated?) the threaded studs. This must be removed or you will mess up the threads getting the nuts to tighten down (ask the man who knows).
• DO NOT use the crappy rent-a-tool option from your local parts house for compressing the springs! It takes forever and is dangerous. I ended up going to a NAPA shop and had the new parts assembled for $50. This included taking the old ones apart to get the packing washer wedge piece off for reuse. I could not find the white plastic packing washer wedge pieces anywhere and ended up using the old ones. They were in good shape.

Once I gave it up and paid NAPA to assemble the coils and struts, the job was pretty straight forward. Took maybe an hour and a half working at my usual slow pace, including getting up every 10 minutes because I left the tool I needed on the other side of the car.

 

Uh, where are the strike-out bumpers on the front shocks? And the bellows? They HAVE to be in place as they act as an auxiliary spring, preventing the tires from rubbing the inner fenders. KYB part # SB101, $10.99 each @ RockAuto, for one place. $25.50 @ NAPA, if you like being hosed...

 

Those would be the pieces I referred to as the "the related accessory pieces".

All nuts, washers, gaiters (bellows), bump stops (strike-out bumpers), etc. were replaced. Everything new, except the packing washer wedge thingie, since it has become unavailable. I used the old ones.

 

OK, here's the update. Blue cat sat overnight, drove back and forth to work and is now parked in the garage. New height is now only 14 1/4 inches!

For those of you keeping score, that is the same height that I had before this adventure started. How can this be? The shock mounts alone should have added at least 1/2 inch. The old pair were almost metal to metal on one side. Plus the new coil springs were 1/4 inch taller on the bench and presumably not as tired.

I have effectively ended up with lowered springs without wanting to. I was expecting to get back closer to OEM spec. In fact it was OEM spec when it first came off the jack stands at 15 3/4 inches. Hard to believe it settled 1 1/2 inches. I am more than a little disappointed and cannot recommend the Suplex springs.

On the bright side, the ride has tightened up and I do not scrape the nose as easily. And the metal squeak is gone. Guess that will have to do?

 

Yikes! I would not be happy with that result. I would return the springs...but that's just me. There are OEM springs (new) to be found on the internet, though they won't be anywhere near as affordable as the KYB or Suplex. I think your part number is JLM20712, and if so, jaguarPartsDB.com (in the UK) have the OEM springs for only $257 for the pair not including shipping...and the cheapest I could find at a dealer here in the US is $340 each!

 

Yeah that crossed my mind, but the hassle of taking them all apart and reinstalling just doesn't seem appealing right now. I have asked the seller for solutions and will wait for a reply.

 

STOP FIGURED OUT YOUR PROBLEM

Suplex Rear Road Springs, Part Number JLM20712

 

Are you suggesting I have installed rear springs on the front? The front springs on the XK8 are wide diameter at the top and taper smaller to the bottom, which mine do. The rear springs are same diameter top to bottom as I remember.

Or something else? Ready for any suggestion at this point.

 

Jaguar XK8 Parts Catalogue

go here,scroll to the right to see number 36, match up your vin number, year, and adaptive dampening system if you have it, COUPE OR COVERTIBLE, ANY COLOR MARKINGS ON THE OLD SPRINGS.

You cannot skip any of these steps.

That will be the proper spring rating for the front.

 

Thanks for the link, but this is the supplier where I purchased my springs.

 

What was the part number of the replacement springs, it sounds like they may have a different spring rate then what you need. They are probably softer springs, could be for a coupe.