(Disclaimer: Long read!!)

So, I am starting to upgrade the brakes and correcting some other issues on my 88 GT. I thought I would make a thread about it to help anyone else that may run into the same issues, or to help someone do the conversion to thier Fox body.

When I got my fox, it was already converted to 5-lug, and was sporting 18" Moda R6's.



(Not mine, but a better idea of what it looks like)



I thought 18's were kinda big for the fox, and I like my rims to have lips on them, so ordered some Cobra's from a 98 mustang on Ebay.

Just for some background, this is my 4th stang, but my 1st fox, and my 1st time ever dealing with a fox 4 - 5 lug conversion.

So I put the back rims on 1st, and was pretty excited to put the front rims on. When I got the driver side front wheel off, something was wrong when I put the cobra rim on the front. The dust cover popped out the center cap of the rim, and the rim wouldnt go over the dust cap. I knew something wasnt right so I started to research why the rims wouldnt fit.

I found out there were a few different cars that the previous owner could have used but I had no way to contact the previous owner to find out what car he used. Due to inexperience, I couldnt figure out specifically which car the 5-lug parts came from. I thought it must have been a ranger, but I found out later, its from a MKVIII (at least I think, because of the long 'hat' on the rotor)

I didnt want to put the old rims back on and I wanted an easy fix. I read about putting longer studs in the rotors and putting wheel spacers over the studs to help the rims clear the dust cap, so I ordered some studs from moroso and picked up some wheel spacers. The studs didnt fit through the rotors so I took them to a machine shop and had the rotors drilled to fit the studs. I put the studs in the rotors, placed the wheel spacers on the studs, and bolted up the front rims. They cleared the dust caps, and bolted on fine. I thought I was good to go, untill I made my 1st turn and heard the tires scrub hard against the fenders.

I remember reading that using the MKIII parts were not preferred, and everything I read said that using the longer studs and wheel spacers werent great to use, so when the tires scrubbed, I decided to use the recommended parts and upgrade the brakes at the same time since I had to replace all the same parts. I have decided to go with 13" rotors and 99+ Cobra PBR calipers.

So today, I ordered Cobra calipers and caliper brackets from a 2001 cobra ($175) and picked up spindles, hubs, and dust shields ($106) from a local salvage yard (off a 95 V6 mustang). I got lucky with the spindles, the salvage yard left the hubs and dust shields on, and didnt charge me for them. I found these parts using www.car-parts.com

I read the 5.0 tech articles and found the 5 lug conversion article which has a link to another site, where I found this part list:

Front w/Cobra PBRs:
13" cobra rotors (2)
cobra PBR calipers (2)
cobra caliper brackets (2)
caliper pins (2)
spindle to caliper bracket bolts (4): N805163-S190
1994+ spindles (2)
Hubs (2)
hub nut(2)
dust cap(2)
dust shields (2) : F4ZZ-2K005A , F4ZZ-2K004A ($7.70 each)
SS brake lines designed for conversion - or - SN95 brake lines with Adapter
Balljoint spacer or stack of 3 washers totaling .330" in height or press in Sn95 balljoints to the stock arms (MOOG brand)
Banjo/caliper bolts (2) 10mm x 1.0 thread

Im going to use this list to order what I need. If anyone has done this before and knows if this list is missing something, let me know. Im going to order the best parts I can, but Im still on a budget. My goal is to do this and spend less than $500 for everything I need.

Im going to post some pictures of the spindles up tomorrow, and I will keep good pictures of what Im doing.
Ill post pictures of my progress

 

From what I've been told by those in the know, if you care at all about your car's handling, you'll choose your offsets/spacers very carefully. There's a lot of articles out there (check out some of the stuff on Sport Compact Car, very 'geek' stuff about handling but you figure that's about 80% of what that scene is about - handling and technology), personally I'd put the old wheels back on until you get the right stuff up front. Maybe it won't matter to you, but the Mustang needs enough help in the handling department to not warrant taking a step in the wrong direction.

Just my opinion.

 

In my 1st post, I didnt mention that the spindles I purchased where from a 95 Mustang (its now edited to reflect that). According to all of the articles I have found, "94-95 spindles are the most desirable spindles for fox body mustangs due to the curved steering arm which keeps the stock track width on a fox" (http://mjbobbitt.home.comcast.net/~m...n95brakes.html).

When I have the swap completed, I shouldnt need any spacers.

 

Well, so much for my 500 dollar budget. I went ahead and ordered some Baer DecelaRotor's today from summit ($308), along with some Hawk Performance ceramic brake pads ($111). So that puts me at $700 so far.

I still plan on ordering stainless steel brake lines, and I will still need to order the banjo bolts.

I havent put up additional pics yet, but I will do so when I get all the parts together

 

Just ordered my last big expense for this project. I ordered SS brake lines through Maximum Motorsports (www.maximummotorsports.com). They are made specifically for fox body hard brake lines, and SN95+ Calipers (Part # MMBK6F). It was $90 shipped.




This may not be my last big expense, Im debating ordering a bumpsteer kit. Some of the articles that I have read said that lowered Fox's need them. My car isnt lowered too much, so Im debating holding it off for a little bit at least.

Im up to $790 so far. I could have stayed close to my original $500 budget if I went with basic rotors and basic pads

 

Here are my rotors and pads



Here are my Spindles, Hubs, and dust-shields



I should be able to do the swap/upgrade next weekend. Thats when the fun will begin

I am still waiting on my calipers to arrive from nebraska and Im waiting for my brake lines to come in. Im not sure why the calipers havent arrived yet, its been 9 days so Im sure they are still in the mail.

I need to get ahold of the washers for the ball joints, and I need to make sure I have all the correct bolts before I begin this swap. I also need to take apart the spindles so I can grind them to make the calipers fit and I want to get all the rust off and paint them, and I want to paint the calipers before the I sit down to do the swap.

 

Here is the diagram Im going to use to make sure I have the bolts I need

 

The retards at UPS told the parts store in nebraska they couldnt find my road. They never contacted me, or had the parts store contact me. So when I called and found out all this today, UPS had already mailed the calipers back to nebraska, so when they get to nebraska, they are going to be mailed right back to me.....I cant stand lazy people!! They had my phone number, all they had to do was call, I could have come and picked them up from the local store.

So my install wont be this weekend, It will be next weekend hopefully. My brake lines should arrive tomorrow but its suppose to be UPS again, so who knows...

 

IMO, just replace the ball joint with a 94+ ball joint. That's what i did instead of messing around with a spacer. You might as well replace it since you need to take the spindle off anyway. I used 2000 spindles and brakes with Dual PBR calipers. I'm running 17x8 03 Cobra wheels and they don't rub at all. Even with the track width being 8mm wider...no big deal at all. It makes the wheel fit perfectly flush with the fender.

 

That sounds like a good idea, I was just going to use some washers like the tech articles said. I will pick some up, any idea of how much they are?

Oh btw, Your 4 eyes is awesome, Its one of my favorite ones on the forum, the black outs are a great touch