A few Brake / Suspension Questions..Been Awhile and yes I searched!

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A few Brake / Suspension Questions..Been Awhile and yes I searched!

September 04, 2012, 11:17:50 AM

Well for starters I built my 87 cougar xr7 back in 1994. More recently I sold it to a good freind of mine. Here are some of the original general brake/suspension specs

88 Turbo coupe rear housing and brakes (4 lug)
Grigs heavy duty Panhard/torque arm setup
Grigs rear weight jacker control arms/heim joints (dont think they sell these anymore)
In the floor subframes/outer subframes
Front tubular K member and coil over setup (was for an 94/95 sn95)
Front coil over kit with caster camber plates for a fox tbird / cougar)
fox stang brake upgrade (4 lug) master and booster

Being that 5 lug is the way to go we are currently doing some upgrades which is where the questions come into play.

1)Added 94 sn95 front spindle assymbly with 13" cobra setup...No issues
2)Swaped in a 94 sn95 rear complete to replace TC rear. Rear was built so it was just easier to swap.
3) Added sn95 Booster and bendix master. Also have the sn95 proportioning valve.

Now my questions. Im figuring this is a fairly common upgrade brake and rear wise nowadays as TC rears are harder to come by and people want 5 lug. Before I start swapping out and runnign into issues I want to ask

1) I want to get rid of the solid rear rotors and use vented. Are the sn95 backing plates the same to where I can use my TC calipers? I realize I will need properly drilled rotors. To that extent has anyone upgraded to cobra rear rotors using the TC calipers. Factory 5 sells adapters to run those calipers with a larger rotors

2)Now Booster/master/proportioning valve. Has anyone used this combo? Ill more than likely run an adjustable proportioning valve. Whats been done with this setup?

One last thing. Im converting the car back to stick...Now for the life of me I cant find the driveshaft. I recall my factory lenght driveshaft working when I had a stick in it 15 years ago. Are there any cars that have the proper lenght driveshaft I can use? At leats if I have the proper lenght I can go get one I have lying around cut down or a new one made. (This I didnt look up as it just dawned on me)

Any help would be greatly appretiated! Many thanks

Damon

A few Brake / Suspension Questions..Been Awhile and yes I searched!

Reply #1 – September 06, 2012, 02:30:06 PM

Leave the stock combination valve in the car and just gut the proportioning valve side of it and install a manual proportioning valve in the line going to the rear brakes. Install the rear Cobra brakes with this kit:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/FMS-M-2300-M/

The rear Cobra brakes use the GT/V6 calipers with the Cobra bracket and Cobra pads. The Cobra pads are thinner than the GT/V6 to accommodate the thicker Cobra rotors so make sure you get the correct pads from the parts store. There are actually two brackets per side so lets make sure we both understand which is which so the next part makes sense. There is the axle bracket which comes with the kit I linked above. Then there is the caliper bracket of which you can grind on the GT/V6 bracket and make it work or you can get new ones here:

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/parts/Cardone-Reman-Brake-Caliper-Bracket-Rear/1995-Ford-Mustang-Cobra/_/N-j50h5Z8knus?itemIdentifier=217387_0_3559_

So for the cost of the new one I would suggest you go that route as grinding on the GT/V6 units is a pain in the ass. You can also source the axle brackets used on any of the Mustang Websites for cheap if there are any available. I would strongly suggest that you get the kit on Summit as it comes with the anti-moan brackets and dust shields which are very nice to have.

I know that a person can switch from an AOD to a T5 in a Mustang and use the same drive shaft. Worst case scenario is that you install the manual tranny, insert the yolk into the tail housing of the tranny to where it bottoms out and measure from the center of the hole where the U-Joint goes in the yolk to the face of the DS on the rear end. Get an aluminum DS out of a Crown Vic and have a DS built. Find Vinnie on here and he can explain how to do this as it is reasonably priced and you get an aluminum DS.

Darren

A few Brake / Suspension Questions..Been Awhile and yes I searched!

Reply #2 – September 08, 2012, 11:42:46 AM

Darren thanks.

I have about 5 aluminum driveshafts from 93 mark VIII's lying around here. I just cant find the factory lenght driveshaft I had which was what I had been using with my original speed swap.

As far as rear brakes. I recall the TC rear brake line going from the proportioning valve to the rear brakes as being larger. Is that correct?

Also I currently have installed a complete sn95 rear with brakes. I may just go with a cobra rotor/brake setup as its easier at this point and parts will surely be easier to get in the future

A few Brake / Suspension Questions..Been Awhile and yes I searched!

Reply #3 – September 08, 2012, 12:59:34 PM

Negative on the rear line as far as I know and I completely agree with your approach on the rear brake set up. If anything were to happen you would only be a parts store away from a fix.

Darren