Which Spindles To use for brake swap??

May 16, 2010, 06:30:25 PM

Im putting in a tubular k-member in my bird and upgrading the brakes to newer spindle 94-95 or 99-04. Im just curious on what lower control arms to use,tie rod ends, ect. I need to know so it all lines up when putting together. Any info would be fantastic.

Which Spindles To use for brake swap??

Reply #1 – May 16, 2010, 06:54:10 PM

You'll want 95-95 spindles....the newer ones have the tie rod placed too low, creating bump steer. Avoid those, unless you're really really lowering the car, even then, it may be too much...

Some guys are using SN95 arms.
There's an issue with tie rod ends being metric vs standard, I'm not in the know about that yet, so someone else can chime in.

Which Spindles To use for brake swap??

Reply #2 – May 17, 2010, 08:07:14 AM

It depends on the configuration of the K-member on what lower control arms you would want to use.

Measure what one you are using (or are going to use) and compare to some of the info compiled in this thread

Which Spindles To use for brake swap??

Reply #3 – May 20, 2010, 12:20:37 PM

The Griggs K-memeber I put on my 83 T-Bird uses the 96+ spindle configuration. I have always heard that you use the 94-95 spindles with stock K-Members and the 96+ spindles with aftermarket K-members but this applies to my experiences with Fox Mustangs. I would contact the K-member manufacturer and see what they recommend.

If the K-member is specific to the 87-88 T-Birds I would think you would use the SN-95 control arm. I used a Fox lower control arm on my car as that is what they came with from the factory. I tried the SN-95's by mistake and the tires were way too far out board. They shipped the wrong lowers but they exchanged them out at no cost to me.

What I found with the tie rods is that the Fox cars have standard threads and the SN-95 cars have metric threads, again this is dealing with the Mustangs. Both the Fox and SN-95 inner tie rods have the same thread where they attach to the rack and pinion. Also, the SN-95 inner tie rods are quite a bit longer than the Fox inners.

What a lot of guys do is install a SN-95 rack, use the Fox inner tie rods, and the Fox specific bump steer kits. The reason to change over to the Fox inners and outers is due to the longer SN-95 assembly and not being able to toe the car in enough to meet spec. This also requires the Maximum Motorsports hybrid steering shaft as the SN-95 rack is not splined like the Fox racks rather they have a triangular shape. The whole reason with going to the SN-95 rack is the availability and they are valved a bit different so you don't get that over boosted feel like the Fox racks. I have done this to both my Mustang and the T-Bird. Was it necessary? No. Did I notice a difference? Yes. To me it was worth the cost and effort but to each is their own.

Again, this is all from my own experience on my cars.

Darren