Front Budget Brake Upgrades for 1987-1993 GTs and LX 5.0s. Also 1993 Cobra:

1. Flush the braking system with new fluid! [how to ] Adjust the rear drum brakes.

2. New performance brake pads (such as Hawk or Performance Friction brands)

3. Upgrade the stock rubber caliper slide pin bushings to metal ones.

Reason being the stock rubber bushings let the calipers move during braking, so the pad doesn't contact the rotor squarely. This movement reduces braking effectiveness, and causes uneven pad wear from pad cocking under hard braking. You will not notice a lot of difference around town, but at highway speeds you can tell the car slows down quicker. [ installation info] These bushings work on the stock calipers and the SVO 73mm calipers, but not the newer SN95 calipers.

4. Upgrade the front calipers to 73mm SVO units.

Get the 73mm calipers with a steel piston if you can. They are usually denoted in the part numbers with a "S". If not the phonemic will work fine on the street. Get the calipers for a '91 Lincoln Mark VII for a direct bolt in (other 86-91 Lincoln's should all have the 73 mm calipers, 86-91 Crown Victorias and 84-86 SVO 4cyl Turbo Mustangs). Here are the part numbers the remanufactured Bendix parts:

Left caliper : R55247S
Right caliper: R55246S

5. Change rotors to a slotted, drilled and/or dimpled units. Be sure to put new metal caged bearings in the new rotors! There is debate on the effectiveness of slotting and drilling, so do it more for the looks than performance gains. If anything the slotting and drilling will lessen the weight of the rotor and rotating mass.


6. Upgrade the stock rubber brake hoses to Stainless Steel Brake lines.

Stainless steel hoses provide better performance than the stock rubber hoses because rubber will expand, causing a spongy brake pedal and even some loss of initial braking force. Installation of the SS hoses will give your Mustang a firmer pedal, quicker braking response, and easier brake modulation. The best place to purchase these is from Maximum Motorsports . They will fit perfectly, other brands may require modification to the brake line bracket.

For custom conversions, especially the rear with different sized fittings than a stock SN95 car, you can get custom units made for you. By far the best place for service and price that I have found is Paragon .

Rear Drum Brake Upgrades:

Get new shoes and adjust them up. Also replace the stock center axle rubber line with a stainless steel line. Other than that, you can swap to 10" rear drums. But you would be better off swapping to rear disc brakes. The rear disc will help your stopping distances slightly, decrease brake fade and increase the pedal feel and modulation.