Title: 5 lug conversion
Post by: Blackbird1 on May 08, 2009, 10:38:42 PM
Post by: Blackbird1 on May 08, 2009, 10:38:42 PM
Ok guys, I have seen alot of 5 lug conversions in your profiles. i 'm thinking about converting over just for the wheel selection. I need your input on the pros and cons of 5 lugging an 88 TC and your opinion on the wheels I like. Which ever wheels I choose will determine the lug total. Thanks for your help.
Title: 5 lug conversion
Post by: daminc on May 08, 2009, 10:47:05 PM
Post by: daminc on May 08, 2009, 10:47:05 PM
those look familiar.
(http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee79/daminc/85%20Vert/IMG_5344.jpg)
(http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee79/daminc/85%20Vert/IMG_5344.jpg)
Title: 5 lug conversion
Post by: Blackbird1 on May 08, 2009, 10:52:01 PM
Post by: Blackbird1 on May 08, 2009, 10:52:01 PM
Oh yeah. See yours looks fantastic with the 96's. I think ChuckW has 94-95's without the black inserts and look great with his silver.
Title: 5 lug conversion
Post by: Ether947 on May 08, 2009, 11:02:36 PM
Post by: Ether947 on May 08, 2009, 11:02:36 PM
Cons:
-You will lose ABS if you go with SN-95 parts up front. ABS rings on the axles can be swapped over. Although I do recall Dominator using SN-95 parts and attempting to retain his ABS function. Not sure if he was successful or not. Maybe he will chime in.
-More expensive to swap over with SN-95 parts. The snowball effect usually kicks in. :D
Pros:
-Better braking setup. Opens the door to 13-inch brakes. Or dual piston 11-inch brakes.
-Better and/or more wheel selection. Can pretty much run any wheel the SN-95 guys do.
-Can be done on the cheap with Mark VII rotors up front and SN-95 axles/rotors out back. I did a small write up over on Nato, but I'm too lazy to go look for it at the moment. Plus I forgot my password.
I had a set of those Cobra's as well...
(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i78/ether947/darkthunder/turbocoupesprings_rear.jpg)
My ill fated 88 with black Tribars...
(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i78/ether947/lastones003.jpg)
-You will lose ABS if you go with SN-95 parts up front. ABS rings on the axles can be swapped over. Although I do recall Dominator using SN-95 parts and attempting to retain his ABS function. Not sure if he was successful or not. Maybe he will chime in.
-More expensive to swap over with SN-95 parts. The snowball effect usually kicks in. :D
Pros:
-Better braking setup. Opens the door to 13-inch brakes. Or dual piston 11-inch brakes.
-Better and/or more wheel selection. Can pretty much run any wheel the SN-95 guys do.
-Can be done on the cheap with Mark VII rotors up front and SN-95 axles/rotors out back. I did a small write up over on Nato, but I'm too lazy to go look for it at the moment. Plus I forgot my password.
I had a set of those Cobra's as well...
(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i78/ether947/darkthunder/turbocoupesprings_rear.jpg)
My ill fated 88 with black Tribars...
(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i78/ether947/lastones003.jpg)
Title: 5 lug conversion
Post by: Blackbird1 on May 08, 2009, 11:11:29 PM
Post by: Blackbird1 on May 08, 2009, 11:11:29 PM
If I use the SN95 set up will I need the lower control arms too?
Title: 5 lug conversion
Post by: Ether947 on May 08, 2009, 11:19:15 PM
Post by: Ether947 on May 08, 2009, 11:19:15 PM
no... just the ball joint. once upon a time it was cheaper to replace the whole arm. not so much anymore.
Title: 5 lug conversion
Post by: Blackbird1 on May 08, 2009, 11:21:15 PM
Post by: Blackbird1 on May 08, 2009, 11:21:15 PM
Awesome! Thanks:D
Title: 5 lug conversion
Post by: dominator on May 09, 2009, 06:45:53 AM
Post by: dominator on May 09, 2009, 06:45:53 AM
I was able to retain my abs and have it still function as normal.
The way i did it was to use a set of custom made 5 lug moser axles and have them press on my abs rings then i redrilled my tc rear rotors, however if you send a set to moser they will do it for cheap(the axles where cheap at around 250.00us and i think the rotor redrill is around 40 for the set), you reuse your tc rear sensors.
Up front i did not need to change my ball joints(if yours are original then i would just change to sn95 as they are probably worn and in need of replacement anyways)as doing so is a misconception,you will need to add 3 large holed washers(can't remember the exact size) per side under each ball joint nut to take up the space of the spindle being less thick in this area.
Then after all is mounted you must use the sn95 front abs sensors.
Cut the connector off the sn95 sensor and discard it(or a better way would be to find an sn95 in your local wrecker and cut off the vehicle side and use it,would make future senor replacement easier), cut the connector off your old abs sensor(make sure to leave enough wire to connect too)and wire it to the new sensor(or vehicle harness).
Ground on the tc is a braided wire,the sn's i believe is just black and that's it,all should function normally after that.
If you go on the cheap and use the mark vii front rotors you will be very limited on wheel choice to only a few factory wheels like the cobra's above as the rotor hat will not allow fitment of small center cap rims so i'd forget that option unless you only want to run the above wheels.
On a side note, there are many wheels now available in 4 lug with the correct offset.
The first wheels you posted(93 cobra) are an example,also cobra r's in deep dish and non and all the rest of the cobra's and gt500s.
I'm sure i missed a few but the list is of good size now.
The way i did it was to use a set of custom made 5 lug moser axles and have them press on my abs rings then i redrilled my tc rear rotors, however if you send a set to moser they will do it for cheap(the axles where cheap at around 250.00us and i think the rotor redrill is around 40 for the set), you reuse your tc rear sensors.
Up front i did not need to change my ball joints(if yours are original then i would just change to sn95 as they are probably worn and in need of replacement anyways)as doing so is a misconception,you will need to add 3 large holed washers(can't remember the exact size) per side under each ball joint nut to take up the space of the spindle being less thick in this area.
Then after all is mounted you must use the sn95 front abs sensors.
Cut the connector off the sn95 sensor and discard it(or a better way would be to find an sn95 in your local wrecker and cut off the vehicle side and use it,would make future senor replacement easier), cut the connector off your old abs sensor(make sure to leave enough wire to connect too)and wire it to the new sensor(or vehicle harness).
Ground on the tc is a braided wire,the sn's i believe is just black and that's it,all should function normally after that.
If you go on the cheap and use the mark vii front rotors you will be very limited on wheel choice to only a few factory wheels like the cobra's above as the rotor hat will not allow fitment of small center cap rims so i'd forget that option unless you only want to run the above wheels.
On a side note, there are many wheels now available in 4 lug with the correct offset.
The first wheels you posted(93 cobra) are an example,also cobra r's in deep dish and non and all the rest of the cobra's and gt500s.
I'm sure i missed a few but the list is of good size now.
Title: 5 lug conversion
Post by: 1BadBird on May 09, 2009, 10:47:08 AM
Post by: 1BadBird on May 09, 2009, 10:47:08 AM
dominator is correct in that if you use the lincoln lsc front rotors you need a larger center hole to fit. I've got that setup on my car and I also had to use the longer 94' stang lower control arms to fix an alignment issue. But with your car being an 88' you wouldn't have that problem. I'm switching to a SN-95 setup complete w/crossmember on the front of my car to narrow the track wideth issue the current setup has.