[Zephyr]

Does it make sense to upgrade your brakes and keep the T-Bird bolt pattern? Or is it only recommended to go to with the SN-95 (mustang) bolt and brake change?

I'm planning on getting wheels for my bird using our stock pattern, yet still want to upgrade brakes in the future. would the TBird Sport brakes be an option in that case instead of the mustang ones, or are there other options available?

 

[GreenBird]

There are...

kits from KVR. If you want brakes bigger than KVR offers, you'll have to go to the mustang pattern.

 

[Sir William]

Guys, it's NOT very expensive to have rotors redrilled to our bolt pattern. Most decent machine shops can do it for like $15 each. If you have to go to different rotors, just have them redrilled.

 

[Zephyr]

Guys, it's NOT very expensive to have rotors redrilled to our bolt pattern. Most decent machine shops can do it for like $15 each. If you have to go to different rotors, just have them redrilled.

Hmm....so that way I get to keep my wheels, and get the mustang (13"?) brakes. I've heard about all this redrilling business, but I'm still taking baby steps in learning about my car.

How exactly does redrilling work, especially since we have a smaller pattern? It seems to me it might weaken the rotor or something.

Stupid ford for giving birds this oddball pattern, what's the point? FYI - to get the wheels i want, I have to wait an extra month because they have to specially order it from the factory cause of the pattern. I mean, i'm willing to wait, the car isn't going anywhere and I like the wheels but it's an obvious annoyance. The guy i called wouldn't even let me place a definite order yesterday, i have to call him back today to confirm because they're afraid i might try to bail on the order leaving them with wheels only good for a mn12.

 

[BR1]

okay. here goes. i have the cobra 13" setup on my 96 cougar. kvr drills the cobra 13" rotors to our pattern. does it weaken it: no. i bought brand new PBR's with the "Cobra" lettering on them, a set of cadmium plated crossdrilled rotors, and all the shipping it came to about $530. KVR's prices are much better with a member number. as far as redrilling rotors goes.....i could not find a machine shop in my area that would do it. buy from KVR, the drill them for like $20 each, and i trust them a lot more than any local machine shop. only problem with the 13" rotor setup is you need 17" wheels. you can also get the PBR calipers that come on the mustangs that are "better" than our stock setup. i think those are 11.75 inch or something close to that. they are dual piston, our stocks are single piston. you do not need to convert to the mustang hubs. buy your wheels. if they are 17" wheels, consider the cobra setup. i love mine, and the increased stopping power is worth the money. if your wheels are 16", then the mustang dual piston would be best. the brackets for either will bolt to your spindles as long as you are 94+.

 

[Sir William]

The changeover for the spindles is 92+ BTW. Anything later than 92 will accept the brackets.

As for why we have different bolt pattern, when the MN12 platform came out, it was one of the only rear wheel drive cars out there with a wheel offset that was more like a front wheel drive. If you were to take say a wheel that would fit a 5 bolt Mustang or a Ranger or something, the offset would be WAAAY off which could fail suspension components and/or be down right dangerous. So to prevent that, they shrunk our bolt pattern by 1/4".

Also, if you redrill a rotor, you simply add another set of holes between the current holes so if you turned the rotor 36 degrees, it would fit a Mustang bolt pattern. Simple enough?

 

[WolfgangNC]

okay guys what about the spare...

...I'm not pay huge amounts of $$$ to put runflats on my 17X8.5's.....I'm actually thinking about doing a GT brake setup and then have the rotors drilled; because I know of no one that makes spares to fit over 13" rotors with our bolt pattern. Any ideas.

Secondly, if I do the GT (or Cobra) setup is there alot of fabricating I'm going to have to do?

Thanks

 

[Rudd_95_LX]

BR1 - please help

Well.... I'm sorry. I'm really a bit of a newbie when it comes to brakes... I desperately want to upgrade my brakes too. I thought about just upgrading to the sport package... but if I'm gonna spend the money I might as well go all out.

Can you give me a basic list of the stuff that I will need to order?

I understand that I can order 13" rotors from KVR and have them drill to our bolt pattern. But what else do I need to order from FORD? The Cobra calipers obviously... but what else? Are there some other doodads that I'll need?

Thanks for the help....

 

[BR1]

order the caliper/brackets/pads from www.discbrakesrus.com they are cheaper. there is really no fabrication, you will have to grind a bit off the brake line block on the passenger side. everything bolts up. buy the rotors. that is all you need. i have no spare tire, AAA. but, i am thinkign about just buying a cheap 17" wheel in our pattern, putting a cheap tire on it, and throwing it in the trunk. for $150, i get a real spare tire, and i can have the 13" brakes.

 

[Rudd_95_LX]

Thanks, BR! - I've been looking forward to this for a long time but too chicken to dive in. I'm going for it. I'm tired of the crappy brakes on my car. This will be a nice addition.

Thanks again for your help.

Rudd