Make Ya rear Safe

Every body without exception I have spoken with or changed e-mails with, have expressed how important the following parts are if you remove the cage on a Jag rear end and fit it to your vehicle, especially if you are to use it in any kind of anger. Without them it will destroy itself and often with disastrous results.

This is how I did it, I am no engineer or expert in any field so take my ideas and maybe you can come up with a better method and a nicer design. ;o)

As you have removed the cage the 4 top bolts that did no more than locate the diff when in the cage, are now being asked to hold up and secure the whole axle and they are one heavy axle!

So you are making parts that look cooler and serve the purpose of taking the strain off the 4 top bolts and holding the lower section together to.

First part is this lower diff support plate, this one I bought but you could easily replicate with a band saw and drill or a plasma cutter if you are lucky enough to own one. This holds the two lower fulcrums together and stops them flexing and ultimately breaking.

Then the next is the tie straps front and rear, this is one a very young child made ;o) actually it is just rough cut and was to be sculptured into a beautiful shape had I not found the one below... Honest!

Cool eh, this is a bought bracket and should look rather Groovy once the diff cover is polished and the rest is painted all lit by a red crusing light... oh yes!!

Here you can see where it gets a bit more complicated with Radius Rods and anticlimb bars, oh and note the front tie bracket with the anti climb bars mounted to it. Note there is no weight on this axle yet, it will run level once all the bed etc is fitted.

Here is the lower part of the anticlimb bar. I cut off a piece of tube, welded a plate on the back so it formed a cup. Then I drilled a hole so the lower fulcrum bolt (the long one that goes from front to back) goes though it and bolted the cup on. This is just tack welded for now.

I took some thick walled tube and welded a nut in it or a piece of thick plate will do, that is tapped to the thread of the clevis joint. I used a clevis joint just cus it looks cool and is adjustable. That I fitted to the other end and I then tacked a crossmember in place, the climbar I made a piece of thick steel as a locating bracket and offered that up to the crossmember once I had bolted it to the end with the clevis end on. then tacked the bracket to the crossmember.

These bars need to be solid with no movement at all, so you could simply weld some thick plate to the end and bolt to a bracket welded to your frame or as in my case a box section crossmember. All these brackets etc will be final welded once I am 100% happy it is all correct, then they will get minted and painted so wont look shyte like they do now. The anti climb bars go up and out at a 60degree angle to work best. And take a lot of the weight and twisting action the from the axle when under load.

Then there are the radius rods, these are the same style as used by the racing Jaguar's in the past. They are merely a top hat and steel bush deign as many Hot Rods use on this end and the rod goes to the point that intersects a line drawn through the lower fulcrum bolt to the front of the vehicle and ideal length is around 3ft long with a rose joint on that end

. When all done you should be able to lift each drive shaft ( shock absorbers removed) its full travel without any bind at all.... There you have one Jag Cage replaced and made it as safe as possible. I intend to put some stays like the anti climb bars on the rear to but not as critical an angle as the front anti climb bars. I hope this helps anyone contemplating this conversion. I have made it sound difficult I think but trust me I have done it so anyone can.