I know there was mention of this topic in another article recently but I can’t find it now – there was also mention in that discussion of fitting a rear anti-roll bar which I would be interested to hear the benefits of.

Anyway, I had been noticing of late how bad the handling of my car had become – I know the XJS has never been known for its sports car handling, but the back end of mine had started to behave like a part set jelly – there is a particularly tricky bend near my home which can only be taken at about 40mph max, but not so long ago, the back end stepped out and I thought that was the end of my pride and joy! Luckily I pulled it back but I began to wonder what was amiss. It’s not so easy to check the rear shocks as a component as they are inside the rear springs, but bouncing the rear corners showed that the car immediately returned to normal height and bounced up and down just a little.                             So I decided to take a flyer and change the rear shocks – never knowing what to ask for Christmas, I asked my (grown up) children for a set of four XJS shock absorbers which duly arrived as an envelope full of money and a questioning look on their faces! I’ve just got round to fitting them and what a difference – it’s still no sports car but it sits much more sure footed on the road and can be hustled along quite respectably without fear of it bouncing out of control. Repeating the bounce test results in the back end still being pushed down easily, but it returns to normal ride height quite slowly. The shock absorbers are single action, so the springs will be compressed with little resistance, but the return to normal height is damped. Checking the old shock absorbers showed that there was no difference between compression and expansion, ie. they were worn out. Of course, fitting new shocks is not a 10 second job – you have to dismantle the old units first (coil spring compressor required) – took about an hour to take each one apart (bottom plates & collets all rusted in place) and about 10mins to reassemble with the new shocks. Now then, what’s the next job…..get some spring & summer driving in!