The inspector said that my '71 XKE fails for the front suspension. He says it is too loose. It passed a year ago and only has 80 more miles on it.
At one time, they had to gauge it to prove it was too loose, now the DMV document says" Reject a vehicle with excessive play......that would affect proper steering." What is the definition of "excessive?" And what does this inspector know about 34 year old Jags anyway?
Anyone have any ideas?
Al
Al, The first question is whether it is the steering rack or the suspension. Either can make your steering squirrelly. How did they make the determination? Did they drive it? Did they explain what they meant?
A re-built steering rack with solve the problem if it is a steering rack failure. That will run around $400USD plus freight, core charge and front end alignment. Moist likely it is the rack but it is hard to tell over a computer keyboard!!
If it is indeed a suspension problem, it is most likely a rubber deterioration problem and possibly including upper or lower ball joints. The parts are not all that expensive, but replacing all those little rubber items can be time consuming and thus labor intensive.
If the Inspector did not give you and indication of where the problem lay, then you either have to lift the front end to see if you can find the problem or go to a Jag guy and have them do it. Contact someone in JANE and see who is nearby that can help.
The other alternative is to register the car in a State where they don't inspect cars that old. I keep my 1967 saloon in top condition, but they eliminated all inspections for anything pre-1970 and only pat anything pre-1995 on the hood and let it go. (lights, horn, tire tread and that's it). Here they passed my '88 Jag with a steering rack so bad you had to turn the steering wheel and 1/8th of a revolution before the wheels moved!! Needless to say I didn't drive it much until I replaced the steering rack and the rubber bits.
Webserve
Steering rack has less then 3000 miles on it. It was replaced when the power steering nonsense was removed. They "test" it by jacking up the car and wiggling the wheel. Believe me, I would know if the steering was loose.
I don't recall if all the rubber bits were replaced when when the steering rack was replaced.
Well, that is on the agenda. But I can't believe that it went "bad" after 80 miles of travel since the previous inspection.
What bullshit! Time to start contacting your elected representatives.
One more reason not to live in the East. MOVE!
THAT doesn't make any sense!! Many of the States in the East don't have inspections for ANY cars much less the number of States that don't have inspections for older cars.
What's the alternative?? A West Coast California inspection??
Webserve
Most western states abolished these rip-off "inspections" years ago, having corretly determined they accomplished nothing but political patronage. (California is it's own collective lunatic fringe and can't be compared to anything.)
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