My '85 LTD LX currently has '95 Cobra front brakes and SVO/Mark VII rear brakes, including the longer axle shafts (1.25" longer per side than std Fox width). Overall I'm very happy with the braking performance of the car (including parking brake), but the wide axle plus limited wheel well openings on the LTD mean my wheel/tire selection is very limited. I'm currently running 17x9 +45 wheels (practically a FWD car fitment) with 245/45/17 tires, and they barely fit, even with the rear fender lips and inner quarter panel "massaged" for more clearance. I plan to bolt a supercharger onto my car in the near future, which means I need more rubber under the rear end to get power on the ground. Ideally I'd run a 275/40 or something similar.
So I'm looking into what my options are to keep rear discs but narrow the rear track width. Here's what I've come up with, along with pros and cons. All three would end up with similar sized rear rotors.
SN95 Cobra rear axles/brakes:
Pros:
-.50" narrower per side than my current setup
-Good parts availability
-Can use OE components that aren't modified or custom
-Wheel spacers are easier to find for the '94+ hub bore size
-Lighter calipers than SVO
Cons:
-.75" per side wider than Fox
-Parking brake cable options are mostly unknown for my car since it uses a foot operated brake and has a different wheelbase than Mustang. I've heard talk of '90s Taurus cables working since they basically use the same calipers as the Mustang, but it'd take some trial and error.
-Unknown braking performance, meaning I may have to alter other parts of my setup (including master cylinder).
SN95 Cobra rear brakes with Fox length axles:
Pros:
-1.25" narrower per side than my current setup
-Good parts availability
-Wheel spacers are easier to find for the '94+ hub bore size
-Lighter calipers than SVO
Cons:
-Will require either modification (cutting) of stock caliper brackets which make them weaker, or pricey North Racecar brackets
-Parking brake cable options are mostly unknown for my car since it uses a foot operated brake and has a different wheelbase than Mustang. I've heard talk of '90s Taurus cables working since they basically use the same calipers as the Mustang, but it'd take some trial and error.
-Unknown braking performance, meaning I may have to alter other parts of my setup (including master cylinder).
SVO/Mark VII rear brakes with Fox length axles (using the "flip" trick that changes the orientation of the caliper bracket):
Pros:
-1.25" narrower per side than my current setup
-Known braking performance that I'm happy with
-I already have all needed parts except the axle shafts
Cons:
-Must permanently modify (grind/weld) stock components
-Parking brake options are unknown because the parking brake bracket on the caliper will interfere with the lower control arm mount. I've read posts about people being able to modify this, but they're old threads with no photos so I don't know the solution.
-Older style heavier components
-Parts availability not great - Hawk doesn't make rear pads for these brakes, but thankfully Porterfield does.
Am I missing any obvious options?
I'm inclined to stick with the SVO/Mark VII set up since it's a known quantity and I already have all of the needed parts except the axles, but I realize it's an older setup which isn't supported as well as the SN95, and it'd be nice to have all of my brake parts at each corner come from the same donor. The parking brake cable is an unknown with all of these options, but at least I'm already familiar with how it works on the SVO setup.
Any advice or thoughts?
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