6 3/4 to 7.5/8.8" axle swap notess

[Chuck W]

Well, I spent time today swapping out the old 6 3/4" axle in the Z-7 with the growly bearings for a 7.5 w/ a Trac-Loc diff.

I was swapping to 5-lug at the same time, but was just going to use the drums on the rear for now. I was able to pull the axles and pull the brakes w/o opening them (will do that later when I do the front and swap the m/c, but no need to bleed twice). I had altered the lower c/a pick-up points a bit and got the whole lot cleaned up and painted.

Everything went back in ok except for one detail which is the primary reason for the post.

This is a "gotcha". The snout on a 6-3/4" is not as long as a 7.5 or 8.8...thus when you do the swap...the d/s winds up too long...by over an 1". I can't even get the rear d/s flange onto the companion flange. I've got it all buttoned up, but can't do anything with it since I have to get the d/s shortened...

Just some info to help someone else.

The front 5-lug is going to be some '01 GT PBRs. All those parts are waiting too as I couldn't get any brakelines picked up this weekend as the Earl's in town was closed all weekend.

[lightning95sc]

Hey, Chuck, have you tryed an SN-95 k member on a fox car? I've got a complete SN-95 suspension(f&r) ready to go in my Granada wagon and I'm getting conflicting stories on what I can and cannot use from the front suspension.

I know the 8.8 will go in no problem. But when it comes to the front suspension, I've heard the struts and control arms can't be used. Which leaves me adapting the spindle and hub to the fox control arm and strut.

Any suggestions? Chuck

[lightning95sc]

Hey, Chuck, have you tryed an SN-95 k member on a fox car? I've got a complete SN-95 suspension(f&r) ready to go in my Granada wagon and I'm getting conflicting stories on what I can and cannot use from the front suspension.

I know the 8.8 will go in no problem. But when it comes to the front suspension, I've heard the struts and control arms can't be used. Which leaves me adapting the spindle and hub to the fox control arm and strut.

Any suggestions? Chuck

[Chuck W]

Not directly.

At the old shop we installed Kmembers designed for SN-95 cars in Fox cars. Aside from some possible shimming needed, the K-member should go into the car without too much drama.

I haven't compared the width of the SN-95 vs the Fox (ball joint to ball joint). I know the arms are longer on the SN-95s, but I don't know about the overall width.
On my Z-7 I'm in the middle of swapping the SN-95 spindles and 01 GT brakes.
I'm planning on getting my hands on another K-member and modding the control arm points and using one of the sets of SN-95 arms I have in the garage, but for the short term I'm leaving the Fox arms on there. I'm just using a couple gr8 5/8" washers for the spacer under the castle nut on the ball joint to make up the difference in thickness. This is the 3rd Fox car I've installed the SN-95 stuff on the Fox balljoints. No issues. I'm also using some 99 GT struts. They are longer than what was on there, but I did a quick check and when I compressed the suspension, I still had 2-1/2"-3" of travel in the strut BEFORE it hit the bump stop.....so that's plenty. I've run this set-up on a lowered Fox as well and never bottomed it out. If you have the SN-95 struts, compress them off the car with the dust covers on and take a quick meaurement. Then install them in the car and compress the suspension with the jack out towards the end of the arm until the car lifts off your stands....that will give you an idea of what kind of travel you'll have at ride height.

I know with the SN-95 spindles the track widens a bit and the outer tie rod mounting points are spread out a bit as well. I've got plenty of tie rod to work with on the Z-7, so I won't need to swap to the SN-95 stuff.

You might want to triple-check the width of the SN-95 suspension and compare it to your wagon. The only issue I would see with using the whole thing is that it might be too wide for the car.

[Chuck W]

Not directly.

At the old shop we installed Kmembers designed for SN-95 cars in Fox cars. Aside from some possible shimming needed, the K-member should go into the car without too much drama.

I haven't compared the width of the SN-95 vs the Fox (ball joint to ball joint). I know the arms are longer on the SN-95s, but I don't know about the overall width.
On my Z-7 I'm in the middle of swapping the SN-95 spindles and 01 GT brakes.
I'm planning on getting my hands on another K-member and modding the control arm points and using one of the sets of SN-95 arms I have in the garage, but for the short term I'm leaving the Fox arms on there. I'm just using a couple gr8 5/8" washers for the spacer under the castle nut on the ball joint to make up the difference in thickness. This is the 3rd Fox car I've installed the SN-95 stuff on the Fox balljoints. No issues. I'm also using some 99 GT struts. They are longer than what was on there, but I did a quick check and when I compressed the suspension, I still had 2-1/2"-3" of travel in the strut BEFORE it hit the bump stop.....so that's plenty. I've run this set-up on a lowered Fox as well and never bottomed it out. If you have the SN-95 struts, compress them off the car with the dust covers on and take a quick meaurement. Then install them in the car and compress the suspension with the jack out towards the end of the arm until the car lifts off your stands....that will give you an idea of what kind of travel you'll have at ride height.

I know with the SN-95 spindles the track widens a bit and the outer tie rod mounting points are spread out a bit as well. I've got plenty of tie rod to work with on the Z-7, so I won't need to swap to the SN-95 stuff.

You might want to triple-check the width of the SN-95 suspension and compare it to your wagon. The only issue I would see with using the whole thing is that it might be too wide for the car.

[lightning95sc]

I figured the width of the entire setup would be my achilles heel. But if I can use the struts I'd be satisfied. They're new. How many washers did you have to use or is trial and error? Thanks for your expertise. Chuck

[lightning95sc]

I figured the width of the entire setup would be my achilles heel. But if I can use the struts I'd be satisfied. They're new. How many washers did you have to use or is trial and error? Thanks for your expertise. Chuck

[Chuck W]

How many washers did you have to use or is trial and error? Thanks for your expertise. Chuck

Under the castle nut? I use 2 gr8 5/8" SAE f/w's (the yellow ones). They give plenty of height to allow the cotter pin to engage. Don't use gr2 or gr5 washers for this. I've actually used washers for 2 of the swaps and made spacers for the other.
Another option would be to swap the later ball joints in the Fox arms.

[Chuck W]

How many washers did you have to use or is trial and error? Thanks for your expertise. Chuck

Under the castle nut? I use 2 gr8 5/8" SAE f/w's (the yellow ones). They give plenty of height to allow the cotter pin to engage. Don't use gr2 or gr5 washers for this. I've actually used washers for 2 of the swaps and made spacers for the other.
Another option would be to swap the later ball joints in the Fox arms.

[lightning95sc]

Swapping to the later ball joints was my original thought, but I'll keep the spacers in mind when I do the Granada coupe, since the suspension was freshly rebuilt when we did the Cleveland swap a few years ago. Thanks. Chuck

[lightning95sc]

Swapping to the later ball joints was my original thought, but I'll keep the spacers in mind when I do the Granada coupe, since the suspension was freshly rebuilt when we did the Cleveland swap a few years ago. Thanks. Chuck