Interchangeable struts? January 07, 2005, 01:45:34 AM Are struts all the same from 80-88 on non-turbo fox bodies? I can't seem to find the exact struts I need on eBay, but I found several that apply to earlier models, I.E. 1986. Quote Selected
Re: Interchangeable struts? Reply #1 – January 07, 2005, 09:03:46 AM Generally, yes, they all will interchange. Ford revised the 'sweet spot' in 1987 for a little more length (to correlate to the new revised A-arms and spring rates). But you can use any strut in any car with no real ill effects. Quote Selected
Re: Interchangeable struts? Reply #2 – January 07, 2005, 03:40:20 PM 1987-1988 TBird and Cougar struts are longer. The control arms are longer, so the struts need to be longer. If you put on a strut that is too short, it will knock your alignment out of whack and you will NOT be able to get it aligned properly. I put new struts in my car last year and I had no problem finding the proper size. Try a parts store that is local to you. Quote Selected
Re: Interchangeable struts? Reply #3 – January 07, 2005, 08:15:22 PM Quote from: 88lx50Try a parts store that is local to you.I know I can get what I need at a parts store, but I'm trying to go the ebay route and pay half of what the parts stores charge. I guess I'll have to wait around until I find some that are 87-88 specific. Quote Selected
Re: Interchangeable struts? Reply #4 – January 07, 2005, 09:15:08 PM Quote1987-1988 TBird and Cougar struts are longer. The control arms are longer, so the struts need to be longer. If you put on a strut that is too short, it will knock your alignment out of whack and you will NOT be able to get it aligned properly. What?!? Stop and think about that statement for a sec....The extended length of the strut has nothing to do with the alignment. It has to do with amount of possible travel, but the alignment could care less. Think about it, you are connecting two points, the upper strut mount and the spindle...it will only fit one way, and all struts are the same height at ride height......they're not fixed rods.You should have no problem finding struts. If you do, look at 94-04 Mustang ones as well. They have the same mounting points and have the longer travel. If your car is lowered a bit, you can make use of 87-93 Mustang struts as well. That being said, I have use both Fox Mustang struts on lowered and std ride height Tbirds as well as the longer SN-95 ones on lowered and std height Tbirds....no problems/issues either way... Quote Selected
Re: Interchangeable struts? Reply #5 – January 08, 2005, 03:28:53 PM Quote from: Chuck W If your car is lowered a bit, you can make use of 87-93 Mustang struts as well. If all struts were the same length, then why would the car being lowered make a difference with a Mustang strut?If you were to lay a Mustang strut next to a 87-88 Tbird strut, would the length of them be the same? Quote Selected
Re: Interchangeable struts? Reply #6 – January 08, 2005, 04:27:17 PM Reread my post..the length of the strut has to do with the amount of available suspension travel. It has NOTHING to do with any difference between the mounting points. Again, all struts are the same length at ride height on a given car. It's the amount of travel on either side of that height that is affected by the free and compressed length of the strut.The reason for the use of Fox Mustang struts on a lowered Tbird is just that there is less travel in those struts and the "sweet spot" of the travel is a bit lower. This will make no difference to most folks however. For all but the most aggressive drivers, the std Tbird struts, or those form an 94-04 Mustang will work fine on a lowered car. I ran a set of 98 Cobra struts on my 84 Cougar (daily driven at the time) which was lowered for a couple years. Never had any weird issues and never had the struts bottom out (running C-kit springs up front). Quote Selected
Re: Interchangeable struts? Reply #7 – January 08, 2005, 06:17:36 PM Just make sure the lower mounting bracket is in the same place, the Mark VIIs bracket is higher on the strut, don't know if any Mustangs are that way or not. Quote Selected
Re: Interchangeable struts? Reply #8 – January 09, 2005, 11:22:24 AM Quote from: cougarmanJust make sure the lower mounting bracket is in the same place, the Mark VIIs bracket is higher on the strut, don't know if any Mustangs are that way or not. Again, that has more to do with extra suspension travel. If it extends lower you have more travel under compression... Quote Selected
Re: Interchangeable struts? Reply #9 – January 09, 2005, 03:02:06 PM When I did a side by side of the Koni 83-86 strut and the Koni and Gabriel 87-88 strut, they are different. Where the bolts go through the strut - two different measurements as far as width goes.Chris Quote Selected
Re: Interchangeable struts? Reply #10 – January 09, 2005, 03:55:12 PM I'm hearing this both ways, does anyone have a definitive answer? Could get a picture of the two different struts next to each other? I'd hate to buy a pair and find out that I can use them. Quote Selected
Re: Interchangeable struts? Reply #11 – January 09, 2005, 05:29:46 PM Quote from: Chris1987LXWhen I did a side by side of the Koni 83-86 strut and the Koni and Gabriel 87-88 strut, they are different. Where the bolts go through the strut - two different measurements as far as width goes.ChrisWell, yeah...tha's how all Fox struts are. 10" brakes ...wider at the spindle, 87+ narrower, but you can use the wider ones on the narrow with spacers.If you are using the 11" brakes on the front, then any of the 87+ spindles will be fine. If if you have the 10" brakes you will need the 79-86 Fox struts....pretty simple. Quote Selected
Re: Interchangeable struts? Reply #12 – February 01, 2005, 01:24:47 AM So that means you can't use '87 - '93 Mustang struts and shocks on a '83-'86 T-bird unless you have the '87-up spindles? correct.Having the same problem want to buy Koni adjustible but they don't list for Thunderbird and don't know if the mustang one will work or not. Quote Selected
Re: Interchangeable struts? Reply #13 – February 01, 2005, 07:17:24 AM Yes. Or you can also use 79-86 Mustang Konis, which will bolt on. They don't list 2 part numbers because they use the same p/n. Quote Selected
Re: Interchangeable struts? Reply #14 – February 13, 2005, 08:45:07 PM Just FYI, Koni and KYB do not make adjustable struts for '79-'86 Mustangs. Thous you cannot use them on a 10" front brake T-Bird, You have to upgrade to the 11" front brakes to use the exspesive struts. Also a question about rear shocks, can you use mustang rear shocks? Or is there a differance that prevents you from using them. Quote Selected
Topic: Interchangeable struts? (Read 6523 times)
previous topic - next topic
