Jaguar XJ8 Control Arm. #2 - Polyurethane bushings, Suspension layout

[@lorenhewitt8279]

Better artist than I am. Great video.

[@EdBwoy]

Thanks for the kind words Loren, I was indeed hoping it would be *illustrative* enough.

[@colmoconnor1349]

Great tutorial..thank you for posting.

[@EdBwoy]

Glad it was helpful!

[@markslick8611]

Good video , thank you for your drawing and attention to details.

[@roonyi5352]

Amazing video! Very clear. Thank you!

[@mathijsdevries728]

Thank you for these vid’s! I’m starting this same project (including strut replacement) on the left side. But only after dinner! 😅👊🏻 Wish me luck...

[@EdBwoy]

You're welcome, and good luck with your project. Although people fear touching Jaguars, I always enjoyed wrenching on it. The change in ride, handling & road feel was dramatic after all the suspension work I did to it.

[@markbooker5329]

Hi Ed, Great video I'm just in the middle of the same job. I'm pressing the bushes out myself and really struggling to tell which way the rear lower inner Bush needs to move to come out, don't suppose you can remember can you? Cheers Mark

[@EdBwoy]

Mark, sorry I cannot recall exactly. However, I know that if you clean off the bush-arm area, you should be able to see that one side of the control arm receiver is tapered.

[@markbooker5329]

@@EdBwoy No worries, I ended up drilling a lot of holes until the central bulb piece could be knocked out. Then tried from both sides with a large socket pushing against the bearing and two pieces of ally at the edges of the other side to allow room for it to push out. In the end it finally moved with loud bang with socket pushing from the 'inside' of the wishbone so the bearing popped out towards the back of the car. All back together now so I can get to work tomorrow, so pros and cons😁 Cheers Mark

[@bardthomashesvik8295]

Hey Ed, Where did you get the poly bushings? How will they flex with the geometry of the suspension? Will they be like, fixed or will they flex?

[@EdBwoy]

I got mine from Powerflex - www.powerflexusa.com/ This was 5 years ago, and there was maybe one other vendor serving the US at the time. I hope more options have since become available.

[@EdBwoy]

With regards to suspension behavior, they will flex just like the original bushings. Although they tried to match them, I believe they were still a little firmer than OEM bushings; nothing too terrible - in fact, they will feel 100x better than most of our worn bushings being replaced. For me, the main value proposition of polyurethane bushings was their durability against wear.

[@EdBwoy]

Also, because of the sleeves not being bonded to the damping material, these bushings will allow rotation and sometimes you could hear the bushings squeaking. It was not all the time for me - but if I was on a bumpy road at moderate speed, I would hear it as the car went up and down. I found the air suspension to be quite unsettled over bumps, railroad tracks and the like - being such a light car, so most times I carried 2 spare wheels to keep it more firmly planted.

[@derrickpatterson1]

Someone jacked up my car without the motor running and now my supension is all the way UP how can I reset level sensors and get it down????

[@EdBwoy]

Unfortunately I don't know how to reset it. When I jacked the car, I gave no regard to the engine running or not. Usually it would empty the bladders when I jacked one corner too high up, but the car would always rise up to normal level when I started driving. The one time it went up and refused to come back down, I had to take it into a shop. I had hit a pothole that screwed up the rear right sensor and nothing I did could lower it or soften it. All the best Sir

[@mathijsdevries728]

I assume you have it fixed already, but for those who have the same question; The car sometimes needs a certain speed to start self-adjusting its ride height. So the solution would be: start driving! For the record, I would also suggest staying at low speeds but at least above 15 m/h (or 25 km/h) or so. A half mile was enough in my case... Good luck and stay safe! 😊

[@nigelbeckett4557]

Had the same after replacing the compressor. Start it - leave it running on a level surface - it will sort itself out in the end - mine was too far up in the arches to drive so had to leav e it to sort itself out - it took about 20 mins to pump up and level out.