Jaguar XJ-S. Manual - part 93

 
 

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The original, rebuildable lower ball joint is assembled with shims to provide a properly snug fit between the ball and 
the socket.  It should be noted that these shims are intended to provide a proper fit at assembly, not for removing the 
slop from a worn joint.  If a joint develops slop, it should be rebuilt with new parts or replaced entirely, not merely 
readjusted. 

The ROM, Section 60.15.04, describes re-shimming the lower ball joint without disconnecting it from the stub axle 
carrier, but frankly this is questionable; you will have a difficult time determining the correct snugness of that ball joint 
without being able to manipulate the ball pin by hand.  Besides, you probably need to replace the gaiter while you’re in 
there anyway, so use the overhaul procedure in 60.15.13 instead. 

When rebuilding the lower ball joint, don’t lose the shims that come out.  Although the QH kit includes shims, there 
may not be enough to provide all new shims. 

Bernard Embden suggests:  “I found that, under pressure, grease was spitting out between the shim and one lower ball 
cup.  Putting a straight edge against the ball joint surface at the knuckle revealed an uneven surface which had to be 
trued up before completing the rebuild.  I believe that these lower ball joints are subject to a lot of abuse as the car runs 
over debris, etc.  Checking with a straight edge should be part of any rebuild.” 

It is recommended that you trial-assemble the ball joint dry (no grease) in order to establish the correct shimming.  It’s 
amazing how grease can make a sloppy joint feel tight. 

Thoroughly grease the ball and socket parts prior to final assembly.  Although the joint has a zerk fitting, its use is no 
substitute for proper greasing at assembly. 

 

LOWER BALL JOINT SUBSTITUTION:  As mentioned above, the lower ball joint from the XJ40, part number 
CAC9937, will replace the original ball joint on the XJ-S perfectly.  This ball joint is made by Lemförder in Germany; 
the Lemförder part number is 030 260 004 834.  It has no grease fitting, it’s not rebuildable and the gaiter is not 
considered replaceable (not available separately) -- but it’s still the better choice in ball joints!  The gaiter built onto the 
Lemförder ball joint is an excellent design, shaped like a bellows to allow the joint to move back and forth without 
stressing the rubber or pulling open a gap.  It also has metal spring rings at both ends to hold it snugly to the joint. 

So, your choice seems to be: replace the gaiters on the original ball joints every five years, or replace the entire joint 
with the XJ40 part and forget about it for some time -- perhaps ten years anyway. 

The XJ40 lower ball joint also provides a bit more clearance for aftermarket wheels. 

When installing the XJ40 ball joint, the shims from the original joint are not used.  They were only needed to provide 
internal clearance in the rebuildable joint. 

When replacing the rebuildable ball joint with the XJ40 ball joint, note that the upper ball seat of the original ball joint 
must be removed.  It’s a metal ring, and it actually looks like it could be an integral part of the hub carrier, but it’s not; 
it’s pressed in from below.  Charlie Marino suggests using the old ball pin as a tool for removing it; “I placed the ball 
end of the ballpin on the upper seat from the top and hit downward into the seat with a hammer. About 4 medium hits 
drove the seat out through the bottom of the stub axle carrier.” 

 

UPPER BALL JOINT REPLACEMENT:  The official repair manual calls for “Steering Joint Taper Separator JD.24”, 
but we don’t need no steenking separator!  Put the car on jackstands and remove the wheel.  Put a jack and block of 
wood under the lower ball joint and jack it enough that the rubber bumpers on the upper A-arm are not touching the 
subframe.  Loosen the nut on the upper ball post several turns, but do not remove it.  Lower the jack so that the rubber 
bumpers sit on the stops and the full spring force is applied to separating the joint.  If you’re lucky and the previous 
mechanic used anti-seize compound on the taper, you’ll hear a pop as it comes loose.  If more difficult, a little judicious 
tapping on the side of the hub carrier may help. 

Make sure to note where the shims are located between the arms and the ball joint.  Even if you plan to have the car 
aligned, at least it will drive better on the way to the shop.  The shims are supposed to lift right out, but they weren’t 

 
 

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made quite right; they tend to catch the bolt on the inner corner on the hook-shaped end.  If this corner is filed slightly, 
reassembly will be easier. 

 

UPPER BALL JOINT SUBSTITUTION:  On the original XJ-S upper ball joint C23024, the gaiter C43216, plastic ring 
C22970 and rubber ring C22969 are exactly the same parts as those on the lower joint -- see the discussion on page 
364.   This means the gaiter is replaceable as it is on the lower joint, but it also means it will need replacing on a regular 
basis.  Other than gaiter replacement, this ball joint is not rebuildable like the lower joint. 

As with the lower ball joint, the XJ40 upper ball joint CAC9938 (made by Lemförder) is a better choice; in fact, many 
parts houses may automatically ship you this part when you order an upper ball joint.  The gaiter on the XJ40 upper ball 
joint is just like the one on the XJ40 lower ball joint: not replaceable, but a much better design than the XJ-S gaiter.  
Like the XJ40 lower ball joint, the XJ40 upper ball joint has no grease fitting.  The Lemförder part number is 027 260 
005 834. 

 

UPPER BALL JOINT -- SLOPPY MOUNTING:  Walt Osborne of Vintage Jag Works (page 694) points out that the 
original upper ball joint on XJ’s was mounted with a pair of long 3/8” bolts while the XJ40 upper ball joint is mounted 
with long 10mm bolts.  As a result, when the XJ40 upper ball joint is installed in an earlier car using the original bolts, 
there is about 0.020” slop in where it will get positioned as the bolts are tightened down. 

This is not exactly the world’s most pressing problem.  Wherever the ball joint is when it is snugged up, having the car 
aligned will deal with it.  There are only two situations where this slop can have a detrimental effect:  1) If you hit a 
pothole so hard as to slam the ball joint against one limit of this slop or the other -- move it despite how tight the bolts 
are holding it still -- it could affect your camber.  2) If you work on your front suspension for some reason and unbolt 
the ball joint and reinstall it, it may not end up in exactly the same place.  In either of these cases, we’re talking about a 
worst-case scenario that the ball joint will relocate by 0.020” -- barely noticeable. 

However, Osborne also points out that fixing this slop is pretty easy.  Merely drill out the holes in the swingarms to 
10mm, file the openings in the four alignment shims per side a hair bigger, and install the XJ40 ball joints with 10mm 
bolts. 

First challenge: finding a 10mm drill bit.  In the US, good luck!  Fortunately, you can forget it.  Mal Stewart reported, 
and this author has confirmed, that 10mm bolts will fit in the holes in the swingarms without drilling.  They’re snug -- 
in a couple of places, I had to polish the inside of a hole a bit with sandpaper -- but you certainly won’t need to use a 
10mm drill bit.  I did opt to chamfer the edge of the hole under the bolt head to make sure the head seated properly. 

Second challenge:  Finding suitable bolts.  Of course, you could try getting the OEM bolts for an XJ40 from Jaguar.  
Osborne suggests using generic 10mm bolts of the correct length with the head of the outboard bolt rounded off for 
clearance as the original bolt was. 

The two bolts are different lengths.  100mm is just about perfect for the inboard bolt; I found that Grainger (page 708) 
has both 100mm and 105mm bolts, with the 105mm bolts being significantly cheaper!  They work fine, the extra length 
is no problem. 

You’ll probably have to buy 80mm bolts for the outer bolts, but 80mm is too long; the correct length for the outboard 
bolt is about 68mm.  You might get away leaving the bolt 80mm long, but it might catch on the brake disc dust shield 
near full steering lock, so just to be safe cut the extra off. 

You will probably want Grade 8 bolts for this job -- but metric bolts are not rated the same way as SAE bolts.  What 
you want is Class 10.9, which is essentially equivalent to Grade 8.  Don’t get confused by metric Class 8.8, that’s 
essentially equivalent to Grade 5. 

I had difficulty finding 10mm nuts in Class 10.9, so I used Class 8.8 nuts.  The strength of the nut is nowhere near as 
important as the strength of the bolt in this application.  The Class 8.8 nuts are available in many places; I found nyloc 
nuts at Home Depot. 

You don’t care if the bolts are regular, fine, or extra fine thread as long as the nuts fit the bolts. 

 
 

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I had to file the alignment shims a bit to get them to fall into place properly.  The slots are big enough to fit the 10mm 
bolts, but it won’t fit both at the same time!  The solution was to file the slot on the inboard end of each shim a bit 
deeper, so it gets a little closer to the other slot.  It took perhaps 30 seconds with a round file. 

Both the bolt heads and the nuts I used fit 17mm wrenches.  That’s considerably larger than the 9/16” OEM bolts and 
nuts, and raises clearance concerns with the outer bolt.  After installation and before reinstalling the wheel, have an 
assistant turn the steering lock-to-lock while you watch the hub carrier rotate around the upper ball joint.  The clearance 
conditions vary somewhat with suspension extension, so place a floor jack under the lower ball joint, lift it up a bit, and 
have the assistant turn it lock-to-lock again.  Also note that the clearance varies somewhat with the locations of the 
alignment shims, so if you have the car aligned you might want to check it again. 

Here’s an interesting option: replace only the inboard bolt on each ball joint with the 10mm bolt, leaving the original 
3/8” bolt in the outboard location.  The single 10mm bolt will eliminate all the slop in the horizontal direction and half 
the slop in the vertical direction -- but the horizontal direction is the only direction that affects alignment.  This will 
save you having to buy 80mm bolts, shorten them and round the head, and worry about clearance. 

Bob Higgs has another method:  “You can do as I did, that is to take a strip of .010" stainless steel shim, wrap it around 
the 3/8" bolt making a tube shape and inserting this in the upper ball joint mounting hole.  You can then use the old 3/8" 
bolts, no drilling no filing no rounding off required.” 

Sounds simple enough -- but Higgs doesn’t tell you where to obtain .010” stainless steel shim stock.  You can buy it at 
Grainger or MSC or similar industrial supply outfits.  It ain’t cheap -- but if you’re looking to save money you could get 
the non-stainless stuff.  FYI, the ball joints are a bit more than 1-1/8” wide, so that’s how long your tubular shims will 
need to be. 

Higgs also fails to mention exactly how you “wrap it around the 3/8" bolt making a tube shape”.  This task is definitely 
easier said than done.  Maybe there’s a special tool available somewhere, but if you’re working with normal hand tools 
you’ll probably end up wishing you had just sprung for the 10mm bolts. 

One option there would be to cut a strip of stainless steel shim stock about 1/4” wide and several inches long and wrap 
it spirally to form the shim you need.  Since it’s just taking up space, the spiral form will work just as well. 

Another idea would be to get some thin-walled metal tubing, such as brass tubing from a hobby shop, with an ID of 
3/8”.  Since the OD of such tubing is usually some even amount larger -- the OD of the brass tubing from a hobby shop 
will be 7/16” even -- you can then just use a 7/16” drill bit to ream out the hole in the XJ40 ball joint.  Slide the tubing 
into the hole and mount the ball joints with the original bolts. 

 

FRONT SWINGARM BUSHING CHECKING:  The front swingarm bushings may be checked using similar methods 
as the ball joints, except that the bushings include some rubber so there will be some slight motion even in a perfectly 
good joint.  Usually, the best indication that a swingarm bushing is bad is that some of the rubber is hanging out of it. 

 

LOWER SWINGARM BUSHING REPLACEMENT:  Craig Sawyers provides some insight into removal of the lower 
pivot shafts on this elite precision automobile:  “Be prepared for a very sweaty hour or two.  Get yourself a four pound 
lump hammer and batter the living daylights out of it.  Be of strong heart and right arm - the SOB's will come out.  
They rust into the metal sleeve in the bushes.  Once it starts to move, you will need a long drift to continue driving it 
through the hole in the suspension (I used a loooong socket extension I have). 

Of course, the bolt will be mushroomed at the end after the abuse you offer it, and you'll need two new ones - they are 
about £15 each.” 

“After I spent a cheerful day exercising my arm, and patience, removing mine, I happened to be at the Jag dealer.  I was 
collecting some parts, and chatting to Colin (the workshop head).  In the background there was this fearful BANG, 
BANG, BANG then a rest pause, then BANG, BANG... 

"Good grief, Colin - what on earth are you guys up to?" 

 
 

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"Front lower wishbone shafts - sometimes takes hours of that treatment before they move.  Sometimes we even have to 
take it in shifts as each of us tires...." 

Uhhhhh, do I even have to suggest that anti-seize compound would be a good idea when reassembling? 

 

SPRING REMOVAL:  If you’re working on the lower swingarm bushings, trying to adjust the ride height, or any of 
several other operations, you will need to remove the front road spring -- safely.  Needless to say, it is a very strong 
spring, and care must be taken to either gradually release the compression on it or to hold it securely compressed so that 
it cannot break loose. 

Ideally, you should use a spring compressor that fits this assembly, but that may be difficult to find -- the front spring 
mounts on the XJ-S seem designed to confound most standard spring compressors.  The official Jaguar tool is a 
threaded device that goes up the middle, but is reportedly so large and bulky that it requires the car be on a lift, not 
merely on jackstands. 

Carlos Artal says, “Get a thick, long threaded rod (size unimportant, but as thick as you can).  Get 6 large washers that 
will fit on the rod, and are at least 5cm diameter.  Finally; get some nuts for the rod (if the rod is as thick as mine, the 
nuts were size 16 metric).  I got 4, and you'll see why. 

“On the upper part of the x-member, just put some rag under the washers (3) and insert the rod vertically, then insert 2 
nuts from the top, so they rest on the washers. 

“From the underside, use 2 little blocks of wood, which fit into the "circular pan" the shock base has, and then put on 
the other 3 washers, and 2 nuts. 

“To disassemble, just tighten the lower nuts until you can undo the bolts in the pan.”  Then back the nuts down to lower 
the pan until the spring is completely free.  “Just one warning!; when you think the spring is completely sprung, keep 
on going, these puppies are big and dangerous (my first one jumped 2 meters!) 

“To assemble, with the same setting as above, the problem is that the spring will make the pan wander from side to side. 
 I used 3 thin rods as "guides" for the entire pan.”  Others use long bolts or threaded rod screwed into the holes in the 
swingarm as guides, but note that having anything threaded tends to make the pan hang up on it; it’s better to have 
something smooth. 

Dennis Kindig used a similar procedure, and offers these variations:  “You may want to fiddle with a piece of bar stock 
cut at the proper angle and placed between the washers on the rod and the spring pan to help align the pan with the 
wishbone.  There is an angled section of cylindrical bar stock on the "official" tool ($420 US, by the way) that 
accomplishes that.  I also found that wedging the rod (I used a socket stuffed in there) so that it stayed at the outer end 
of the oval hole in the spring pan gave me more leverage (it pulls to the inside under tension).” 

Joe Bialy describes a totally different spring removal method:  “Use three pieces of threaded rod about a foot long each. 
 3/8-24 fine thread.  Remove three pan bolts, install the rod with nuts to hold it all together.  Remove the other 3 bolts.  
Slowly and uniformly back out the nuts on the three rods.  The pan will back out with them.  Reverse the process to 
install.”  The problem, of course, is finding threaded rod in fine thread; Bialy says McMaster-Carr (page 708) carries it. 

Other suggestions include tying the spring in the loaded position while it’s sitting on its wheels and then jacking it up -- 
please be very careful tying it, and make good and sure whatever you use is strong enough for the job.  And keep your 
body parts outta the way anyway, just in case it breaks loose. 

Michael McLaughlin says, “Herein is the no brain / no pain / no danger / no unusual tools (requires two jacks and a nut 
splitter) front spring liberation.  Find the complete story at: 

 

 

http://www.jag-lovers.org/lists/archives/xj-s/199802/msg00542.html

 

“Chock rear wheels and jack car (not wheel).  Turn steering to allow access (to left for right wheel).  Remove front road 
wheel.  Insert "low" jack under spring pan; raise jack under spring pan and lower car jack until car weight is borne 
entirely by road spring (and 3 other wheels!).  With nut splitter crack in two places and remove upper balljoint retainer 
nut (not the nuts on the two bolts holding the balljoint).  Raise car jack and lower spring jack slightly.  Secure axle stub