JustLovingIt

Actually. I hand my head in shame! I had the chrome washers round the wrong way. Silly mistake but I followed how I dismantled it. I still don't know how the torque recommended in the w/s manual, <100 Nm, does not cause deformation of the washers. But I accept the errors which I inherited from previous owners and, (my excuse, lack of a proper w/s manual drawing!)

Gday all I am in the last stages of rebuilding the front suspension, using all new rubber bushes, (not PolyBush etc), and new ball joints. I very carefully assembled the new 'slipflex' bushes to the top wishbones. I fitted the yellow thrust washers first which fits over the sliding centre sleeve, then the plain washers that don't fit over the sleeve. Then the chromed washers, with the domes facing away from the rubber bush. Then the two shims, as per the Jaguar WS manual, Front Caster Adjustment. (UK so Pack 1 is 1 thick shim, Pack 2 is 1 thick, 2 thin, Pack 3 is 1 thick and 1 thin, Pack 4 is 1 thick 1 thin.) I did exactly the same for the other bush, but in reverse obviously and then exactly the same for the opposite side and torqued the fulcrum bolt/nut up to nearly 100Nm. The result was the whole wishbone locked-up and I was able to jack-up the car without the suspension even moving. When I slackened-off the fulcrum nut, the suspension was OK, so I know it's not the lower control arm bushes. Does anyone know what's going on, whether the Jaguar manual torque figure of 98-132 Nm is correct and how I can somehow get it right without having to remove the whole crossmember again? PS: I am an Engineer and I can easily see the inner circumference of the flat washer is crushed in way of the inner circumference, which would lock the washer and possibly the sleeve to the fulcrum bolt. I can also see the same thing happened on the old bush sleeves. This seems OK as long as the axial compression exerted by the fulcrum bolt tightening doesn't compress the bush via the thrust faces. But I think it is. and that's seems to be the problem. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

Hi you good, knowledgeable Jaguar peeps, with garages full of GORGEOUS tools!😀 I know I haven't been active for a long time but, excuses aside and simply-put, I need to borrow, rent, steal or any other way get my very dirty hands on an ABS reluctor ring spanner/wrench, so I can continue with my 4 1/2 day sojourn into fully dismantling and rebuilding the front, (and rear), suspension on my '03 4.2 R convertible. All the usual suspects, including EBay, Laser#5537 etc, are out of stock, (Who knows why!) but I need to renew the brake backplates while I am at it. Can't get the Torx retaining screws out to release the backplate until I get the hub apart and I can't do that without removing said reluctor ring. I can't use the screwdriver in the sensor hole because the crossmember is off the car. So, can I ask if anyone within reasonable driving distance on TN6 is prepared to lend me the tool? I'm quite willing to offer a deposit, plus agreed daily rate. Anyway, I have to remove the sheared studs/ bolts etc from the, IMO, design faux pas of the aluminium Vee mount to the steel bodywork. Both vee mount bolt heads sheared-off, although I can deal with that now I have the front end on the bench. Happy days here in East Sussex!

Richard, I have an '03 XKR and it seems it might have similar issues. Around 50 MPH with stable speed, the gearbox cycles between gears. Does this ring true, or does my issue warrant a separate topic? Good luck anyway!