horror inspection find

[stypemike2245]

rear damper

hi all. so laid off work this week and thought i'd have a good go at cleaning the wheels on my 350. first of all does anyone else seem to have the same problems of jacking the car up as I do. previous owners have damaged the lifting point so I made an adapter for the jack once in the air where is the best place for the axle stand (front) I did position it what seems to be front sub frame as this looked a good supporting structure. a verification would be nice if anyone has a diagram.
prior to lifting i wanted to undo the wheel nuts. no chance as the tyre fitter who fitted the new tyres two weeks ago damaged most of my wheel nuts using a air gun I had to use a Dremel metal cutting disc and chisel the outer casing off it took hours before I could start.
so with rear passenger side wheel off I was totally puzzled looking at the air suspension damper with what looks like expanding foam rubber and cable ties. the thing is the car drives ok (confused).
next with the front passenger wheel off and the car lifted having a look around revealed more insulation tape and cable ties around what I think is a suspension sensor. any ideas of how dangerous if any and a possible course of action would be appreciated.

mike

[J44EAG]

Wheel nuts...squashed, typical after a few years with low grade maintenance. Replace nuts as required. Most of us have had to do it. Cheap enough on eBay.

I have one front sensor tied onto the drop arm due to it being knocked off by a tow truck ride. The spring clips corrode, split or get damaged. The clips are not available as a separate part but come as part of a complete new sensor kit. Can`t remember the price but probably not cheap......a couple of cable ties will do for a substitute and cost only pennies. My NSF sensor has been tied on by cable ties for about four years now. Does the job perfectly and can`t corrode. No comments made by the MOT man. A cost effective repair for peanuts.

One of your shots looks like a rear hand brake cable. The blob of sealant/glue may have been applied to keep the cable from contacting another part of the car. Hard to comment further on that.

Mike

[snaefell]

The only experience I have had so far with the jack that came with the car to me proved that it is only for show,soon after buying the car I tried to use it to jack up the nearside rear so that I could fit mudflaps,I positioned it where it says in the handbook & when the wheel was just leaving the ground the jack started to bend,being a master mechanic(oh yeah!) I somehow sensed that all was not right,lowered it,cleaned the jack up & repacked it with the tool kit,looks like it's never been used!/color]

[J44EAG]

The standard jack is an abomination and a very dangerous one in my opinion. Yes, I`ve had an S-type start to shift on me with one of those jacks in use. Never again. I use only a two ton trolley jack and that even travels with me in normal use. I tend to jack with a flat piece of wood placed between the trolley jack head and a strong, flat part of a sub-frame. I`ve never liked jacking around the plastic outer sills and in any case, the lifting point locations are not terribly clear.

Mike

[PaulGover]

Strange, I've jacked my XJ up with the supplied jack a couple of times, no problem, seems well-made for the job of changing wheels. You do need to ensure you locate it properly, which isn't too obvious, but once done, it worked fine, even changing a rear wheel with the car facing up my sloping drive.