Check out eBay item number 290059982595
It's a cnc machined adapter plate that you put right on your 4 lug hubs that converts it to the Ford 5 lug pattern..
Here's the thing though.. it adds 1.75 inches of offset, which means you can bolt on 05 - 07 Mustang rims with only a 9mm offset
When I weigh the cost of converting to a 5 lug setup (even my cheapest option is $99 front rotors, $80 rear drums PLUS 2 junkyard axles..or $200+) and the fact that the 2001 - 2004 Bullitt wheels I want are always more expensive than the 05-06 versions.. This seems like a pretty good idea.
Anyone see a major problem with this? I kind of like the adapter idea because my 4 lug setup is still there and I can put the car back to 4 lug stock just as easy as swapping wheels.
Thoughts?
NOT a fan of that idea....
I've heard good and bad about them.Anybody have more details?
It's something I'd try on a cheap 4 lug stang' before I'd put it on my bird. Testing and stuff ya know.
Sounds like a real safety concern. Meh.
Hmmm.... what don't you like about that? I have spacers that bolt in just like that in the rear of my Bird.
Supposedly with spacers, etc, they can come apart at high speeds and cause a wheel to let loose. That's the argument that I've heard.
I don't know.. I've been doing some research online and I can't find any horror stories. Kit car companies use them to adapt wheels to the donor cars, and racers use them for added track and adaptation of light weight racing wheels. Mini Cooper has a line of billet spacers to move the rims out for better handling.. The 4x4 crowd uses them to run wider off road tires and they stand up to the rigors of rock crawling etc..
I just can't see them ripping apart.. especially in daily driving back and forth to work. I don't race the car, and only occasionally blast through the first three gears.
Unless I can find some real hard evidense that these are downright dangerous, I think I'm going to go this route~
You're right Kev, its one of those things people bitch about but have no proof of failure. I've been reading peoples negative opinions on them for years but have never seen anyones bad results.
On the other hand a BIG advantage to going 5 lug the not so easy way is the improvement in brake performance. With these adapters your still running 10" brakes in the front and drums in the rear. If you go the route of 11" spindles to use drop on Lincoln rotors the difference is amazing. Or going sn95 opens up 13" Cobra brakes. 5 lug n the rear includes a disc swap 90% of the time as well.
There could be some truth to that with lug centric spacers. Which I didn't consider when I bought mine. I have just put my life into the hands of Eibach Engineers. =/
i have used every type of adapter out there. universal slip ons, to bolt ons, to pattern adapting types like these. as long as the quality of materials and manufacturing is up to snuff, those are will be fine.
i have seen some that change the number of lugs in a single piece unit. i would never use any of those. the two piece units like the ones in this auction are the way to go for changin the number of lugs.
i replied here once, but deleted it. i went back and looked at the pics in that auction again. the fact that the mating faces of the two halves are flat worries me. this puts all the shear load on the 6 small pan head bolts that hold the two halves together. not exactly how i would want my hubs loaded, or my wheels secured.
i have seen some very high end(read expensive) two piece adapters that incorporated a "step" on both the inner and outer diameters of the halves, taking the shearing load off the bolts that hold the halves together.
I would have the tires balanced with the spacers and marked so they're installed the way they were balanced, for one thing. Or just have them balalnced on the car.
You are having trouble with math, $150 for some py wheel adapters is WAAAAY more than you should spend for the 5-lug parts.
Just find a junkyard Lincoln for the rotors ($10ea max) and a pair of Rangers for their axles and drums (about $20/side) and go bolt on the parts that you KNOW are going to work without being weird and flakey.
Also, there is an upside to using more expensive wheels - a higher resale value. :D
Ranger axles are not going to work in his '86 7.5.
nor will the lincoln mark vii rotors.
OK.. If I were to change rear axles, don't the V6/V8 94 - 98 Mustang units work in my 7.5 rear end ?
If not, what is the 'right' way to do the rear conversion on my 86 ?
I've read about ball joint issues with some of the swapover parts for the front end, what is the correct thing to do for my year car if I did want to go with larger front brakes?
I know I can just get the 10" $99 5 lug rotors that have already been mentioned, but if I want to upgrade the front brake size I'd need to go the spindle, caliper, rotor route and would like to know for sure which parts fit my car.
I'm not trying to be 'cheap'.. I just want a relatively easy and inexpensive way to do the swap to 5 lug. I'm not against buying new parts, in fact, I'd much rather buy brand new rotors and loaded calipers than get junkyard brake parts..
Thanks,
Yeah, you need SN-95 Axles (corral.net) and some Ranger/Aerostar 5-lug drums along with those rotors and your all set.
The balljoint isssue comes from using FRPP 2003 Cobra Arms on 87-88 TCs. The 87-88 thundercats have longer arms like SN-95 Stangs, where as your TC (83-86) have Fox Mustang length arms. But the balljoint on SN-95s are too short for Fox spindles. That's why when you use SN-95 spindles on Fox cars you need a .330" spacer for the castle nut on the balljoint. But when you do the reverse (SN-95 arms with Fox spindles) the balljoint is too short (by that magic number .330) and the nut can and will most likely come a loose. Not good fun IMO. You can swap the balljoint to Fox units. but that kinda negates the whole point in buying new control arms in the first place.
But you really don't have to worry about all of that. Just us 87-88ers.
I know there was a thread that covered the differences and such with the odd-ball 86-88 Tbird/Cougar 7.5's (which are wider (the housings...not the track) than the rest). Not sure where it's hiding though.
EDIT..I found it...look at the stickies at the begining of the "Drivetrain" forum.
The issue is your '86 7.5 housing. It's wider than the SN-95 (94-98) housings (by 3/4" per side), even though the axles are the same length and overall track width is unchanged. The issue comes in the with the bearing surface on the SN-95 axles. Is it far enough out for you to be able to use the SN-95 axles in that housing?
Geez, I swear, Ford just went all ape shiznit these cars. Nothing makes any sense any more. =/
Honestly I would just find a SN-95 rear and be done with it.