Once my new half shaft spacers had arrived I could get on and (hopefully) complete the rear axle assembly.
Upon removing the spacers from the packaging, I was disappointed to find that they were both made from steel, and not some more exotic metal, as the price I paid for them might have suggested.
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| Could a golden spacer lie within...No! |
I installed both spacers (4mm on offside / 7mm on nearside) and a single rear camber shim on each side initially. It actually turned out that I needed just the single 4mm spacer on the offside and the 7mm spacer plus two shims on the nearside to get a camber setting of 0.3 degrees negative on both sides. |
| Spacer in place on differential output flange |
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Oh look - those shims do fit after all...
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| 0.3 degrees negative on that side... |
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| ...and 0.3 degrees negative on the other side. Job done! |
With that done, I could remove all the 7/16" nuts from the half shafts for the last time and replace them with 7/16" Nylocs. These were torqued up to 90Nm / 66lbf ft.
The next job was to remove the original drive nuts from the hub end of the half shafts and replace them with new items. The Jaguar service manual recommends that the splined end of the half shaft within the rear hub is covered in thread lock over 30-50% of the radial area. I used Loctite 270 and covered the rear part of the splined section before reassembly. As well as a new drive nut I also replaced the conical washer with a new item.
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| Today's thread lock is Loctite 270... |
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| ...applied over the rear of the splined section |
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| New conical washer and drive nut (note the red insert) |
The drive nuts need to be tightened up to a whopping 225lbf ft / 305Nm of torque. I tightened them up initially using my air spanner. I then used a large pry bar against the wheel studs and braced against the floor to stop the hub from rotating and dug out the largest of the torque wrenches from my tool arsenal.
Top tip - push the wrench down rather than trying to pull it up or side on otherwise you may end up pulling the chassis off the axle stands. Also, try and position yourself away from the pry bar. Mine ended up bending like a banana and if it were to break free from the wheel studs, it will cause serious damage!
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| Drive nut installed and tightened to ridiculous torque level! |
The last step was to install the rear shock absorbers. These are fitted in place with 7/16" x 4.5" bolts, M12 washers and 7/16" Nylocs in the top mounts and 7/16" x 2.5" bolts, M12 washers and 7/16" Nylocs in the bottom mounts. AK only appear to supply a single M12 washer per bolt so I splashed out and added an extra washer to have one under the bolt head and one under the nut on all mounts.
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| Shiney new shock absorber - fitted so adjuster knob is at the bottom and facing inboard. |
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| Mounting bolts - these were given a liberal smear of copper grease before installation |
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| Rear Shock Absorber installed |
The final step was to torque down the shock absorber mounting bolts to 38Nm (28 lbf ft) for the upper mounts and 64Nm (47lbf ft) for the lower mounts. And that is the rear axle finally completed!
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