Terry and Amy set off in Terry’s Jag for a nice trip to Oxford ( 🙂 ). Only a few miles from home, however, Terry noticed the steering had become very ‘heavy’.
Subsequent inspection showed a remarkable failure and our first thoughts were that thank goodness we weren’t in a 747 !!!!
Numerous aggressive road humps had caused the bushing that sustains the shock absorber to the chasis to break off, allowing the shock absorber rod to move into the engine compartment. Here, as you see, it had perforated the hydraulic reinforced rubber pipe that carries power steering fluid from the reservoir to the system. Is this a first ???
Anyway, we eventually got to Oxford and here you see Terry and Amy at Christchurch. Anybody know the connection between Alice in Wonderland and Christchurch??
Ohhh, novel failure. 😯
Alice in Wonderland was written for the daughter of the dean, Alice Liddell, by Revd Charles Lutwidge who was a maths teacher there?
Looks like a very old type face on the damper piston head. What age of Jag is it?
Pete; can I have a girly swot smiley please?
Isn’t the geek ( :geek: ) one good enough for ya?
Hey Colin,
Pete should establish a :geek::star: category for you 💡
The Jag is 1996 XJ6 3.2L
It was bought new by an old man as his lifelong dream, then he went blind very soon after and it stood in his drive for years, virtually unused. The only things wrong with it have been those which may be attributed to long-term standing.
I believe the shock absorber incident to be road hump related and shall be consulting with Ian re class action against the EU directive thereon 😉
The condition of the roads is appalling……….. my motor is in today having a ball joint replaced and its 6th wheel bearing……………. yes its only got 4 wheels. The money we are charged to drive should be spent on the roads; they’d be dead smooth and made of gold 😆
Andrew has a theory that the government is deliberately letting rural roads decay so that the only suitable vehicle will soon be 4X4’s – for which the drivers pay more tax 💡
Maybe speed bumps are the urban equivalent ❓
That model of Jag is a lovely shape. They may have gone for the type face to get more of the classic design feel.
Ian; I doubt very much that you will ever see smooth roads 😆
There is definitely a potential class action case waiting in the wings re speed humps :angry: They have probably caused more vehicle damage than all the bad roads put together ❗ I know people who have sold cars because they couldn’t negotiate them without bottoming 😈 I would be interested to see the figures for alleged decreased accident rate 😡
But we should be grateful. In Mexico, they have speed ‘dips’, that is to say massive big troughs cut across the road, even on motorways.They aren’t signed and you can’t see then, especially at night. That’s is why they recommend that tourists don’t drive at night. Its not the bandits, its the road-troughs
@ Colin, the Alice stuff may well merit a “girly swot” smiley, but you definitely get a mega geek smiley, :geek: , for the Jag luv! I can just hear you in your best train spotters voice reeling off the wonders of this and that model. Is this luv due to the factory’s proximity?
@ Ian, bad roads or not, you’ve gotta wonder what else is wrong with the car (or driver) to have caused at least two of your wheel bearings to have been worn out three times? 😐
@ Terry, I agree with the speed-hump-hate, they are pointless. People just slow down for the hump (when they see them) and speed away after them! Nett impact on average speeds, nil. I’ll be a witness when you bring it to the courts…
Pete, I’m just pushing the envelope on what the focus can do……………… its obviously not up to the job!
It’s no good the car manufacturers having highly skilled drivers testing their cars… give them to me, I’d sort the wheat from the chaff 👿
Hey Colin. So here’s the new shock absorber face. Not nearly as pleasing or as classical as the old one, but the car does drive like a dream now!
Pete: The factory closed a few years back 😥 , at the end it was going just the specialist trip in wood and leather. All the craft skills. There was talk of setting up a museum on the site to show the history of innovation and craft that the marque has. Oh that XK engine.
Ian: Do you drive like Pete 😯
Terry: It’s a shame that the new part is so soulless but it’s good to hear the driving experience is back