I have a problem with the front strut insulators, and the rubber? is just crumbling out of them and the shocks move around in their holes, so it must cause an alignment problem. Has anyone replaces them with urethane blocks designed for that purpose. I don’t care if that affects the ride all that much.
If you mean the top ones there are replacements sold. It will most likely require removal of the upper control arm to remove the shock/spring assembly.
thanks for the response. I did view a youtube video on the replacement, and they lower sway bar gets removed and it makes enough room to wiggle the strut out without pulling the upper A arm. I wonder if the aftermarket replacements are just rubber like theold ones or urethane that would be much harder and last longer?
I do believe that you can get polyurethane mounts.
I replaced mine with Poly from Welsh. Can’t tell any difference in ride, since the old ones were so bad. Look like they will hold up well, and seem to be the choice vs URO replacement.
https://www.welshent.com/Jaguar-Upper-Shock-Mount-Pair-P26376.aspx
Have to agree, and it would be cheaper to just buy another one that runs and hope for the best. At the low prices being offered, if you are well-heeled enough, just donate the car and go buy another. This is madness, and I never dreamed a ‘modern’ car could be such a headache. I am quickly running out of patience and will decide very soon about dumping my beautiful XK8
I bought the aftermarket ones and they look to be a lot stronger than the stock rubber ones that were falling apart. Also look closely at the bushes at the lower part of your shocks. When the upper insulators die, the shock assembly just bounces around and the lower attachment take a beating and the bushes get ‘wollered out’ too. Had new ones pressed in. Simple item, but I gagged at how much the replacements cost. No matter, do it right the first time. My car has 80000 miles. The British call these items perishables, and now I know what that means…
I was taking the XK8 on a 3000 mile trip last year and the day before had squeaking from towers.
Had no time to repair correctly. Went to hardware store and got two large rubber stoppers.
Drilled hole in center and jammed into opening. Secured with steel strapping to the three bolts in a triangle pattern. Works perfectly, may just leave that way?
Glenn
You can buy new ones, as I did and they are made of better material. The originals are some kind of foam rubber and they just crumble into crumbs. Let the struts just jump around. If you replace, look at the shock mount bushings on the bottom as they get destroyed too.
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