Jag Rear Axle Assembly in Dave Melling’s T-Bucket Project: Part 7

This is where the hard work on Dave Melling‘s Jag rear axle assembly is starting to pay off. After replacing the early S-type Jag rear axle assembly with the wider Mk 10 Jag rear axle assembly and chroming just about everything Dave now starts to put it back together.

Jag rear axle assembly

The above photo shows my design for a ‘T” shaped tie bar for the back axle. It was always my intention to feature this ‘T’ throughout the car in different places as you will see in later photos.

Jag rear axle assembly

This is a photo of the four coil-over shocks for the back axle, nicely painted and chromed, then re-assembled.

Jag rear axle assembly

This photo shows the locking differential itself from one of the S-type back axles, and the crown wheel (removed) and the bearing caps, which look like the main journal caps that you will find holding down the crankshaft inside any engine. If you compare the locking differential lump [what we might call ‘pumpkin’] itself with the non-locking one, you can see the difference.

Jag rear axle assembly

The non-locking one (pictured above) is more open, and you can see the gears inside it quite clearly.

The easiest way to find out if you have a locking (or limited-slip) differential, is to jack your car up and simply try and turn one wheel in one direction, while somebody else tries to turn the other wheel in the other direction. With a locking differential, you can’t! With an original Jaguar back axle, there should be two tags bolted to the back of the differential casing; one gives you the gear ratio, the other (if present) has the letters PBL, meaning it’s a limited slip differential.

Jag rear axle assembly

These photos show the early stages of re-assembly.

Jag rear axle assembly

This photo shows the central casing with a non-locking differential which I installed by mistake.

Jag rear axle assembly

The other photo above show the correct limited-slip differential installed. [Although not really clear in the photo, you can see it is less open than the non-locking differential]. I used the crown and pinion wheel from one of the S-type back axles to give me the highest possible ratio normally available with Jaguars.

Jag rear axle assembly

This photo shows the splined shafts installed, which carry the brake discs.

Jag rear axle assembly

This other photo gives an exploded view of the hub carrier.

Jag rear axle assembly

This photo shows the caliper and handbrake assemblies about to be bolted into place. The handbrake on a Jaguar back axles consists of two additional calipers, activated by the handbrake cable and bolted into place on top of the main calipers which are activated hydraulically. There are four sets of brake shoes on the axle in total.

Hey, before it’s all over you’ll be a Jag rear axle assembly expert. But no matter what, this goes a long way toward simplifying what many guys who build a T-Bucket see as a mind-boggling complex rear end choice. We’re almost there.

John Morehead
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1 thought on “Jag Rear Axle Assembly in Dave Melling’s T-Bucket Project: Part 7”

  1. I’m planning on buying a jag irs for my t-bucket project but need to know the weight for shipping. Can you tell me what the approx weight would be for a complete jag unit? I hear they are quite heavy.

    Reply

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