5 Lug and disc brake upgrade question

[superhighoutput]

I have an 84 and I want to upgrade to 5 lug and 4 wheel discs.

a local guy has a wrecked 94 cobra and he says all the front end is there
I can have all for a reasonable offer.
I figured I could use the cobra lower control arms and spindles & brake components and then get a 5 lug 8.8 later to do the rear .but I wanted to know what it was worth ?
He also has the cobra transmission is this something I should pick up? ,if yes what is a fair price to offer for all items?
thanks

[JamesD]

You do not need the front control arms. If you use them it will widen your track width of the car. Grab the everything else including the proportioning valve. The Cobra transmission has a longer input shaft and it will set the shifter back in your car. It will bolt up but you may have to shorten the driveshaft. Grab the 8.8 axle as well.

James

[RichV]

You DO want the control arms. Your front wheels will be set in like 2-3". You don't need them but here's a pic of before/after I did the control arm swap with SVO spindles, rotors, and 16x7 Ronal wheels.

http://www.coloradostangs.net/up/files/6/controlarms.jpg

It's the wheel offset that does that, but 5 lug wheels with a fox offset only exist in the Saleen version. The 87-93 Saleen wheels have a front offset of a stock Fox control arm and the rear offset of a disk brake rear. I tried a set on my racecar after the longer control arms and the front wheels were WAY out. With the SN95 front control arms you will be able to use SN95 wheel offset.

[kj_80Cobra]

Front wheel track width is affected by several things. Year of k-member, control arm length, and wheel offset. The entire combination is what you need to worry about for a good suspension setup.

[JamesD]

You DO want the control arms. Your front wheels will be set in like 2-3". You don't need them but here's a pic of before/after I did the control arm swap with SVO spindles, rotors, and 16x7 Ronal wheels.

http://www.coloradostangs.net/up/files/6/controlarms.jpg

It's the wheel offset that does that, but 5 lug wheels with a fox offset only exist in the Saleen version. The 87-93 Saleen wheels have a front offset of a stock Fox control arm and the rear offset of a disk brake rear. I tried a set on my racecar after the longer control arms and the front wheels were WAY out. With the SN95 front control arms you will be able to use SN95 wheel offset.

SVO spindles are different from the SN95 spindles. If he chooses to use the SN95 control arms with the SN95 spindles, it will widen the front track width more than yours. He does not want them for the street. I have the 94-95 SN95 spindles on my 90. I'm running the stock control arms with a 17x9 94-98 GT/Cobra rim with no fender rubbing issues. The only issue is at full turn it rubs the inside fender liner.

If he runs the rear SN95 axles on his fox, he is very limited is wheel choice. I had a 17x8 99 Cobra rim with 245/45/17 tire on the back with those axles. At full articulation it did not rub the wheel lip. I just barely made it. If I were to run a 275 tire it would rub. I went back to the stock Fox/Ranger length axle and used North Cobra brackets and it solved my problems. I'm now running a 275/40 tire in the back with a 17x9 in tire and I have room to spare. It just barely rubs on the quad shock and it misses the tail pipes. The worst scenario is that I flip the quad shocks.

James

[JamesD]

Front wheel track width is affected by several things. Year of k-member, control arm length, and wheel offset. The entire combination is what you need to worry about for a good suspension setup.

You are correct but the most of the track width is what control arms you use and what spindles. Then you determine wheel fitment, at least that is what I did and it worked out perfectly.

James

[Red_85GT]

I continue to use the OEM 85 GT lower control arms with 1995 SN95 front spindles. I am running 17x8 wheels and 245/45/17 tires. This combo worked out nice. I also replaced the lower control arm bushings with the delrin global west bushing kit (ford racing) They also made a really nice improvement.

[qtrracer]

Front wheel track width is affected by several things. Year of k-member, control arm length, and wheel offset. The entire combination is what you need to worry about for a good suspension setup.

There is some wisdom here. The 84 K-member A-arm pick-up points are 1" narrower than the 87+ V8 Ks. With the 94/95 sn95 spindle on the 84 K using stock A-arms, some have experinaced loss of camber setting - top of tire out too far due to the narrower K. By using the 94+ A-arm, you gain the camber back and then some without too much loss of fender clearance due to the nartrower K. One can generally run 8" wheels and some 9" with this set-up. Mathis did a similar thing by using T-bird A-arms. You gain ackerman with the 94 spindle and better geometry with the 94 A-Arm. BUT, you will probably need to go with a bump-steer kit (MM makes one specifically for use on this conversion) because the stock 84 tie-rod end will too short for safety after adjusting it out with the longer 94 A-arms. If the car was not hit or otherwise damaged in the front, I'd get the entire front suspension (excluding the K) - get the struts too - off the 94 Cobra and run it. Guys have paid between $200 and $400 for similar set-ups depending on cobra or not, new or not, etc. Good luck

[JamesD]

There is some wisdom here. The 84 K-member A-arm pick-up points are 1" narrower than the 87+ V8 Ks. With the 94/95 sn95 spindle on the 84 K using stock A-arms, some have experinaced loss of camber setting - top of tire out too far due to the narrower K. By using the 94+ A-arm, you gain the camber back and then some without too much loss of fender clearance due to the nartrower K. One can generally run 8" wheels and some 9" with this set-up. Mathis did a similar thing by using T-bird A-arms. You gain ackerman with the 94 spindle and better geometry with the 94 A-Arm. BUT, you will probably need to go with a bump-steer kit (MM makes one specifically for use on this conversion) because the stock 84 tie-rod end will too short for safety after adjusting it out with the longer 94 A-arms. If the car was not hit or otherwise damaged in the front, I'd get the entire front suspension (excluding the K) - get the struts too - off the 94 Cobra and run it. Guys have paid between $200 and $400 for similar set-ups depending on cobra or not, new or not, etc. Good luck

My buddy is running the 94-95 spindles on his 79 and he had no issues with camber settings. Is it just for 84?

James