Ok so I had new tires put on the 97 XK8 and bhad them balanced too. When I left I noticed some shaking from more than one tire, but had to be somewhere so I didn’t take it right back. I set an appointment to have the alignment done at another shop, and figured I’d have them rebalance the tires. Needless to say they found the rear tires were out of balance,but the fronts were at zero, and that the tech didn’t feel anything on the test drive. Also they couldn’t do my alignment because I don’t have the Jaguar shim and bolt kit yet. So they said take it to the Jag dealer for an alignment. Drrrrrrr. I left and still felt a shake in the steering wheel around 50-55. Drrrrrrr! I thought well I’ll keep driving it for a while and see. Coming home from work the other day staying steady at 50ish it started shaking badly in the steering wheel. I checked my lugs and they looked ok. I drove it home and it seemed better. Today I decided to jack it up and check to see if anything felt loose and it seemed fine. Then I was taking my daughter to work and it started shaking pretty bad again. My daughter said " wow it’s really shaking". Then I hit the brake because someone pulled out, and it shuddered badly and pulled a little to the left! I was tempted to turn around,then it settled down and braking was smooth again! I dropped her off and started home. Lots of traffic and no shuddering, but some shaking in the wheel. Halfway home though, about 20 min, it started again and the shuddering with the brake came back! Came to a stop and it was back to a light shake and smooth braking! ARGH! Any thoughts?
Like the earlier XJ40 and X300 the XK8 needs down-force on the front when doing an alignment. Not many alignment shops have the tools to do it properly. Check with the dealer on who they refer alignments to.
I didn’t know that! I’ll call one of the local ones about it
you got to ask how many times they have done alignments on your particular model Jag,
if they admit never…
on most vehicles I have worked upon, a pull to one side is normally associated with some braking issue, which can often be detected by comparing with an IR gun at each disc
I agree 100%. More my confusion is the fact that it comes and goes, and only does it when it starts shaking heavily. And, as much as I hate saying it, it didn’t do it until I had the new tires put on, then more so after taking it in to see about an alignment and having the tires checked for balance. To clarify,they didn’t even try to align it since they didn’t have the shims and bolt set.
jg2 is correct, to make it the BEST, Jag has straps and I think they want 3/4 tank of gas filled in the tank.
They put it on the rack then strap it at that time.
MAKE SURE THE WHEELS WERE NOT OVER TIGHTENED WITH AN AIR GUN STRIPPING THE THREADS.
The wobble could be balance or stripped lugs, people are air gun happy.
Ive seen them actually PULLED out from so much force that only 3 lugs are hooked up.
The CAMBER was also very STEEP with either the v12 or v8 engines.
It has to be done right, the cars weight over 4,000 lbs
good luck.
Ive had all your models from new…they others are correct.
DEALER ONLY UNLESS A TOP SHOP HAS THE STRAP DOWN SET UP.
GTJOEY1314
I was told by a wise old man , never get your wheel balanced at the same time as you have new tyre fitted , let the tyres settle on the rim for a good few miles .
Ask the people who balanced your wheels , when was the machine last calibrated , they get used and abused , we tend to take things for granted !
I had similar on my XJ40 and it turned out to be worn/warped front discs/rotors, may be worth checking them for runout both cold and hot.
All previous comments are also relevant.
He had no issue before though, thrown weights or not balanced along with a bad alignment mean a world of difference on those cars.
Again MAKE SURE THE LUGS ARE TIGHT AND HOLDING.
Good luck
gtjoey1314
Also check for bad u joints. There are a multitude of them in the IRS.
I did pull the wheels a little bit ago and I (big guy that I am) needed a 3ft pipe to get the lugs loose! I then started looking around and saw corrosion on the contract pads of the wheels and decided to scrape that off. I checked a few other possible causes and everything seemed ok, so I put it back together with a little anti sieze on the contract pads and alternating the lugs to snug then resting it and torquing them to spec. I took it for a nice ride and it seems a lot better. I know it still needs an alignment, but it’s better for sure!
If you need a 3’ snipe on a lug wrench to budge the nuts then they have been massively over-tightened. The speck torque for lug nuts on that car is 70 lb.ft. I believe. That should be achievable with a normal spider wrench.
Yeah they had to be. It’s amazing how tight they make them sometimes smh
That’s when you tell them what you think and never go back!!! My tyre place always torques to spec when they do my wheels.
Same with mine and they have me come back after a day of driving for a re-toque.
I think for most of the “tyre” shops around, the term “spec” refers to something they need to clean off of their glasses.
Phillip
Easy buy a torque wrench circa £14.50 and check them yourself, I do for peace of mind and making sure I can undo them in the event of a flat!
Well needless to say it started doing it again. I decided to pull my tires again and check the pads, rotors and calipers to see if I saw anything. On the left side the pins were dry and covered in dirt, so I cleaned those off and greased them. The pads are worn, more on the inner pad than the outer, but fairly even and the rotor looks and feels fine. I compressed the piston slightly and it seemed to move evenly with no noticable rust. I went to pull the right side and first thing I noticed was that the wheel was VERY firm to turn when I had the car up. I took the wheel off and pulled the pins, same coating of crap on them, then went to lift off the caliper and it wouldn’t budge! I had to pry it from the front then back, inching it up until it popped off! The rotor still looks and feels ok though. The inner pad is almost completely gone and the outer has about a 1/4" left. The piston is covered in rust and the pretty much all the way out. I checked the seal and it’s packed underneath with rust particles. I tried pushing it in and it wouldn’t move. Yeah that ones shot! I ordered a new one and a set of pads. We’ll see if that makes the difference!
The car is over 20 years old if Im reading this correct…….?
If you truly love the car and want it to be correct for another 20, do the following.
I feel they are still worth it for the looks, drive and money…
Get the car on a lift.
Its time for NEW
Rotors, bearings, seals, brake lines, calipers, bushes, shocks , each wheel TRULY balanced , sway bar bushes , ball joints , same for the rear and your car will be transformed.
ALL the above parts mentioned would cost under $1,000 dollars if not less.
Now if you don’t , you have to ask yourself, do I want this car or do I move on.
The same era DB7 would cost 10,000 in parts and would never feel as good.
Its time to pony up or shoot the horse…….
GTJOEY1314 IMHO.
ITS 22 YEARS OLD.
If the caliper piston was corroded then it would not be retracting correctly, I would be very surprised if the rotor isn’t warped or suffering from Disc Thickness Variation (DTV)