XF EDDIE
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Posts posted by XF EDDIE
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This has been a long time coming and isnt going to be complete as the upper control arm and shocks were omited from this guide. I will hopefully ammend this once I have gotten around to it but feel free to add anything you see fit. With that being said once you get into it its pretty easy as the suspension on these are dead simple.
deankxf reacted to this -
The old girl is back on the road! After a sketchy tyre scrubing drive to the tyre shop I now have two new tyres and an aligned car. Ive got my photos of the rebuild (which was easier than expected!) And will be writing the guide up soon. Ill do the suspension check guide on a different car as this one was tight as a bell even before the ball joints but all in all its been fun being behind the wheel of the old girl again.
deankxf reacted to this -
The passanger side is done! Once I started it was pretty simple with the only hickup being splitting the top ball joint. The replacements seem of good quality with the same range as the originals and after replacing the lower control arm it tracks much better.
SPArKy_Dave and deankxf reacted to this -
Modern parts suck! Had to die grind the inside of the lower control arm bush to get the bolt in
SPArKy_Dave reacted to this -
Ive cracked into the suspention and I dont think Im the first one, Its rocking black pedders shocks and the lower ball joint and bushings are still good. Since Im replacing the lower control arm anyway its getting a new bushing aswell as ball joints all round but so far its been okay with only the upper ball joint having play
deankxf reacted to this -
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3 hours ago, SPArKy_Dave said:I read that KYB are valved firmer than stock, but I've never tried them
I've got NOS examples of most x-series front/rear shocks for comparison,
incl a nos XE ESP Bilstein front
It'd be interesting, to do a Shock Dyno comparison of the valving,
for all the available x-series aftermarket front/rear shocks?
Well if you wanna do that Id be happy to send my kybs in before I fit them. Im probably gonna do the shock and spring saddle another time as I dont have the spring saddles on hand and I want the old girl asap.
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On 8/12/2025 at 3:12 PM, deankxf said:
if you can't find a video of how to check something, let me know and i'll go looking for a video for:
camber bolts/plates/washers (can get flogged out or just loose. i can get a photo of a mate's XG that is the worst i've seen)
idler arm,
tie rods and pitman arm
ball joints upper
ball joints lower
and the caster rod bushes, upper and lower control arms, usually a visual check is good enough, if they are rubber, they probably aren't FUBAR, but if they are poly bushes, you'd need to check by levering on them unless they look cracked/crumbled.
spring perch and sway bar links and shock rubbers don't affect alignment, but they do affect handling of the car.
we could probably do with a thread on this.. so fee free to make one if interested, and i'll add anything if needed.
can title it DO THE $28 PEDDERS CHECK AT HOME (LESS BULL ) **I recently had Pedders BULL me on My AU, so one branch is on My sus list now**
I crawled under there today and found my problem with my lower control arm being munted. All my steering looked a-ok so I wont fuck with it. Ive got a bushing and balljoint set coming this week so when it gets here Ill start that thread and take photos and mesurements of every bolt and bush as I tear through it for future reference but it doesnt look like too bad of a job. Also in regards to shocks I saw in another thread about how the kyb shocks are smaller than factory so Ill be intrested to see how the ones I ordered compare as theyre new old stock.
deankxf reacted to this -
1 hour ago, deankxf said:avoid suzuki super see thread below
ALSO.
what i'd so is only change what's stuffed.
old TRW/ford stuff is better than whatever junk is in these kits.
tyres chewing out could(and often is) more likely to do with a stuffed idler arm (i used to change one every year, 30,000 to 40,000kms of highway use)
or slipped camber bolts (wheel aligners not doing them up tight enough) or stuffed poly bushes (rubber doesn't fail like the poly ones often do)
I'd say check everything, google/youtube.. how to check a ball joint or tie rod or idler arm etc on a falcon/mustang and if it passes the test, it's probably fine.
the issue with a lot of wheel aligners at tyre joints is they don't check anything for wear.. put it on the machine "align it" with rooted parts (waste of time/money) tyres chew out, oh, well we have a deal for tyres.. and still don't address the issue.
Well this hasn't been aligned since the accident so I think thats playing a part. Ill check it out when I get home
deankxf reacted to this -
Well Im back to it and it looks like the suspension work is gonna have to be done sooner rather than later as when I got it back the front two tyres were scrubbed to the wire.
This looks to be the best price on ebay so Ill probably go with that
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I got one in qld I'm not using
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Well my mates been driving it around for a bit while I'm out of state and he's having fun living the old car experience having people materialise with stories of their old xfs, going through fuel at twice the rate of his grandmas corolla and the shonky muffler finally letting go of the tailpipe down the road which gave him some father and son bonding with his (boiler maker) old man.
Honestly with how he's talking about the old girl it wouldn't surprise me if he starts looking for one!
deankxf reacted to this -
ITS BACK BABY! I'm out of state at the moment but the guy finished up today and it looks really shmicko. I still have a full suspension rebuild waiting for me when I get back (which I will be documenting) but I've got a bike and xh which will be taking priority.
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Today marks a great occasion, I got a letter from the government that didn't have a fines and penalties header. Crazy it's been 6 months since it was registered! I'm expecting it back in 2 weeks and then I can quit driving the effy around car parks.
Ford must have known this was weak as the xg I harvested the bracket off had alot of reinforcement compared to the xf
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On 6/1/2025 at 5:20 PM, superyob said:So the variable resistor in my ZD's headlight switch has clapped out. I bought a switch from rare spares and the dash lights are very dim at best. Is there a way to bypass the resistor on my original switch? Preferably without starting a fire behind my dash...
If cleaning all the connections doesn't fix it you can try adding a resistor in parallel to the pot to send a bit more power through
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Recently Ive run into a problem trying to fix the old f100. I have called all the pannel beaters around my area of central queensland and I cant find anyone with a frame puller. The tip of the drivers side is bent but not too horribly and the thing still drives fine so I dont think its a write off (although Im closer to a butcher than I am a pannel beater so what do I know?) but no shops Ive called even have the tools to try and fix it. So here I am again asking for help, if anyone knows of a shop that can fix even just the frame it would help me greatly. The closer the better but Im willing to travel interstate for someone good. In the meantime Ill keep calling around and Ill keep you all posted if I have any luck.
(Although it looks mangled, the only bit actually bent is the tip where the bull bar mounts the rest of it is just built like that)
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22 hours ago, Thom said:On 6/5/2025 at 3:50 PM, XF EDDIE said:Well with one problem down another pops up, I can't find the bloody inspection cover on this thing. Ill try rattling out the bolts and see if its just splined together but Im completely stumped about how to get at the converter bolts.If you pull the starter off you can get to the converter bolts
Thanks mate, It took me way too long to figure that out!
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Well with one problem down another pops up, I can't find the bloody inspection cover on this thing. Ill try rattling out the bolts and see if its just splined together but Im completely stumped about how to get at the converter bolts.
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Well I have finally returned to this now that I need a car for a mate, I got my hands on another xr6 that had been in a wreck for $1000 and am pulling the engine out of it today (if anyone needs fg parts hit me up). The plan is to do the swap for now and then rebuild the original engine to turbo spec and make an xr6 turbo out of it. Ill keep you posted but so far so good!
Its not just safe, its 40% safe!
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I'm working on a 07 fairmont for a friend that has no tail or dash lights even though all the fuses are ok and it has no relevant dtc's. I haven't gotten a good chance to look at it and inspect the harnesses but I'm hoping someone here has some pointers as to what it could be. Right now Im suspecting a break in the harness for the tail lights but I really have no clue to whats wrong. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer, I only get at this thing half an hour at a time so any and all help is welcome!
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12 hours ago, deankxf said:they aren't stuck on as well as you'd think. they should be.
if you can beat it back into position and weld it back on securely it's probably fine. (i bent a caster rod and lower control arm once, and it didn't pull that part off surprisingly)
i'd avoid parts sold by suzuki super on ebay.. other than just cheap parts are probably crap, i'd be more inclinde to see what's stuffed and ONLY change what's worn out .
idler arm, probably all just as crap as the next one from any brand.. tie rods usually aren't shagged, if they aren't moving keep them.. upper and lower ball joints, i've heard the WASP ones are the better cheapies. REPCO branded ones were supposedly good if you want to buy from a shop, or 555 brand or TRW being the better brands.
Does this part of the frame unbolt? I have access to an XF roller if it's easier to just pull parts off that.
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How fucked am I?
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Anyone had any experience with this brand or know anywhere better/cheaper?
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After a slight mishap with a concrete drain I've fucked up a rim with brand new tyre and my alignment so after crab walking it home I'm firing up the lemonade stand and Ill be rebuilding the front end and trying to do a diy alignment. Just one of those days
deankxf reacted to this
X series front suspension rebuild
in Steering, Suspension and Brakes
Posted
Imgur won't let me upload photos due to format issues so I'll have to add those later as well as torque specs. For bushing removal you're best off watching a video as they all come out mostly the same way.
Firstly you'll want to pull the calipers and rotors off, the caliper bracket is held in with two bolts behind the rotor (see attached) and then can be pried off the rotor as you would when doing brakes. To get the rotor off use a chisel or screwdriver between the gap between the rotor and dust cover to pop it off, then pull off the split pin (don't be cheap - replace it with a new one when assembling) the keeper and then remove the nut. It should then come off with the bearings (now is the time to re-grease them) and to get the rear bearing out you can use a flat screwdriver in-between the inner race of the bearing and the inner side of the seal, you can reuse this if you're gentle but it's best to replace it. Now that you've got the rotor off the dust shield behind it will be held on by three bolts, once these are out give it a yank and it'll come off.
To remove ball joints:
First split the ball joint from the knuckle with your method of choice and then undo the 3 bolts holding it in place (5 for the lower with the castor arm bolts). Installation is the reverse of removal. (pulling both ball joints and the tie rod end will free the knuckle)
Use the same splitting method to remove tie rod ends and then either mark or count the turns as you wind it out.
To remove lower control arm:
First Undo the nut holding the lower ball joint to the knuckle and then split it from the knuckle using your method of choice however leave it loosely attached to stop it from moving when you undo the castor arm bolts. Undo the sway bar link (sandwich of 4 bushings) and then undo the castor arm (rod going to the front at an angle) Undo it from the frame side first to avoid it spinning and then you can undo it from the lower control arm via the two bolts going through the ball joint however this isn't necessary if you're not removing the ball joint. Then mark the position of the camber bolt and remove it. Now just wiggle and pry downwards to get it out.