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  • 1979 - 1995 (Fox, SN95.0, & 2.3L) -General/Talk-

Best 5 lug front set up?

  • Thread starter Thread starter blackfox
  • Start date Start date Jan 9, 2009
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blackfox

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#1
  • Jan 9, 2009
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On my 91 i have the wilwood drag brake kit and i want to change it to something more street friendly. If anyone has seen the paper thin rotors on this kit you would want to change it also.. anyways what is the best option to go with for a 5 lug brake set up in the front.. i dont want to change the master cylinder or anything if possible.. I already have 5 lug drums in the rear.. let me know what you guys have..
 
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bentley429

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#2
  • Jan 9, 2009
  • #2
What master cylinder do you have? Still power brakes? Strange and aerospace make some nice kits that are still real light but have vented rotors. I will be dishing out the $$ for the aerospace ones at some point, with slotted drilled zinc coated rotors the kit is $800 or so I believe. I believe strange is about the same price. If you dont care about weight, sn95 spindles and cobra brakes seem to be pretty good.
 

Mustang5L5

That is…until I whipped out my Bissell
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#3
  • Jan 9, 2009
  • #3
Without changing the MC, you are very limited to brake upgrades.


The best brakes?? ANything with a 13" or 14" rotor. Multiple pistons do help (mainly in open track applications), but for the average street car it's about rotor diameter.

Most people will be fine with cobra 13" setup. If you need a little more you could get the Brembo 13" 4-piston caliper. If you want extreme, there are kits to put Gt-500 14" brakes on Sn95 spindles.
 
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blackfox

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Can i do the 94/95 cobra front brakes with the stock 91 master cylinder?
 
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TN90

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Seems like a lot of work not to change the master cylinder... Not to mentioned limiting your options.
 

stykthyn

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#6
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you "should" be alright, but I have seen front brake swaps that did need an upgraded MC
 

Mustang5L5

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#7
  • Jan 11, 2009
  • #7
blackfox said:
Can i do the 94/95 cobra front brakes with the stock 91 master cylinder?
Click to expand...


You can try it. The 94-98 calipers are slightly smaller than the 99+ cobra calipers so they require less fluid.

I can't say for sure you'll be okay though. If you plan on rear disk brakes, you def need an MC upgrade
 
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xherdlr

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#8
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Heres mine...98 front spindles,calipers,and rotor. I also use the stock master cylinder. A friend of mine has the same front plus 96 rear with disk brakes and he runs a stock mc. I can tell you that its has a heavy feel. The stock mc will work,but you can always change over to a SVO , 93 Cobra,or any 95 and up.




Kelly
 

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blackfox

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what do you mean by heavy feel? does it stop well?
 

NIKwoaC

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#10
  • Jan 12, 2009
  • #10
blackfox said:
what do you mean by heavy feel? does it stop well?
Click to expand...

When you upgrade and/or convert to disk brakes, more pressure is required on the brake pedal to stop the car. Changing the master cylinder size and/or upgrading the brake booster solves this problem.
 

90lxcoupe

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#11
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if your not looking to change your spindles and save some coin then you can do it like this:
Fronts:

SVO front rotors(i got myne off ebay a few years back for like $99, and that drilled and slotted)
SVO calipers
SVO Master Cylinder

Rear:

I just bought a cobra kit from factory 5 racing(i think thats where i got it). yea you can save a few bucks here and there buy the stuff indvidually, but to me it wasnt worth the hassle... Also, i have the cobra kit on the rear with 15'' wheels, which meant i had to grind a good ammount of material off of the calipers, and use a 1/4'' spacer. So that is something to consider. The GT kit will clear 15's no problem, but for the same money you get a cobra kit, and im not afraid to use a grinding wheel.

In my eyes there was really no need to switch my spindles for what i use the car for, i dont know what your plans are, but if its just a street/strip car, i'd change out the rotors, calipers and get a good set of pads and swap the rear to discs, and dont forget a proportioning valve if you use discs in the rear.

My brakes work awesome, i had no trouble stoping when i trapped 120 mph, and my dyno tuner even commented on how well the car stopped, which suppriesed me because of the fact that he works on/tunes/drives alot of cars with BIG brakes on them(corvettes, shelby's, CTS-v's etc. etc.)
 
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blackfox

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^^^ i would like to stick with the stock master cylinder i dont want to do a full brake overhaul i just want a nice kit for a street car for 5 lug
 

NIKwoaC

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blackfox said:
^^^ i would like to stick with the stock master cylinder i dont want to do a full brake overhaul i just want a nice kit for a street car for 5 lug
Click to expand...

I'd say then, just convert the front to 99+ SN-95 brakes with 94-95 spindles. You'll have the largest selection of wheels available to you that way, and the 99+ PBR calipers are supposed to stop really well. I believe with this setup you can still fit 15" drag wheels without modifying anything, but don't quote me on that. This is the direction most guys take when converting to 5 lug. Replacement rotors and pads are really cheap, and if you ever feel the itch to upgrade to Cobra stuff, you can reuse the spindles and hubs.

You could go with Cobra front rotors and calipers, as it only costs a little more to go that way (if you know where to shop), but if you are looking to avoid switching the MC and BB, Cobra brakes might be a bit much for the stock stuff. Cobra fronts are also going to completely ruin your ability to run 15" skinnies (the rotors are 13" by themselves). That and Cobra fronts with drum rears is a horrible mismatch.
 

FastDriver

I was uncomfortably high & wearing a helmet
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#14
  • Jan 13, 2009
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I've always been very happy with my Baer Track Kit, which I think is very similar in nature to the M2300.

14"ers up front with 2-piston calipers, and 13" rear with single piston calipers, IIRC

Chris
 

90lxcoupe

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#15
  • Jan 13, 2009
  • #15
blackfox said:
^^^ i would like to stick with the stock master cylinder i dont want to do a full brake overhaul i just want a nice kit for a street car for 5 lug
Click to expand...


if thats what you want then why dont you just swap the rotors to 5-lug and call it a day?

the stock master cyilinder isnt going to be a good idea with bigger calipers, and the SVO master cylinder i bought from Maximum Motorsports was a complete kit, it came with lines that were pre-bent and flared so it was completly bolt in. It litterally took me less time to swap the MC then it did to bleed the brakes
 
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blackfox

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NikwoaC said:
I'd say then, just convert the front to 99+ SN-95 brakes with 94-95 spindles. You'll have the largest selection of wheels available to you that way, and the 99+ PBR calipers are supposed to stop really well. I believe with this setup you can still fit 15" drag wheels without modifying anything, but don't quote me on that. This is the direction most guys take when converting to 5 lug. Replacement rotors and pads are really cheap, and if you ever feel the itch to upgrade to Cobra stuff, you can reuse the spindles and hubs.

You could go with Cobra front rotors and calipers, as it only costs a little more to go that way (if you know where to shop), but if you are looking to avoid switching the MC and BB, Cobra brakes might be a bit much for the stock stuff. Cobra fronts are also going to completely ruin your ability to run 15" skinnies (the rotors are 13" by themselves). That and Cobra fronts with drum rears is a horrible mismatch.
Click to expand...


so i would need 94/95 spindles, rotors and calipers from a 99+ gt? and brake hoses? anything else? where is the best place to get this stuff.
 

NIKwoaC

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#17
  • Jan 13, 2009
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blackfox said:
so i would need 94/95 spindles, rotors and calipers from a 99+ gt? and brake hoses? anything else? where is the best place to get this stuff.
Click to expand...

I don't know why I always wait so long to post this...

79-93 5 Lug Ford Fox Body Mustang Conversions

...Pretty much anything you ever wanted to know about 5 lug swaps.
 
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xherdlr

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Jan 14, 2009
#18
  • Jan 14, 2009
  • #18
blackfox said:
so i would need 94/95 spindles, rotors and calipers from a 99+ gt? and brake hoses? anything else? where is the best place to get this stuff.
Click to expand...

You can use rotors,spindles,and calipers from any model 94-2004. The only problem will be attaching the brake line..The late model calipers have a different thread pattern for the brake line. I used Maximum Motorsports Stainless Steel braided line( $80) it has the proper end that is threaded for the late model caliper. Some guys find a fitting that allows you to use your stock brake line... I dont know what or how to find it...
wwwbuyfordracing.com has a great deal on Cobra calipers..
Buy Ford Racing Parts!

They have just the calipers or the whole rotors,calipers and brake line..The brake line wont work...These brakes are for 94 and up. The end that goes into the frame block is different than the fox body. You could find a fitting...

Kelly
 
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