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Topic: 5-Lug finally done right. (Read 9628 times) previous topic - next topic

5-Lug finally done right.

I'm 39 years old; Why has it taken til now to figure out that if I'm not going to do things right, I should just not do them?
A few years back, I cheaped out and 5-lugged my car, SN-95 axles, drilled the drums, got Ranger rotors, wheel bearings and caps, tried to find axles seals and called it good.  I had all sorts of problems, like having to machine pad clearance around the hat of the rotor, and try to match up an axle seal that never sealed the axle, or stayed put in the axle tube.  The brakes pulled slightly left, and the drums ALWAYS had free gear oil in them.  If that weren't enough, I transplanted a 7.5" 3.73 R&P and generally did it poorly, so that the pinion noise was unbearable, and not really wanting to go back in there and face it, I just ran it.



So lets do it right. 
8.8" 3.27 LSD, 2003 Mustang GT axle, stock brakes, pretty calipers and adapting the hoses and brake line block.



Ghetto as shag, but very secure.



Bubble flare  :frown:



Made a hole to mount the block




An inviting home



See Ya




Hello (SN-95)




Master and Prop valve  (93 Cobra and aftermarket Disc/Disc prop valve)




Only needed to oblong 1 hole (and mash the strut tower a little)





New hotness




Swapped SN-95 inner and outer tie rod ends, installed Steeda X2 balljoints and spring spacers, installed SN-95 spindles, and put my 18 tooth speedo gear back in.  The 23 tooth gear I took out looked like hell, just like they talk about, it was torn the shag up.
Ignore the coilovers, they didn't stay




Reset alignment, and set in the new brakes. 
They're the shiznit
(bonus: no gear oil smell, no diff noise, and the speedo was accurate again)




Re: 5-Lug finally done right.

Reply #1 –
That was a lot of work! Nice job and enjoy the nice brakes.
Mike

Re: 5-Lug finally done right.

Reply #3 –
I dig it!  Hoping to re-do my front end over the fall/winter this year ... we'll see what type of motivation I have when the time come though.  Nice job.

Re: 5-Lug finally done right.

Reply #4 –
Did you have any issues with getting your toe set? I had to shorten the SN95 inner tie rod end as the outers were bottomed out and I was still toed out.
It's Gumby's fault.

Re: 5-Lug finally done right.

Reply #5 –
Quote from: Tbird232ci – on
Did you have any issues with getting your toe set? I had to shorten the SN95 inner tie rod end as the outers were bottomed out and I was still toed out.
I did not.  I think it's due to the 99-04 knuckle moving the steering arm out further.  What I did experience on the alignment rack, was a loss of over 1.5 degrees positive caster.  Where before I was able to set +4.5 with the CC plates, now I max out at +3 and I lost some range in the realm of negative camber, though I was still able to set at -1.0.
Additionally, I had to roll my rear quarter panels. the 2003 axle I used was .5" wider overall. 
(Background info: I have 1" spacers in the rear, and .3 in the front that I can't get rid of, because the center bore on my Fusion wheels is too small.)
Once I get some proper Mustang wheels in the neighborhood of +30 offset, my rubbing issues in front and rear should go away.

Re: 5-Lug finally done right.

Reply #6 –
If it came down to it, you could get some axles from a '95-'98 car and take out some of that extraneous length. But you know this, I'm sure :)
'98 Explorer 5.0
'20 Malibu (I know, Chevy, but, 35MPG. Let's go brandon, eh)

Re: 5-Lug finally done right.

Reply #7 –
Quote from: Beau – on
If it came down to it, you could get some axles from a '95-'98 car and take out some of that extraneous length. But you know this, I'm sure :)
I could, but wheels is better, because they'd be prettier than steel, lighter than steel, and spacers suck.

Re: 5-Lug finally done right.

Reply #8 –
Quote from: TheFoeYouKnow – on
I did not.  I think it's due to the 99-04 knuckle moving the steering arm out further.  What I did experience on the alignment rack, was a loss of over 1.5 degrees positive caster.  Where before I was able to set +4.5 with the CC plates, now I max out at +3 and I lost some range in the realm of negative camber, though I was still able to set at -1.0.
Additionally, I had to roll my rear quarter panels. the 2003 axle I used was .5" wider overall. 
(Background info: I have 1" spacers in the rear, and .3 in the front that I can't get rid of, because the center bore on my Fusion wheels is too small.)
Once I get some proper Mustang wheels in the neighborhood of +30 offset, my rubbing issues in front and rear should go away.

That may be the case. I used 94-95 spindles, which still move the steering arm out a small degree. I ended up cutting an inch off of the inner to make sure I had plenty of room whatever wonky alignment I may want in the future.

Do you have your camber plates in the "negative" orientation. Years ago, I put my MM plates on my V8 swapped car. I ended up having to slot the strut tower to get negative camber with the fox mustang control arms I used. I kept the plates when I parted the car out. I put them on this car, while sitting in the waiting room while getting my tires and alignment done, it hit me that I didn't have the plates oriented in the "negative" position. The guy aligning it had to flip one of the plates to get the negative camber I wanted. I didn't want much this go-around.

Quote from: Beau – on
If it came down to it, you could get some axles from a '95-'98 car and take out some of that extraneous length. But you know this, I'm sure :)

Unfortunately, with the 99-04 rear, he's stuck with the 99-04 axle shafts. The housing itself is wider by about 3/4". I pulled the brakes off of a New Edge my buddy parted out, and they all had the 94 part number. They were able to work with the longer axle shafts because the width of the housing was longer to match the added length.

If I would be satisfied with stock Mustang wheels, and didn't already have an 8.8 in the car, I would have considered a New Edge setup to fill out the wheel wells a little better. 
It's Gumby's fault.

Re: 5-Lug finally done right.

Reply #9 –
My plates are in positive orientation, so I am aware that there's more Camber on the table, but I had everything I needed in this configuration before the job. I may swap them; it's nice having access to an alignment rack any and every day of the week.

Re: 5-Lug finally done right.

Reply #10 –
Good catch....I forgot the '99 housing was wider too. Been awhile since I did any rear end work...

Wait...what did I just say... :P
'98 Explorer 5.0
'20 Malibu (I know, Chevy, but, 35MPG. Let's go brandon, eh)

Re: 5-Lug finally done right.

Reply #12 –
Well, I've never blown up a rear end on any vehicle, can't say the same for girlfriends and wives past..

Keepin' an eye on preload....and...using good gear lube...helps to lengthen...the life....of those rears...

Err, umm, yeah. Where were we, now...
'98 Explorer 5.0
'20 Malibu (I know, Chevy, but, 35MPG. Let's go brandon, eh)

Re: 5-Lug finally done right.

Reply #13 –
Nice work!!! I have had to do a few jobs twice as well. Not fun.  I have thought about going 5 lug, but I'm pretty happy with my current setup for now.
'88 Sport--T-5,MGW shifter,Trick Flow R intake,Ed Curtis cam,Trick Flow heads,Scorpion rockers,75mm Accufab t-body,3G,mini starter,Taurus fan,BBK long tube headers,O/R H-Pipe, Flowamaster Super 44's, deep and deeper Cobra R wheels, Mass Air and 24's,8.8 with 3.73's,140 mph speedo,Mach 1 chin spoiler,SN-95 springs,CHE control arms,aluminum drive shaft and a lot more..

Re: 5-Lug finally done right.

Reply #14 –
I rolled the rear fenders and lessened my rubbing problem back there, and I flipped the CC plates to negative and settled on -1.25 for camber, which almost completely eliminated my front rubbing.
Research: the Fusion wheels I'm using are 17x7.5 with +44 offset. Bullitt wheels are 17x8 with +30 offset. Having correct center bore Let's me eliminate the rear spacers and solve my rear rubbing properly and permanently (with a net recess of 6. 5mm over 7.5 wide 44 offset wheels with 26mm spacers) , but actually sets me out around 1mm further in front (44 offset minus 8mm spacers for 36 effective offset, the Bullitt wheel is 30mm offset, plus 6.5mm additional width per side of the wheel) , which may make things worse in that regard. Somebody check my math. It might be time for me to face the fact that I'm just too low.