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How To Install Four-Wheel Disc Brakes On A Fox 5.0Transform Fox Braking With Ford Racing's All-Inclusive Four-Wheel Disc-Brake Kit From the August, 2008 issue of Mustang Monthly By Miles Cook Photography by Miles Cook
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Fox-body Mustangs were never known for good brakes, and what was mediocre in the '80s is nearly unacceptable today. To get better brakes for your stock disc/drum Fox 5.0, you could cobble together some junkyard stuff, assemble a few aftermarket upgrades, or go to your Mustang's original-equipment manufacturer and source a single kit, full of Blue Oval-spec parts and pieces to transform your Mustang's braking system the way Dearborn engineers did for the ultimate Fox: the '93 Cobra R. Ford Racing Performance Parts' brake kit (PN M-2300-K) isn't new, having been available since the division was still called Ford Motorsport. The kit is fairly well known among Mustang club racers. The Ford Racing Cobra brake... The Ford Racing Cobra brake kit (PN M-2300-K) for Fox Mustangs is one of the most complete we've ever seen. You can see the major pieces here, including the 13-inch slip-on front rotors, the front bearing hubs, new rear axle shafts, rear rotors, calipers, backing plates, parking-brake cables (two kinds to cover '87-'93), and more. Not shown are all hardware, fittings, and other sundry items needed to complete the job. No further purchases were necessary. This kit is one of the most complete we've ever seen; everything needed to convert a stock four-lug 11-inch disc/9-inch drum Mustang to a five-lug four-wheel-disc system is included. It features 13-inch rotors in front squeezed by aluminum twin-piston PBR calipers and 11-inch rotors out back with Ford's own single-piston calipers. And you get everything here-not only the aforementioned rotors and calipers, but also the requisite front spindles and bearing hubs, rear axle shafts, flex hoses, hard lines, parking-brake cables, the master cylinder, the power booster, proportioning valves, and every nut, bolt, fitting, and clip to make it all work just like the factory. It's also accompanied by an excellent set of instructions. This kit may seem pricey at first-$2,300 isn't chump change. But once you see what's included and what you'll have when it's installed, the price seems like a bargain. We got our system from YearOne, which may come as a surprise to those who consider this outfit only as a classic restoration parts outlet. YearOne is a Ford Racing dealer and carries many parts-performance and resto-for Fox-era Mustangs. As for the installation, despite the fact that the entire braking system is being replaced, it really isn't that difficult. We did nearly the whole thing in one day, though that was in a professional shop with two experienced mechanics turning the wrenches. Ken Wessel and Rich Bellmund are the techs for Jimmy's Car Care in Lagrangeville, New York, and agreed to tackle our install on a Sunday (thanks to boss Jimmy Filardi for keeping the bays open). The job was done with fairly basic tools, and without having to maim our subject '93 LX coupe. In fact, only about three permanent modifications are required by the instructions, and we managed to reduce that to one: a parking-brake lever alteration. Call us pansies, but years of trying to return early Mustangs to their original form makes us reluctant to permanently change the newer ones. Who knows-someday we might want to put it back the way it was. Actually, after sampling the new braking capability, changing it back is unlikely. Follow along as we illustrate what's involved; you could probably do this in a weekend in your garage without a lift.  Our subject car is a '93 LX...  Our subject car is a '93 LX coupe that still had its stock 11-inch front discs and 9-inch rear drums, as well as the factory 16-inch Pony wheels. Going to the new brakes required new wheels and tires, since we'd be switching to 17-inch rollers to clear the big front brakes, and also because we'd be going from four-lug to five. As you can see in the lead photo, we opted to stay with our all-Ford theme and chose Ford Racing '95 Cobra R 17x9-inch wheels, wrapped in Toyo Proxes T1-R tires in a 245/45ZR17 size, the factory-spec size for most '94-'04 V-8-powered Mustangs.  The stock front brakes are...  The stock front brakes are puny and represent an upgrade made for the '87 models over the '86-and-earlier 10-inch discs. Ken Wessel of Jimmy's Car Care begins by removing the stock caliper. We hoped we could remove the spindle with everything attached to save time, but clearance required us to take off the old stuff piecemeal.  The tie-rod has to be disconnected,...  The tie-rod has to be disconnected, but it will be retained unless it's worn out, so treat it nicely to avoid damage. Ken removes the cotter pin and nut, then strikes the side of the steering knuckle with a hammer to jar the taper-fit tie-rod end loose. Using a pickle fork would likely destroy the grease boot.  Before the strut can be separated...  Before the strut can be separated from the spindle, the lower control arm must be supported to contain the coil spring. After removing the stock rotor and the two bolts fastening the strut, the cotter pin and nut holding the stock spindle to the ball joint are removed. Striking the side of the spindle closest to the ball joint should free it, again sparing the grease boot.  The new spindle is actually...  The new spindle is actually a '94 Mustang piece, which will mount a sealed-bearing hub instead of the stock Fox spindle's tapered inner and outer bearings. An included spacer must be placed on the ball-joint stud before the nut is installed. Note that the steering arm is in a slightly different location, which will require a toe adjustment later  The new hub comes with the...  The new hub comes with the sealed bearing installed. It slips over the spindle, fastening with a special nut that has to be torqued to 190-250 lb-ft. The new hub even came with antiseize compound on its face to prevent corrosion between the wheel flange. A new dust cap is also included.  The included stock-type backing...  The included stock-type backing plate is usually left off by racers, but we opted to install it since our car is mostly street driven. The kit includes the factory-style rivets to attach it, which require a large rivet tool as shown. As an alternative, the mounting holes could be tapped so the plate could be bolted on.  Now the rotor can be slipped...  Now the rotor can be slipped over the hub, followed by the new caliper. There are no fasteners for the rotor-it will be retained by the wheel. The caliper is shown mounted in its "cage," the piece that attaches to the spindle. The caliper bolts are torqued to 70-95 lb-ft.  Once the front brake hardware...  Once the front brake hardware is mounted, the plumbing can be addressed. The kit includes new flex hoses. On the driver side, the new piece mates to the factory hard line, but the passenger side requires an adapter fitting. The fitting is included, though the instructions advise to reposition the hose bracket by drilling two new holes in the unibody. Rich Bellmund, also of Jimmy's Car Care, felt he could avoid this by tweaking the bracket, thus making it look stock. He was right.  The flex hose is connected...  The flex hose is connected to the caliper with a banjo-type fitting. The kit includes the special fitting bolts and copper sealing washers (two per fitting); the fitting is torqued to 30-40 lb-ft.  The rear drums aren't befitting...  The rear drums aren't befitting a performance car. Not only are they small, but they also don't contribute much to overall braking, leaving the fronts to do most of the work. Rich begins the rear upgrade by removing the drums.  Before the stock rear brakes...  Before the stock rear brakes can be removed, the axleshafts have to be taken off. This requires opening the differential so the C-clip axle retainers can be taken out. After pulling the cover, the crosspin is loosened and slipped out, then the axleshafts are pushed inward so the clips can be removed. A magnet tool can grab the C-clips.  With the C-clips detached,...  With the C-clips detached, the axleshafts slide right out. Then the drum brakes can be taken out as an assembly, rather than disassembling the individual brake parts. First, Rich disconnects the brake lines from the wheel cylinders, then removes the four nuts and bolts fastening the backing plate to the axle housing. The backing plate comes out with the shoes and springs intact.  To get the rear brakes completely...  To get the rear brakes completely off, the parking-brake cables must be disconnected. Once the backing plates are removed from the axle housing, the cable retainers are unbolted from the unibody, then the cable ends are removed from the balance bar that connects to the parking-brake lever. This is located in the transmission tunnel and is much easier to access with the driveshaft removed. After the cable ends are disconnected, the cable housing is detached from its mounting bracket by pressing a 13mm box-end wrench over the retaining fingers.  With the drum-brake assemblies...  With the drum-brake assemblies removed, the first step in installing the discs is to mount the new caliper brackets. These are specific for left and right, and are clearly marked. The kit's instructions say to reuse the same hardware that fastened the drum-brake backing plates. We also took this opportunity to install new axle bearings and seals.  Once the splash shields are...  Once the splash shields are mounted, the new axleshafts can be inserted into the housing. Carefully slide them in, avoiding contact with the axle seal and bearing; engage the splined ends with the differential and gently push the axle in until it bottoms out. Slide the C-clip retainers on the ends of the axleshafts, then pull each shaft out until the clip seats. The crosspin is then reinstalled and the differential cover sealed.  Before mounting the calipers,...  Before mounting the calipers, the antimoan caliper-brace brackets must be mounted. These are intended to quell the noise that can be generated by the rear brakes during slow, creeping braking, such as in traffic. These are also marked with left and right designations. The bracket is lined up with the caliper mounting flange and fastened with a U-bolt around the axle tube; the U-bolt should be left loose at this point.  The caliper can be mounted...  The caliper can be mounted after the new rotor is slipped over the axle flange. Ken opted to install the caliper slider bracket to the axle bracket first, leaving the caliper off. Once the caliper bracket is torqued to 70-95 lb-ft, the U-bolt from the previous step can be tightened to 40-45 lb-ft.  The new rear pads are positioned...  The new rear pads are positioned in the slider bracket, using the small metal shim tabs that come with them. The new caliper is slipped over the pads and into position on the bracket.  All the plumbing for the rear...  All the plumbing for the rear brakes will be replaced, starting with the flex hose from the chassis to the axle housing; it's all included in the kit. There are two additional flex hoses with the new rear discs, one at each caliper. Brackets for each have to be mounted to the shock mounting brackets on the axle housing  The kit includes two sets...  The kit includes two sets of parking-brake cables: one for '87-'92 and one for '93 models. Ken took the '93 cables and started by connecting the ends to the calipers with the included clips. The cables are then routed to the transmission tunnel the same way as the originals; they're mounted using the factory clamps. A new intermediate cable to connect the lever with the balance bar is included.  A new power brake booster...  A new power brake booster and master cylinder are included in the kit. The new cylinder uses a larger internal-bore diameter to move more fluid for the increased volume of the new twin-piston calipers up front and single-pistons out back in place of wheel cylinders. The bigger booster will generate more assist to move all those pistons quickly. Clearance to the strut tower is minimal. In fact, the instructions advise that '90-and-earlier Mustangs may require that the tower be "relieved" with some hammer blows to allow installation.  All '87-'93 5.0 Mustangs use...  All '87-'93 5.0 Mustangs use a master cylinder that has three lines rather than the usual two. The third line comes out of the bottom of the cylinder and goes to the left-front brake, bypassing the combination valve, which has a plug where the left-front brake line would normally connect. The new master cylinder resembles the original but has a larger-diameter bore and two outlets. The left-front brake line will have to be cut, rebent, and reflared with a different fitting (included) to connect to the new junction.  The original combination valve...  The original combination valve is replaced with a similar piece, though the new unit will have to be modified for use with the included adjustable proportioning valve. The plug on the end of the valve is removed and the spring and plunger are pulled out. The O-ring is transferred to the new plug, which is installed; it's critical to use the new plug because the old one will blow out without the plunger.  The new adjustable proportioning...  The new adjustable proportioning valve fits into the rear brake line in the engine bay along the firewall near the passenger-side hood hinge. There is a factory union fitting in this location that will allow the proportioning valve to be installed without any cutting or flaring. Simply remove the union and install the lines to the new valve, making sure the one coming from the driver side attaches to the port marked "in."  We wanted to use the Cobra...  We wanted to use the Cobra R wheels on our car, but their 9-inch width is tight. Ford Racing offered special versions for Fox Mustangs with this brake kit or similar Ford rear discs, which widen the rear track. The front wheels are standard '95 Cobra R (R58) with 5.98-inch backspacing while the special rears (M179) have 6.42 inches. Unfortunately, they have since been discontinued. Using a 17x8-inch SN-95 ('94-'04) factory-spec wheel with 5.72-inch backspacing would allow the same wheels on all four corners.
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