- Modern Upgrade: These universal bear jaw latches are an excellent modern addition to your hot rod or street rod, providing increased safety and reliability to your car door with both rod and cable release door handle mechanisms compatibility.
- Versatile Use: Compatible with steel and fiberglass door shells, these latches can be used for standard or suicide door style installations. Additional bear jaw door latches can also function as a trunk/rumble seat lid latch.
- Quality Construction: The main body of the latch is zinc plated, offering high corrosion resistance for long-lasting use. These latches are designed for vehicles with larger door shells and work effectively with shaved door handle systems.
- Installation Flexibility: While modification to the car door is required for installation, these latches can be installed directly into the car door shell or used with optional mounting plates. Please note that mounting hardware is not included.
- Purchase Options: These latches are sold individually, with a choice between right hand or left hand side car door latches. You can also opt for the kit form that includes everything you need for a complete installation.
Standard size bear jaw latch works well for vehicles with larger car door shells. Adds safety and reliability to your hot rod or street rod car door. Works with both rod and cable release door handle mechanisms. Can be used for standard or suicide door style installations. Additional bear jaw door latches can be used as trunk/rumble seat lid latch. Works with steel and fiberglass door shells. Installs directly into car door shell or use with optional mounting plates. Sold individually in left or ride side car door latch. Zinc plated for corrosion resistance. Works with shaved door handle systems. Mounting hardware not included (mounting holes take a ¼-20 fastener) Modern Safety for Your Hot Rod or Street Rod Most domestic pre-war vehicles utilized a car door latch mechanism very similar to what you would find on your bedroom door. A tapered spring-loaded car door latch bolt that when the door is closed, simply slips over a striker plate tongue and seats in a depression or groove. This design certainly works well for your bedroom door, but is not the best for a moving automobile, especially one that has been vastly updated decades later with better suspension, more horsepower, and so on that can really push the car to its limits. Occupants need to be secured (use those seatbelts!) and just as importantly, the doors need to stay closed during hard cornering or worst case a collision that involves a rollover. Enter the modern automobile “bear claw” car door latch that rotates and locks around a robust striker pin or "Nader pin." This style of modern door latch has been used in new vehicles since the early 1960s and hot rodders have been retrofitting them to early hot rods and street rods ever since. Today, Speedway Motors makes this process easier with its Universal Standard Bear Jaw car door latches