"Separation of Shock and (Coil) Spring"

XJ-S
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Finally ordered some new shocks (Gabriels - got them on the CHEAP) for Superblue and they should arrive in the mail tomorrow. :smile:

I have been looking over the Jag factory workshop literature about installation, and the front shocks look EZ-PZ. The rear shocks, although much easier with the post face-lifts than with the pre- (Jag even includes a note about this re: “the rear suspension does not need to be removed” :roll_eyes:) does seem to have a bit of a sticking point. The rear shocks are designed to be integral to (i.e. attached) to their respective coil springs and located inside same. This means they have to be removed as a unit, and then the two parted on a workbench equipped with a bench vise. The literature makes it sound and look like two Jag specialty tools are necessary for this feat, (1) a “multi-purpose hand press” and (2) a gizmo referred to as an “adaptor dismantler dampers spring unit”. :flushed: Basically it looks like the idea is to compress the coil spring slightly, to facilitate things while removing the split collet/keepers on the other end of the shock.

For those of us not privileged to have the above two such Jaguar Specialty Tools lying around, is there any way this feat can be accomplished using just ordinary tools? :confused:

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This is a Jaguar specific compressor that I picked up from the deceased estate of the McLaren team manager. These are compressing the rear spring from my XJR which are a lot tougher than the XJS rears but give a good indication of what you will see.
There are generic coil spring compressors in the market place but they generally have two legs either end and are not the best to use as they are for a larger coil.
Apart from that I’m not sure what else would be required that needs a special tool.

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Here is a pic of the kit I put together. I think I spent about $10 for the the threaded rods, nuts and washers. Brake rotors compliments of a local tire chain dumpster, with permission of course.

Gordon

4 Likes
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Yep, I did Gordon’s idea on my etype just a few weeks back…seems much safer than the clamps that I had used before.

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As others have said, not that difficult to cobble something together.

For another approach see

http://bernardembden.com/xjs/spring/index.htm

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  1. I did mine with a Harbor Freight compressor similar to what Robin posted. Mine was not as fancy. It was a bit of a PITA because it did not fit as well as Robin’s example.
  2. The common term for this type of setup is “coil over shock.” Any decent mechanic will know that that means.
  3. Unlike a “conventional” setup where the shocks can usually be removed without raising the vehicle (because they don’t support any weight) with a coil-over the suspension must “hang” so there is no weight on the shock… because you are also removing the spring which supports the vehicle weight.
  4. There is absolutely nothing special about the jag coil over setup vs. other coil over setups. They are easy to remove, the keepers that hold the springs into place are typical, there is no weirdness.
  5. While I encourage everyone to work on their cars, to try new things, and to learn stuff, this is NOT something a first-timer should attempt without some prior knowledge and guidance. There is a lot of energy in the springs and this can be dangerous if not done safely.
  6. You should be able to pull the shocks yourself then take all four to any suspension shop and they can swap the springs to the new shocks. If it takes them much more than an hour they don’t know what they are doing.

-Bob

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I built one using a couple junk brake rotors and all thread rod. Worked great taking the factory units apart, but the replacement shocks used different keepers. So installing the new shocks required conventional spring compressors.

Harry Price

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The kit I showed above worked well taking out the stock Boge shockers and replacing with Bilstein.

I did have to run the springs down quite a bit to accept the new collets but I felt very comfortable swapping them out. Now if you had packers installed it might take several tries to ensure the correct ride height.

It took me three tries to get the ride height correct which resulted in about 16 hours of effort after trying different packer loading.

Gordon

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Thanks, Bob (and everyone). I had wondered about the “danger factor” as to the rear shocks, as I have read of horror stories where when pressure was suddenly removed from the compressed spring while on the car (e.g. loosening a spring or shock support bracket) it can slam downwards with tremendous - e.g. lethal - force. :grimacing: The factory materials though never make any mention of this potential danger or issue any kind of warning (which I would certainly think they would, if applicable) for the r/r process, so I was wondering if it doesn’t exist with this job. :confused:

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I am confused. Why would anyone go through all this effort when you can just go to AutoZone and borrow a spring compressor?

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Because in certain countries we don’t have FLAPS that loan tools out.

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Well, I know AZ has spring compressors for rent, but didn’t know whether they work with shocks for our rather “unique” cats … From some of the posts it was looking like a standard shock compressor might not do the job, in that possibly our coil springs are rather small in diameter … :confused:

I was waiting for someone to chime in on that possibility … If you’re sure they’ll work with the face-lift rear shocks, I’ll go that route, and thanks, Kirby :smile:

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I called my local NAPA service center and asked if they would remove the springs from my coil overs so I could clean them up and replace the shocks.They told me that the would not do the job unless I used their supplied shocks. I did not try another shop, just did it myself.

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Yeah, “service” places like that (or “parts” places, for that matter,) are really goofy anymore about not letting customers “b.y.o.p.”, even if it is a brand new one still in the box. In those cases, I highly suspect they just want to make more $$ out of the “relationship”. :money_mouth_face: What really got me was last year - in a similar vein - when, while getting a general inspection done on Superblue, I asked them to check my rear differential fluid level, since I had been hearing a bit of “deep humming” back there at low speed of late. I was stunned when the shop manager (who was servicing me) told me that they did “not have the socket to do the job” and recommended I take the car to a transmission shop to do the job. He was talking about a 1/2" square male “pipe” socket, I asked him, incredulously, “you don’t have a _______?” He then claimed that he himself did not have one, and that the techs at the shop are forbidden by shop rule to “loan” out/use each other’s tools. :open_mouth: I then offered to lend the use of mine (my tech bud has one), which again he declined, as against their “rules”. Finally, knowing that the shop uses NAPA as the source of all their parts and tools (my tech bud worked for them 20+ years ago), I offered to BUY the tool and have them put it on my bill (a set of 4-5 of them runs less than $80.00). As I explained, I would even let them keep it so they could use it on other customers’ jobs (e.g. differential fluid and transmission fluid checks/changes, etc.), which he again declined to do. :angry: Bottom line: if there wasn’t something more in it for them, they weren’t going to do the job :moneybag: I’m sure if I had hired them to r/r the rear differential cover with a new one they would suddenly “find” one the needed pipe socket somewhere in their shoip. :thinking: btw, my tech bud tells me that NAPA is the most expensive general auto parts suppliers in the DFW area. Makes sense now. :roll_eyes: