Jaguar Suspension.

[Ziegelsteinfaust]

My Sister has a 65 Falcon I am trying to talk her out of. It is a basic 6 cylinder model with little to no power, and in need of a ton of work.

While doing research for my F100 project I got to wondering why couldn't Jag suspension work under a Falcon. I know there are M2 suspension kits, and I could land one under the Falcon using similar ideas. The rear I would follow the front, and kits I have seen online.

So the big question is how good is Jaguar XJ6 front suspension. Is it better then fully modded Falcon suspension?

I know the rear is not ideal, but is it still better then a solid axle.

[GTOtzel]

I had a 1987 XJ6 when I was 16. Had been my dads. I loved that car and it handled awesome. It was a heavy car but had almost zero body roll, it felt so flat in corners. I was obviously very novice at that time but it was still a blast to be young and stupid in that car. Girls like it too :)
(p.s. I did not wreck it, for those wondering.)

[jakespeeds]

That would be quite a bit of work since the Falcon is a uni-body car. Also isn't the Jag a good couple of inches wider? There has to be better and more economical options out there.

Jake

[Ziegelsteinfaust]

I had a 1987 XJ6 when I was 16. Had been my dads. I loved that car and it handled awesome. It was a heavy car but had almost zero body roll, it felt so flat in corners. I was obviously very novice at that time but it was still a blast to be young and stupid in that car. Girls like it too :)
(p.s. I did not wreck it, for those wondering.)


If it handles flat with a 4000lb car it seems like it should be more impressive in a 3000lb car.

Did you feel the car ever got squirrely or wobblely for its weight, and unimproved nature?

[Ziegelsteinfaust]

That would be quite a bit of work since the Falcon is a uni-body car. Also isn't the Jag a good couple of inches wider? There has to be better and more economical options out there.

Jake

If you see how they out M2 suspension in uni-bodies they weld in reinforcement plates on the channels. It would be quite a bit of fab work but not that hard.

If it is wider it could be made up by the offset of its rim, and tire package. Atleast this is my current feeling based upon junk yard measurements, and worse case I could narrow the whole package down.

[Olav]

Here in Norway and rest of Europe the Jag IRS has been used for rods for many years. This means that the DS and arms needs to be shortened. These are weldable with the proper welding rod/ material and technique. Shortening is straight forward. If you contact the Swedish Magazine ,Wheels they might get you acopy for article regarding this http://www.wheelsmagazine.se/ they did many years ago.

Frontsuspension has also been modified for use on rod's. These cars are much lighter than the Jag.

This Swedish book has lot of info and drawings. You can order http://www.sfro.com/index.php/boken. You will probably get a lot of info even it's Swedish.

Olav

[rustomatic]

Check this link, since the Mustang is the same as the Falcon: http://dazed.home.bresnan.net/JaguarIRS1.html.

[Ziegelsteinfaust]

I saw that site when I was sick with bronchitis researching my F100 swap, but I was already bought into my CV swap. I wish I knew about the Jag set-up as it would of been able to lower the truck more then my current set-up allows. Its not the end of the world The CV set-up is better for a truck, and its weight if I tow a small trailer.

Then I got to thinking why couldn't I do that to a nice small 4 door Falcon, and have everything I want in a car. Plus the cost of a whole Jag with the suspension I needs is 1/2 the price of doing up the standard set-up.

[RichardSIA]

FYI, Jag rears came in three different widths.

50" for the early XKE's.
56" for the late XKE, 3.8S, and 420
And 60" for the XJ6.

For your Falcon you probably want a rear from the S-III XKE, 3.8S, or 420. (Not 420G / XJ6!)

Choosing the correct Jag rear avoids the hassle of trying to narrow one.