Hello, I'm Dave from West Australia. Thankyou for admitting me to the forum. I am building a special with Mk4 front and rear axles. I note the steering plain arms on the front axle are set parallel to the car centreline and as such would not produce the desired tow out on turns generally accepted as the Ackerman Principle for steering. I'm wondering if this is correct and if so why Jaguar designed it this way. Also, to simplify the actuation of the brakes, I'm considering a hydraulic conversion to the present mechanical actuation. Has anyone done this I would be grateful for any information. I am surprised that Jaguar still retained mechanical brakes and I beam front axles in the late 40s when most other manufacturers had hydraulic brakes and independent front suspension. Cheers Dave.

 

The Mk4 was actually a pre WW2 car sold at the time as an SS sedan which was put back into production while Jaguar started to grapple with new designs. Jaguar Mk4 was a better name than SS which carried connotations of **** power.
The XK 120 circa 1948 had independent front end, hydraulic brakes and XK twin cam engine developing 160 hp.
The MK5 had similar but still had the ohv pushrod engine.
The MK7 was the first true "new" sedan which had ditched all of the pre-war running gear, engines, brakes and a new body with major panels pressed rather than 'fettled" from smaller pieces.