Question on front shocks

[Lew]

Hi all,

Well, would appreciate your expert advice on the following:

My original front shocks are worn. The upper rubber bushes are disintegrating

The original rear SLS system switched to red Koni shocks + coils vey long ago at a Jag dealer and they still look in good shape, since the mileage they have run is pretty low. So the rear end is fine.

I have been offered a pair of adjustable Koni 26-1596 for the front (fits the X300) at a good bid ....but....on the Koni Jaguar chart, for the XJ40 there is the #26-1361 as standard and the # 26-1592 for Sport and XJR models.

My late XJ40 from April 1993 VIN 676704 features the factory Sports Handling Pack (you know...Lower stance, beefy 8*16 lattice, Limited slip differential, Harder steering etc....), so my concern is if i can put the given #26-1596 to replace of the original (green color sport shocks).

Is there really any physical difference between a 26-1596 (designed for X-300) and those designed for the XJ40, considering mine is a late " airbagged - battery in the boot" model, supposed to share some items with the upcoming X300 ??

I just don't want to buy them without knowing if they will fit trouble free. Someone also told me that any new schock regardless of the brand would be a hell of a difference compared to the ones i do have now. I insist, the rear axle has adjustable red Konis fitted back since 2003.

As always, very grateful in advance for your contributions.
Cheers, L.

[katar83]

Yes, they will fit in fine.

Someone also told me that any new schock regardless of the brand would be a hell of a difference compared to the ones i do have now.

I can confirm that, as just replaced mine in my x300 with bilstein from an XJ40. One thing though, replacing worn front shocks caused the worn rear end to bounce 10 times worse then they used to(or at least it feels like it) so I'm just waiting for a better weather and will be replacing the rear shocks too

PS

Use original carrot cake-yellow front top shock bushes, the black uro ones are too hard.

[naki_k]

My original front shocks are worn. The upper rubber bushes are disintegrating

If it’s only the bushes that have failed, why not just replace those? Less than £20 in parts. These are a consumable part, and likely need changing every 5 years/ depending on what mileage is covered.

[katar83]

These are a consumable part, and likely need changing every 5 years/ depending on what mileage is covered.

None of mine lasted more than 10k miles By the time I pass 10k they are proper pancaked and start to knock. Must be the roads here?

[donkeyotty]

My original front shocks are worn. The upper rubber bushes are disintegrating

If it’s only the bushes that have failed, why not just replace those? Less than £20 in parts. These are a consumable part, and likely need changing every 5 years/ depending on what mileage is covered.

Personally I would replace the shocks as a matter of course seeing as they are now probably 25 years old. I had a knocking on the front and replaced the upper bushes but the knocking continued. On further inspection I found the damper rod had worn an elongated hole in the lower shocker housing so the unit was flexing in the middle and was about to snap in two
And yes the car will drive so much better when you replace them, mine did

[Lew]

Thank you guys for the comments,

I'll grab these X300 Koni dampers also because as donkeyotty says, even considering the bushes have been renewed once in a while, the whole thing is 25 years old. Moreover, i'll pick up the rears too just for peace of mind. They are part #30-1377, believed to be the same red konis (converted) I'm carrying now.

We will do the work at home calmly at week ends and hope that, apart of having to build up a home-made spring compressor, there shall be no major difficulties...
The ride is really hars with a permament "clonk-clonk" even over the smallest road bump which is really nerving me up and is a head turner for people just watching the old cat passing by.

[abercanadian]

You don't need a spring compressor for the front shocks and bushes - you can compress shocks by hand to get them out of the body. It's a pretty straightforward and simple job on a car that isn't rusty (as I presume yours is!) - just a couple of bolts after you take the front wheels off, so you could do both sides in an afternoon.
You should also change the drop links and roll bar bushes at the same time as those parts are very affordable and aftermarket parts (URO) are fine for those applications. Drop link bushes are more than likely fried.

Larry

[Lew]

Thanks for the tip Sir,

I always thought the front springs were dangereous if they pop out of place if the arm falls down too far.
Somewhere in the Jaguar Monthly magazine, I remember to read that the whole thing should rest upon a jack + wood chocks whilst working, in order to avoid the spring getting out of the pan, since it was impossible to put it back on place without factory tools...

[Bruce69]

I just recently replaced my front shocks and found that the suspension "hangs" from the shock - the shock limits the drop of the suspension arm. So, I used a trolley jack to raise the arm a bit to take the load off the bottom shock bolt and top shock nut, then lowered it for ease of removal.

Just got the rears to do now.

[Lew]

well, have just received the front X300 & rear XJ40 Koni shocks.
See pics of what i have received.

Fronts # 26-1596:




I think the rubber bushes do no fit. The XJ40 has 2 separete rubber bushed + big metal "wahsers" to be put under and over the car's frame.
So do i have to remove and get rid of this single bush and buy XJ40 bushes separately?

Rears # 30-1377:





These are the same that are fitted in the car. They are nude, without any rubber bushes or protective cover, so suppose i have to reuse these missing parts putting them back on the car? Same question as for the fronts: Do i have to source out a set of bushes for the rear setup apart? The konis that are in the car have a kind of a black "bellows" shaped cover to protect the strut.