Ford Mustang Forums banner

5 lug conversion on Fox Body

53K views 24 replies 17 participants last post by  Wicked03GT  
#1 ·
Hi, i am interested in doing a five lug conversion on a fox body. I don't know much about the conversion so was wondering what the cost is or what are the parts that i would need. Thanks!
 
#2 ·
I recently finished this swap also. I used ranger axles, cut/flipped sn95 rear brake brackets, ford taurus rear 43mm calipers, 94 stang front spindles, Brembo brakes 4 piston up front, 94 brake booster, 93 cobra mastercylinder. There are a whole bunch of write ups already made all overthe web so look for them and find them as this has been done and talked about for a decade now. Goodluck
 
#8 ·
Got anymore info on taurus rear caliper setup? Haven't heard of that yet. I'm actually going to do my tomorrow im doing 99+ up front and sticking with the drums in the rear till i find a cobra setup, but i work at a junkyard and have tons of tauruses and sables.

Sent from my brain..
 
#3 ·
I did the swap recently as well. I went with 13" Cobra brakes in front and 11.65" Cobra brakes in the rear. My route wasn't the cheapest but I am happy with the results. I can put a passenger through the windshield with these brakes! Amazing how much bite they have. Stop on a dime. It took me about 6 months and a lot of overtime to gather all the parts but it was well worth it. Probably my favorite mod. If you are only doing this for cosmetic reasons (new wheels) I feel it is kind of a waste. Get better brakes while you're at it. Do it right the first time.

Before I knew what the hell I needed I researched and contacted Richard at North Race Cars. He was extremely helpful and told me exactly what I needed. This was all months before he even knew if I was ordering. Needless to say, I eventually ordered from him when the funds were collected.

Parts (that I remember):

- Moser 31 Spline Axles Fox Length with hub for rear discs (Called to order. Not necessary but I already had Mosers)
- Front and Rear Cobra brake kits from North Race Car - North Racecars Brake Solutions
- '95 Spindles (classifieds)
- '93 Cobra Master Cylinder (RockAuto)
- '93 Cobra Brake Booster (RockAuto)
- WilWood Rear Proportioning Valve (Maximum Motorsports)
- Plug for stock proportioning valve (Part M2450A)
- Maximum Motorsports 3 - 2 conversion brake line
- 5 Lugs Wheels (tires if needed, I used my old tires)

I don't think I am forgetting anything.
 
#4 ·
I did the swap. I used 95 spindles, 99-04 pbr dual piston calipers, ball joint spacers, ranger axles, ranger drums, kept the stock master cylinder and PV. Maximum motorsports ss front brake lines.
 
#6 ·
How much do you want to spend? Do you want to do it yourself? Are you going to upgrade the rear compnenents while you got it apart?

If you just want a basic kit, go to the late model resto site and do a search.

When I first converted my LX to 5 lug, I went with the basic five lug kit which came with the 28 spline axles.

If you going to upgrade the rear axle, look at the Strange 33 spline differential kit with c-clip eliminators.
 
#11 ·
Im sure i grabbed the 43mm rear calipers off a 95 Taurus, i had the sn-95 rear calipers but they have small 38mm piston, so in turn i figured the Taurus would be an upgrade caliper. I had both calipers on my workbench and did measurments and visual and they are both the same size except the piston is the difference. I use sn-95 powerslot rotors in the rear and sn-95 caliper bracket and brake pads, perfect fit, the caliper will self align itself for the rotor. I also bought the axle spacer to center the rotor and bought it from discbrakesrus.com. Up front i have the 13" slotted Brembo brake kit and stainless steel brake lines all around. I always wondered why the Taurus/Sable rear caliper upgrade hasn't been talked about much on the forums as a rear caliper upgrade. Oh well its a start :)
 
#12 ·
^^^ Interesting. I've been running the Varga 45mm calipers for over 15 years now. The correct pad profile is D347 whereas the 38mm Varga is a D627 - pads look and fit completely different. Moreover, while the two calipers look similar the 38mm and its respective cage will allow a 11.65" rotor whereas the 45mm max is 10.5" (assuming no mods). Finally, unless you seriously moded the sn95 axle bracket you have the bracket designed for the 45mm varga. These pieces are not interchangeable without mods. Despite my efforts even Jack Hidley from MM couldn't get them to work on the larger rotor. Besides, while it may be debateable whether the larger piston is the upgrade - the thicker/longer D347 pad is for certain the upgrade.
 
#13 ·
I have the 43mm Varga Caliper not the 45mm like the Cobra/turbo coupe's had. I have these calipers bolted up to the SN-95 rear brake caliper brackets also using sn-95 brake pads and the only mod i did to these is cut and flip them when sticking to fox length axles. Im also using SN-95 rear slotted rotors with no issues. I could use the 11.65 cobra rotors if i wanted too, but then i would have to purchase the taller cobra brackets, but what i have is good enough. Sorry bud but your kind of confusing me when your talking about "respective cage will allow...'certain size rotor' so to speak" from my understanding its the bracket that determines the height and fit of which rotor you choose to run. I will get some photos and post them if you like, make things easier as pictures speak a thousand words lol.
 
#14 ·
Learned something today - I didn't know that Varga made a 43mm caliper. The cage looks very similar to the sn95 GT/v6 (no support cross bar), so I assume that is why the sn95 axle flange works. The pad is the D610 profile which is similar to the 45mm Varga. Going to have to look at that for a Cobra set-up - I want a larger/thicker rear pad. Thanks.
 
#15 ·
I have two Foxbodies with cobra brakes and upgraded wilwood calipers for the front. the conversion is very easy, and you don't need the 31 or 33 spline axels unless you are running some searious HP for your drag racing application. one of my cars has a 347 and makes around 450 hp, on this car I have 28 spline axels and they workjust fine, on my other set up I have 31 spline axels with c-clip eliminators on a built rear end that supports my 331 turbo set up that is pusshing over 800 hp.

axel spline has nothing to do with how well the car will brake.

also I have done both getting parts from junk jard and getting a kit new from ford. if you put the kit together yourself, you will save $$$, my advise is buy new front calipers, they are cheap. I paid $235 shipped for some bullit calipers (same as cobra but with running horse) and they included the brake pads. the rear calipers are all the same for the v6, GT and cobra from 94-04. if you go with cobra rear rotors which I strongly recommend, all you have to do is trim the mounting cauge for the caliper and buy the correct brake pads (they are thiner for the cobra). asfaras the moan braket, I was able to modify a set of v6 brakets to fit the cobra set up. I cut the braket then welded it back to give it that extra 1/4 or 1/8 of an inch that it need it to clear.

v6 brake booster from a 94-95 and the master cylinder will work just fine, I also used the v6 proportion valve and my 3500 lbs GT brakes just fine. you do need the brake booster, and you will have to make it fit your Fox, you will have to slot the fox mounting holes for the brake booster and you will have to make a little room for it by beating the Lt apron, is not much room that you need but a big hammer will come handy for this. I drove the car for a while with the stock fox booster and the peddal was too hard, brakes were better than stock, but once I changed the booster they work great.

I had a 2004 cobra and I think the 90 GT stop better brakes than the cobra did. Once I added the wilwood calipers, the car stops hard.
 
#17 ·
Hey New to the form. I have to say this site rocks. I dont know how many times I have looked here for info in the past month. I have an 83 gt just got it about a month ago.

I just got done with this swap like 10 min ago. I used a complete sn-95 rear
end. the only thing I needed for that was a run to the local AutoZone to get a pre made line with the proper M12x1.50 - 7.8x24 ends I think. that took care of the rear. I used a 96 booster and Master. Light masauge to the finder :lol: more like a serious beat down. Again a run to the parts store to get the new line to go from the master to the pop valve. Minus the rear end and new UPR&LWR I have about 12$ in all the lines to go from the old fox to the sn-95 stuff. Still have not done the front yet will get to that next week.I really donot want to have to change out my axles and cal brackets but might cause the sn-95 axles are so long in the fox. They are even with the lower rocker. Anyhow thought i would chime in. I just seen all the talk about haveing to order this and that and wanted to say I was able to get it all local.
 
#20 · (Edited)
You don't need new axles or brackets with a sn95 rear .you can run all rims up to 9 inch without any issues. And if u go bigger just run s197 back spaced wheels like I do

Does that change the wheel spacing? My wheel spacing is just perfect now.

I've got a 4 lug setup, and I have new 31 spline 4 lug axles not even removed from the box, plus a new Cobra posi unit. I can't use my 4.10 gears now with my new engine. I need a rear end change to a new gear, so I thought about selling all my new parts and the old rear end and buying a complete heavy duty rear end.

I'm mostly worried my 4 lugs will break with good tires.
 
#22 ·
You can do it pretty cheap...

I just sold a set of Ranger axles and drums for the rear, thats all you need to just do a 5 lug swap. If you want rear disc's you get a little more expensive. Then you need something like the North Race Cars brackets to bolt on the rear calipers, then you need the calipers, rotors, 5 lug axles, pads and some brake line mods.

Fronts are pretty easy too, cheapest route is to find a lIncoln 5 lug front set-up then bolt on your wheels.

The most popular and dependable set-up is the SN95 spindles from a 94 or 95 car, then add youre choice of brake calipers and rotors. I went with SN95 spindles, 00 PBR calipers, then some knock off slotted and drilled rotors from Ebay and a set of Hawy brake pads.

It all boils down to how much you are willing to spend...I pieced together my rear disc brakes for a decent price just picking and choosing and being patient on the classifieds.
 
#23 ·
I'm thinking since I have to change gears, axles, and posi units I might as well sell all the heavy duty four lug stuff I already bought and just buy an entire drop in rear end with disk brakes and 5 lugs, and then change the front to 5 lugs.

I always wind up changing my mind after I buy parts.
 
#25 ·
You dont have to change gears, carrier and stuff...You can just swap in 28 spline ranger or Moser axles and call it a day. Then use the stock drum brakes, you will have to buy 5 lug drums which are $25 a pop from the parts store.