Foxbody brake upgrade

Okay, so after my most recent trackday, it's become VERY apparent to me that I need to upgrade my brakes.

Currently I'm running SN95 spindles with stock '94 V6 brakes, hacked foxbody SS lines, DOT 4 fluid, and the cheapest pads I could find at the 'zone (I just needed something to put on there at the time, and haven't gone back and put good pads on yet).

With that setup, I could do about 50% braking around Thunderhill for as many laps as I wanted to, 80% braking for about 4-6 corners, or 100% braking for not even 1 before the brakes went to mush. (This is on 255-width RA1s). I've always found the brakes fine for AX, but I'd like to be able to lean on them harder for track days.

What I'd like to do is upgrade to the SN95 Cobra brakes.... which they don't make anymore. LMR has a kit for $600 to upgrade SN95 front brakes to Cobra spec that has powerslot rotors, pads, the 2-piston calipers, and SS lines. Issue is, I don't want their pads, I don't want slotted rotors, and I don't think they sell the calipers individually. I'm also not sure about the caliper braket, if my stock one will work with the larger caliper/rotor, or if their kit comes with a different bracket.

I'm also concerned about my braking bias considering that I"m still running the stock foxbody master cylinder and drum brakes. I do not want to muck with a rear disc brake conversion at this time; likely I'll get some Porterfield R4 or R4-S compound shoes out back.

The stoptech package looks awesome (and even had blank rotors) but $2200 is more than I paid for the car, hahaha.

Oh, and my local junkyards are utter crap, so not really an option.

Just interested to see if there's any thoughts, better ideas, or cheaper swaps.

Wilwood makes a very nice kit, although it seems you're looking for a budget brake system. The Cobra brakes are nice, and gettin your hands on some Hawk brake pads will really help out. I'd definitely get a rear disc upgrade first and see how you like it there. LOL Drums = no bueno. If you can get some 97+ GT brakes, they're a 2 piston PBR caliper as well.

I fail to understand how rear discs are going to have any effect on how much heat my braking system can manage.

Especially when compared to upgrading from the laughable single-piston setup I'm currently running up front.

I'd imagine ducting and proper pads would help tremendously and be much cheaper.

Call LMR and see if they'll sell the kit without the slotted rotors and source your own? Otherwise, yeah, good ducting and good pads would probably be the route I'd take, and you can reuse the ducting with later improvements.

Does Ford Racing offer anything to help you out?

Yeah, I've thought about that as well... I just don't want to drop $120 on pads to find out that I still can't brake hard for every corner on an entire lap.

With my '98 Cobra on SS lines and R4-Ss up front, I never had any braking issues around T-hill. Little bit of smell, but that was it. That's why I'm convinced that they're the right option.

I'm open to the possibility that I'm totally wrong, but I need more than "loldrumbrakes!" to convince me that they're a more affecting piece of hardware than my front calipers.

So you aren't willing to spend $120 and a bit of time fabbing up some dryer hose, but you are willing to spend $600+ while being worried about affecting your f/r bias?

Adjustable prop valve would probably be useful both for this and later upgrades (like a rear axle with discs and some later upgrade to the front).

z31maniac wrote: So you aren't willing to spend $120 and a bit of time fabbing up some dryer hose, but you are willing to spend $600+ while being worried about affecting your f/r bias?

That's a valid point, and why I'm figuring out exactly where my mouth is before I put money there

Worried is probably the wrong word to use there. I'm ignorant of how it'll affect my brake bias to go to the larger rotors/pads up front with no change in the rear or with the only change being upgraded pads.

I'm very much in the camp of "leave it the way the factory did it until I understand the costs and benefits of any change I'm looking to make".

Is brake bias even a legitimate concern here? My inference is that with two pistons instead of one, more fluid will be required to move the pads the same distance, and brake balance will be shifted rearward. However, with the greater leverage/friction of the larger brakes, the fronts will have more "grip" which will cause the balance to shift forward. What's the net result here?

Are rear discs going to make a significant difference in braking over drums with good shoes? Sure they're lighter and I find it light-years easier to swap pads than shoes, but what affect on actual braking power is there? Drums stop better than discs under ideal condtions, but what's the equivalency of drums and discs for initial stopping power? Are 10" discs the equivalent of 8" drums?

Bullitt calipers $249

Aside from the horse logo, the Bullitt calipers are identical to the Cobra ones. Now just get the rotors you want.

I thought 03+ Crown Vic calipers were the cheaper alternative to cobra parts?

Get the Cobra/Bullit calipers and the 13" Cobra rotors. You can sometimes find the Cobra calipers for sale used as someone is always upgrading their brakes. You also need to get an adjustable perportioning valve plumbed into the rear brake line. I would also get a SN95 V6 master cylinder if you don't have one on the car already. With the booster you have brake effort may go up but not to a level that you shouldn't be able to deal with.

I had a Cobra Mustang and I also later installed the Wilwood 6 piston system in the front and a custom Wilwood brake system in the rear. It wasn't cheap but the pads could be has for almost nothing. I still have 12 sets of new racing pads that cost me less then $100 for all of them! I bought them at a racing parts auction.