Jaguar XJ-S. Manual - part 92

 
 

363

ABS grease seal works the other way round, it sits on the hub carrier and its lip touches the hub proper which rotates 
relative to it.  The hub’s inside surface in that area is nothing like as smooth as the sub axle’s surface, so I’d expect that 
grease seal to fail much earlier.” 

“I have had my XJ-S for almost three years and 42,000 miles now.  R&R’d stub axles and front wheel bearings when I 
bought it and bearings again about 10,000 miles ago.  They needed it.” 

Segal again:  “In my environment (winter, salt, water ) the new type seals do not provide a long term solution -- thus 
Jaguar Canada’s very short replacement recommendation.  We’ve found that quite often the bearings had started to rust 
front the salt water getting past the seal.”  

If you have an ABS-equipped car, perhaps while you have the hub off for an overhaul it’d be a good idea to polish up 
the contact surface on the hub to help seal life. 

 

FRONT AXLE WEAR:  The inner races of the inner front wheel bearings tend to turn on the axles.  As a result, they 
eventually wear a groove in the axle, on the bottom where the load is.  This allows the wheel to wobble even when the 
bearings are adjusted properly, and your Jag starts driving like a Pontiac. 

To check for problems, remove the front hubs and check the stub axles for a wear groove.  Run your fingernail along 
the bottom of the axle from the upright outward.  If your fingernail catches at all, the axle should be replaced. 

According to Richard Griffiths, the inner race is supposed to rotate on the axle.  This distributes the wear evenly around 
the inner race rather than concentrating it on the bottom.  “With proper lubrication, heat treat and tolerances etc., the 
effect of a "walking" inner race on the axle is a beautiful mirror-like burnished surface, not galling and wear as some 
have noted.” 

Well, there’s little an owner can do about heat treat or tolerances, and on the XJ-S inner race rotation is clearly a 
problem -- and bearing wear is not a problem.  So it makes sense to ensure that the inner races will not turn by using 
Loctite 640 or some similar high-strength bearing retaining substance.  This may shorten the life of the bearing by some 
negligible amount according to some engineer’s theories, but in the real world it will positively eliminate the wear on 
the stub axle.  Use it on the inner race of the outer bearing, too, since it has been known to have the same problem.  
Adjust the front wheel bearings as described below. 

 

FRONT WHEEL BEARING ADJUSTMENT:  Section 60.25.13 of the ROM, Step #4, indicates that the front hub 
bearings should be adjusted to attain end float measurement of 0.002”-0.005” (0,05mm-0,15mm).  However, Technical 
Service Bulletin 57-15 revised the end float spec to 0.001”-0.003”. 

If you don’t happen to have the type of dial indicator needed to measure end float, this author recommends the 
following procedure:  Tighten the retaining nut to perhaps 20 ft-lb while turning the hub to make sure everything is 
seated properly.  Loosen the nut then spin it back on until it seats, normally a very distinct point; continue to tighten 
about 1/10 of a turn while turning the hub.  Fit the lock and install the cotter pin. 

This may seem tight, and in fact may be tighter than the official Jaguar procedure (measuring end play) would result in. 
 Any bearing expert will tell you that proper operation of a roller bearing requires some preload.  When tight, the 
weight of the car is distributed among the rollers.  When loose, the slop allows the load to be taken by only one or two 
rollers at a time, and the unloaded rollers may slide rather than roll. 

Another method that has been suggested is to tighten the nut to 25 ft-lb while rotating the hub and then back the nut off 
one flat. 

If you’re using Loctite on the inner races as suggested above, you might opt to apply the Loctite to the inboard race, 
assemble, tighten the nut to 25 ft-lb while rotating the hub and leave it there long enough for the Loctite to set.  Then 
pull the nut and outboard inner race back out, apply Loctite there, and then do your final assembly and adjustment. 

 
 

364

Note that having the bearings adjusted too loosely -- as well as having a grooved front axle, as described above -- 
would be detrimental to seal life.  And the seals on the ABS-equipped cars may be marginal already, as mentioned 
above. 

 

FRONT WHEEL BEARING CAPS:  Apparently, some bearing caps are a total seal, while others have a small hole in 
the middle.  It is suggested that if you have wheels that don’t keep dirt out of this area, put a small piece of aluminum 
tape over the hole.  Or, just pry it off and take it down to the local auto parts store and buy a generic replacement. 

 

CHECKING OF BALL JOINTS AND TIE ROD ENDS:  To test joints such as these, it is helpful to find a convenient 
way to “shake” them, or to move them in such a way that will cause them to slop one way and then the other.  In the 
case of tie rod ends, this is easily done by moving the steering wheel back and forth just a little.  With ball joints, if the 
front tire shaking described under FRONT SUSPENSION CHECK on page 361 caused a “clunk”, that same motion 
will work for this test. 

This test requires two people.  Place a single finger on the joint in question in such a way that one side of the finger is 
against the hardware on one side of the joint, and the other side of the finger is against the other side.  While holding 
this position (may be difficult, since the car should be sitting on its wheels) another person should provide the shaking 
motion.  If the joint is OK, no motion can be felt between the two parts.  If the joint is loose, a human finger will easily 
detect the slop.  Typically, any slop at all is unacceptable, the joint should be replaced. 

With either ball joints or tie rod ends, though, the more common indication that the joint needs replacement is that the 
protective boot is torn open.  On the joints on most cars, the boot is not replaceable, and the joint will last as long as the 
boot -- so when the boot goes is when the joint gets replaced.  This is true of the Jaguar tie rod ends as well, but not 
necessarily the ball joints; since they have replaceable boots, it’s possible to keep replacing the boots until the joint 
itself wears out. 

 

ANTI-SEIZE COMPOUND:  See description on page 28.  This note is to point out that many suspension components 
involve tapered fits, such as the ball joints and the front axle in the hub carrier.  It is suggested that anti-seize compound 
be used on the tapers themselves as well as the threaded nuts.  It does no harm, and can make the assembly much easier 
to get apart in the future.  In tapered fit applications, care should be taken to ensure the entire fitting is thinly coated, 
since the anti-seize compound will not be spread during assembly as it is on threads. 

 

BALL JOINT GAITERS:  The gaiter used on the original Jaguar ball joints is a Rube Goldberg assembly in itself, and 
the parts are available separately.  The gaiter itself (C43216) is a clear flexible plastic item, with a steel ring molded into 
it to make the small opening fit snugly around the ball shaft.  The gaiter fits into a plastic collar (C22970) which the 
Haynes manual calls an “insert”, and a rubber ring (C22969 -- looks like a skinny O-ring) fits into a groove on the 
gaiter to hold it snugly into this plastic collar.  The plastic collar snaps onto the ball joint itself.  If you are replacing the 
gaiter and don’t have a rubber ring, you can simply tie the gaiter to the plastic collar with some wire.  The same gaiter 
assembly is used on both upper and lower ball joints. 

Note that the plastic collar only goes on one way.  There is a barely-perceptible ridge around the ID on one side, and 
that side must be installed toward the ball joint.  The ridge snaps into a groove on the ball joint, leaving the collar 
situated such that it can be rotated on the groove.  If you try to install it upside down, you will have to jam it hard 
against the housing and you may still not manage to get it to snap into place correctly. 

In the Haynes manual, Chapter 11, Section 10, steps 2 and 3 tell you to remove the retaining ring, gaiter, and collar 
separately.  You may be able to remove these three items together as one part -- or as a handful of chunks, as is typical. 
 However, during reassembly it may be necessary to install them separately because the collar can be a bit of a 
challenge to get snapped onto the ball joint. 

 
 

365

This author’s experience is that this transparent gaiter has a life expectancy of less than five years.  The clear plastic 
turns dark brown, then rots and falls out in crumbs.  As with any grease-filled assembly protected by a boot, once the 
gaiter rips open and sand and water get in, the ball joint itself is quickly ruined.  Since the gaiters are available 
separately, you can make the ball joints last almost indefinitely by replacing the gaiters before the old ones get rotten 
and rip open. 

The gaiter provided in the QH lower ball joint rebuild kit (see below) is different than the original.  It is a solid black 
rubber item with no metal reinforcement.  A metal clip is provided in the kit to be used in place of the rubber ring on 
the large opening.  The QH kit does not include a new plastic collar, which leads to a question: are you supposed to 
reuse the original plastic collar, or are you supposed to use this gaiter without the collar?  It really doesn’t work well 
either way.  Here’s what seems to work best: using a small pair of snips, carefully trim the flange on the side of the 
collar that ends up inside the gaitor down to about half its original breadth.  Now the black rubber gaiter will fit it 
properly. 

The black gaiters in the QH kits are also British, and don’t seem to last much longer than the clear plastic Jaguar 
originals.  They dry rot and start cracking at the seams.  In addition, they are rather poorly designed; they are a simple 
dome shape with a hole in the top, and this shape doesn’t really flex properly when the ball joint is swivelled to one or 
the other extreme position.  The pulling to one side tends to pull the small hole around the tapered post hard enough to 
stretch it open and allow dirt to get in.  Fortunately, this gaiter works well enough in the nearly centered positions 
where the joint spends 99% of its time. 

Chuck Sparks suggests that a thin layer of red Girling “rubber grease” (see the discussion on brake caliper assembly on 
page 427) be applied to the inside surface of the gaiters prior to assembly.  The idea is that this coating might help keep 
the grease from your grease gun from contacting the rubber the gaiter is made of.  Since the two may not be compatible, 
keeping them apart may make the gaiter last longer.  Well, maybe a shaky theory, but applying the red grease couldn’t 
hurt. 

There are better solutions to the gaiter situation here.  One would be to find a non-British gaitor from some other 
application that fits.  Mike McLaughlin says, “Once again I'm reminded of a product out of marine catalogs... There are 
available several sizes of black, flexible bellows that may be far superior to the automotive product.  They are used to 
route the marine steering arm, throttle and gearshift cable ass'ys through bulkheads to the outboard engine and in some 
applications, house a u-joint and/or exhaust gasses to the outdrive (volvo, mercruiser).  A poke about in a marine supply 
house may well reveal the ideal product...” 

If you can’t find a good gaitor that fits, you can fabricate your own gaiters from shoe leather or inner tubes or 
something.  It’s really not difficult, and it’s especially not difficult to do better than the OEM items. 

The best solution, though, is to replace the ball joints in entirety with the XJ40 items as described on page 367. 

 

LOWER BALL JOINT ACCESS:  The overhaul procedure in 60.15.13 says to disconnect the brake line and the tie rod 
end.  Both are unnecessary unless you really prefer to work on the bench.  Obviously you need to be careful not to 
stress the brake line. 

The Haynes manual, Chapter 11, Section 10, Step 1 tells you to remove the stub axle carrier as described in Section 8.  
Section 8 tells you to remove the brake caliper and the hub/disk assembly, both of which are unnecessary for ball joint 
work.  It also suggests separating the upper ball joint from the stub axle carrier, but if you’re not working on that ball 
joint at this time it would obviously be much easier to separate it from the A-arm by removing the two bolts and 
keeping track of the alignment shims. 

You can pretty much ignore the directions in the repair manuals and simply follow the following steps.  Obviously, start 
by putting the front of the car on jack stands and removing the road wheel.  The steering must be turned back and forth 
a couple of times, so it’s really easier (and safer) to lift the entire front end of the car and place on stands rather than 
trying to lift just one corner.  Note that the car will probably get lifted off those jack stands at various points in this 
process and set back down on them. 

 
 

366

Once the lower ball joint is apart, there will be nothing to prevent the road spring from snapping the lower swingarm 
downward around its inner mount bushings.  To keep the car’s weight on that spring, support the suspension with a jack 
under the outer corner of the spring pan on the lower A-arm.  Stay away from the lower ball joint. 

Before disconnecting the upper ball joint, you need to make sure there’s no load on it.  This is important when taking it 
apart, but it’s even more important when reassembling; it’s really difficult to insert the bolts in the holes while lifting 
the car with one hand!  If the rubber bumpers in the upper A-arm are on their stops, the road spring may be pulling the 
A-arms down and applying tension to the upper ball joint.  Jack the lower A-arm up until the spring is compressed far 
enough that the rubber bumpers on the upper A-arm are not touching their stops.  This may require jacking a pretty long 
ways, nearly standing the car on its opposite corner.  Dale Knaus says, “The way I change the ball joints is to start by 
blocking the opposite rear corner of the car at the jack point.  By blocking under the opposite rear, the jack will lift 
more of the car and compress the spring more.”  Others suggest adding weight to the corner of the car you’re working 
on, such as placing bags of feed or cement on the fender. 

Once you know the upper ball joint is unloaded, separate the hub carrier from the upper A-arm. You can remove the nut 
and use a ball joint separator to pop the tapered pin loose from the hub carrier, but if you’re not planning on servicing 
that upper ball joint it’s easier to simply remove the two bolts holding the joint to the A-arm (make sure to note where 
the alignment shims go).  You’ll need to turn the steering a bit towards that side to get the outboard bolt out. 

Tilt the top end of the hub carrier outward to get access to the nut on the lower joint ball pin.  Loosen the nut a few 
turns but don’t remove it.  You need to loosen the nut far enough to get past the nyloc insert so the nut turns freely; 
once the tapered pin is popped loose it’s free to spin, which may make it difficult to remove the nut if it won’t spin 
easily on the threads. 

Use of a fork-type ball joint separator on the lower joint will not only destroy the old gaiter, but the plastic ring and the 
upper ball seat as well.  The fork type separator doesn’t work very well here anyway; better to have the screw-type 
separator on hand.  Even better, usually you can get it apart without using any separator tool; jam something between 
the inner corner of the hub carrier (right next to the lower ball joint) and the A-arm, and forcefully rock the upper end 
of the hub carrier outward.  Once it pops loose, the hub carrier will fall, and if it still has the brake assembly on it it’s 
quite heavy; that’s why you loosened that nut but didn’t remove it! 

If you’re careful, you can accomplish all this without disconnecting the tie rod or the brake line; it might help to turn the 
steering wheel one way or the other.  Of course, this implies you’re willing to rebuild the ball joint right there.  If you 
prefer to carry the hub carrier to the bench, obviously you’ll need to disconnect the tie rod and brake line and bleed the 
brakes once you’ve reassembled everything. 

If you separated the upper end by unbolting the ball joint, use one of the upper ball joint bolts to connect the inner end 
of the upper ball joint to the outer holes in the upper A-arm.  This provides a convenient support for the hub carrier 
once the lower ball joint is apart.  If you popped the pin loose at the upper ball joint, you can slip it back together and 
install the nut loosely, or use more conventional means such as hanging the hub carrier with wire.  Once the hub carrier 
is supported, you can remove the nut on the lower ball pin entirely and proceed to rebuild the ball joint. 

 

LOWER BALL JOINT REBUILDING:  The original lower ball joint is a rebuildable assembly, with parts books 
showing part numbers for the individual components; apparently there is no single part number for the overall 
assembly.  Before the advent of the XJ40, Jaguar offered a rebuild kit for the lower ball joint, part number 12803.  
That’s not a misprint; for some reason, there is no C or other letters before the number. 

The lower ball joint from the XJ40 (the 1988-on XJ6) is a one-piece throwaway item (see below) that will replace the 
entire ball joint assembly on the XJ-S, and costs less than the Jaguar rebuild kit.  Hence, Jaguar reportedly no longer 
makes such a kit, and authorized repair shops merely replace the joint with the XJ40 item. 

However, an aftermarket parts company, Quinton Hazell, makes a rebuild kit for the original rebuildable ball joint; the 
part number is QSJ221RK or something like that.  QH’s prices for this kit are much more reasonable than the Jaguar 
parts prices ever were, and it is cheaper to use this kit to rebuild your ball joint than to install the new XJ40 unit.  It’s 
still a better idea to go with the XJ40 joint, though, because it comes with a better gaiter.