1994-98 stang struts

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1994-98 stang struts

November 19, 2015, 06:21:43 PM

I know this has been beat to death but...

My struts are shot in my 86. I was looking them up online and orileys lists the same length extended and bottomed out for the 94-98 shocks as the cougar birds. I know new struts are only $40.99 or so, but there is a mess of sn-95's at the local yards and they only charge $12.99 each. I've heard the work fine with slightly lowered suspension or sn95 springs.

I know there might need to be a spacer added or washers, but does anyone know if these will work okay with stock ride height? I have some sn-95 springs I could swap, but I know live in the middle or no where and dirt and unpaved roads are really common, along with big potholes ect. I don't exactly want to run brand new parts and thrash them.

I don't really want to deal with geometry and bump steer issues with dropped ride height, a good alignment costs half what I paid for the car.

1994-98 stang struts

Reply #1 – November 19, 2015, 06:39:15 PM

With same collapsed and extended length, they should be fine with stock ride height...

The width may be too narrow... Didn't Ford make spacing narrower to allow for rotor clearance when they went from 10" to 11" brakes??

1994-98 stang struts

Reply #2 – November 19, 2015, 07:19:11 PM

http://m.oreillyauto.com/mt/www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/KYB1/235060/03415.oap?year=1994&make=Ford&model=Mustang&vi=1134144&ck=Search_struts_C0077_1134144_2882&keyword=struts&pt=C0077&ppt=C0035

Shows 20" extended and 14" compressed, yet the Monroe brand shows 18" extended nd 12" compressed for the sn95 stuff.

Tbird strut monroe
http://m.oreillyauto.com/mt/www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/MONM/71716/03415.oap?year=1986&make=Ford&model=Thunderbird&vi=1140208&ck=Search_C0077_1140208_2882&pt=C0077&ppt=C0035

19 1/2" extended nd 14" compressed. But...

How can the stang shock be both an inch taller and an inch shorter then the third shock? In also not sure on the differences between 10" and 11" spindles, but I've heard you just need a spacer or some washers.

1994-98 stang struts

Reply #3 – November 20, 2015, 10:13:37 PM

Fox 5.0 and SN95 struts will not fit over the 10" brake spindles ... the strut mounting tab is thicker on those. You can put struts from a 10" brake car on the 11" or SN95 spindles using spacers or washers to take up the slack, but not the other way around.

cheers
Ed

1994-98 stang struts

Reply #4 – November 21, 2015, 01:48:02 AM

Ah, gotchya. Thanks alot. I have some 11" gt stuff, but I need new rotors and balljoints. Maybe I'll swap to the 11" brakes this spring. They passed me 4 years in a row so far with these struts. Well see tomorrow.

1994-98 stang struts

Reply #5 – November 24, 2015, 10:45:31 AM

Here we go. The 5.0 Fox struts and the SN95 struts have the same mounting dimensions with the exception being the difference in the lower mounting holes which are moved down on a SN95 strut compared to a Fox strut by about 1". You can measure this between a 5.0 Fox strut and a SN95 strut when compressed. The stroke of the struts are the same so the only difference in is the location of the lower mounting point. The reason for this is the SN95 spindle was made with the lower strut mounting holes 1" lower than the 5.0 Fox spindles so they adjusted to this by moving the mounting point down on the body of the strut.

With all of that said the SN95 struts work better on our cars, the SN95 Mustangs, or Fox Mustangs with the SN95 spindle conversion at stock ride height or with mild drop up to about 1" to 1-1/2". The 5.0 Fox struts work better on the before mentioned cars with a drop more than 1" to 1-1/2" due to the additional 1" of downward travel they have with the lower mounting point on the strut. This is all based on the geometry of the strut and spindle mount location, nothing more.

You cannot install a 5.0 Fox or SN95 strut on a 10" brake Fox spindle as the spindle is too wide where the strut attaches. You can mount a 10" brake Fox car strut to the 5.0 Fox or SN95 spindle by utilizing spacers.

You do not need to change ball joints to move between 10" brake Fox spindles, 11" brake Fox spindles, or SN95 spindles. The 10" to 11" is a straight swap but you will need approximately 0.330" worth of spacer per side stacked on top of the SN95 spindle if utilizing a Fox ball joint. This is so the castle nut engages where the cotter pin can be utilized as well as the ball joint can just simply run out of threads before the castle nut engages the spindle. Most folks simply swap to the SN95 ball joint (will fit the Fox control arm) when making the change to the SN95 spindle as the ball joint design is superior to the Fox design and you don't have to hassle with the spacers. I used my Fox ball joints for a few years on the Coupe as they were almost brand new when I swapped to the SN95 brakes.

Hope this helps.

Darren

1994-98 stang struts

Reply #6 – November 24, 2015, 01:44:29 PM

Thanks Darren.

Taking the car in for saftey today to see if they will opas my blown front struts for the 5th year in a row, if not, it may be cheaper for me to do a 11" upgrade as I already have most of the parts but wheel bearings and chance some sn-95 struts.

1994-98 stang struts

Reply #7 – November 26, 2015, 12:31:38 PM

I used to use take-off SN-95 struts on a couple of my cars back when I was at KB. Kind of had them all over the place.

As mentioned, the only hitch is they will only work with the narrower spindle attachment.