My 1988 XJ Vanden Plas (100K miles) has begun to roll a bit rough at low speed. I believe wheel bearing replacement is needed, but not certain if just front and rear are needed. I can replace the fronts myself, but would need a shop to do the rears. My Jag Dealership says it will take 3 hours labor per wheel bearing at $150.00 labor per hour. Do the rear bearings need replacing at this mileage, or is it most likely just the fronts?
Does anyone know of a good repair shop in the Tampa/St.Petersburg, Sarasota area USA?
Jack up each wheel and then spin the wheel while touching the road spring, if the bearing is bad you wil feel a roughness at your fingertips.
The mileage is not really something you can use as a reliable guide to the condition of the rear bearings.
For example My Sovereign completed over 180,000 miles on the original rear bearings but my friend had one of his fail completely at around 69000 miles.
I think the front bearings have a shorter life in general than the rears because I did have to change them on that car. There was only the tiniest amount of free play in them, but they were making a low droning noise at low speeds that at first convinced me was coming from the back end of the car. The accoustics on these cars can really mislead you !
For that reason I’d check the fronts first and if doubtful change them and then try the car.
Casso,
That low droning sound is exactly what I hear. I will check the fronts first, but it is my suspicion that they are the culprits.
Jack the front of the car up and reach around the wheel so that you can place your finger tips on the road spring, when you spin the wheel you will feel a bearing rumble before you can hear it.
Mr Big E …
$150 an hour for labor ! Makes one wish that they had become a Jaguar mechanic instead of a brain surgeon.
You might want to go to Google and type in “Jaguar IRS hub rebuild”. A nice little video that gives you a step by step on the parts required and how to do it. For almost $1000 I think you might want to give it a try yourself.
I’ve done one rear wheel - all four bearings, in a slow-paced day. Now that I know what I am doing, I can do the other one in probably 3 hours. You do need a long punch, and for the two little hub bearings you do need a bearing puller (I rented it from the car parts store), as the punch would not reach into the groove.
Makes you feel really good when you do the wheel all by yourself!
Ok. I took off the front wheels and got to the inner and outer bearings. I found that only one bearing was bad, it was the right side outer bearing. I ordered two bearing kits from Coventry West. The kits were $25 US each and included one inner and outer bearing and an inner bearing seal. The inner bearings in the kits did not fit, they were too tight to go all the way on the axle. I ended up leaving the old inner bearings in and just replacing the outer bearings. I took the car for a drive afterwards and all is well except now it pulls to the left when braking. I wonder if it has anything to do with the brake pad sensor wire that broke when I was removing the caliper. I didn’t reattach the wire.
I replied to your other post, try not to post to different threads with the same problem 
I now wonder if the right brake rotor is contaminated with grease?
Robin O’Connor,
You got it! The rotor was contaminated with bearing grease. I took it for a spin today and it no longer brakes to one side. I assume the grease worked its way off.
Cheers!
BigE