91 Facelift V12 Rear Ride height Adjust

[xjscharlie]

Hello Folks,
I've recently changed the rear springs and dampers and the rear suspension is sitting approx 30cm high.
Has anyone encountered this and can advise if this can be adjusted down. thanx in anticipation. Charlie.

[ptjs1]

Charlie,

Where are you measuring the 30cm?

[davidr]

Hi Charlie - do you really mean 30cms?? That's a foot to us old folk and I struggle to think how that could be achieved without using much longer springs/dampers. Do you perhaps mean 30mm (ie just over an inch)?
Could you perhaps post a side-on photo?

[Brakebuster]

trouble is, we dont have a start reference,

given its 30mm ( not 30cm ), but from where to where ?


BB

[ptjs1]

As regards the ride height; I'm not sure when Jaguar moved from quoting height to top of wheel arch, to distance from bottom of subframe to ground.

I know that late facelifts are designated by distance from subframe to ground but not sure where the measurement is taken on a 91 car.

On 16" rims with 225/55 tyres, 30 cm from ground to wheelarch lip would be way too high on my car by about 3"-4".

Paul

[xjscharlie]

Thanx for the response(s). Apologies for the typo it is indeed 30mm measured from top of tyre to wheelarch. Realize that this is empirical and driven by aesthetics as when the rear end is viewed it looks higher as previously the wheelarch was exactly level with the top of the tyre; now its 30mm higher. Rgds.

[davidr]

Here's a picture of a car side on and, as you say, the top of the tyre level with the wheelarch looks right

[xjscharlie]

Indeed it does look right. I recall a long while ago encountering the same problem on an associate's XJ12 & he mounted a 4x4 long wooden prop between a beam in the garage & a hydraulic jack in the boot & jacked the back end down & left it for a week. Cant recall whether it worked but it might be worth a try. Rgds.

[ptjs1]

Charlie,

If that does work, I would strongly suggest that your springs are shot!

Is your front at the right height? Remember, it's very different at the front as the wheelarch lip is higher than at the back.

If the front is right, I think it's either the springs or dampers. Where the springs genuine Jaguar? Aftermarket springs for an XJS are notorious for setting the ride height wrongly. Sadly, there seem to be very few good quality aftermarket springs that give the exact height.

You might JUST be lucky and have the packer shims that were SOMETIMES fitted under the rear springs. I think they were something to do with fine tuning the ride height in the Ford era. If so, you could remove them and lower the height.

Paul

[xjscharlie]

Yes the front is Ok. I suppose the proper way of doing it would be to fit height adjustable shox. I may try putting a heavy load in the boot for a while to see if it makes a difference as its only 30mm out. Cheers. Charlie.

[poprivet]

Hello Folks,
I've recently changed the rear springs and dampers.....
Charlie

What springs and dampers did you fit?