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<font face="tahoma" color="red" size="+2"><b>
'96 Brake upgrade procedure</font>
(thanks to <A HREF="mailto:dragon@shentel.net">Dennis Weaver</A>)
<BR>
</b></font><hr WIDTH="100%">

<P>Special tools needed for 89 to 93 SHO (none of these are required for
the ’94 and ’95 SHO). They can be borrowed from a good parts store like
Super Trak or Auto Zone:

<P>(1)&nbsp; 30mm hub socket, to remove the hub nut.
<BR>(2)&nbsp; spring compressor, the type that comes in two pieces and
attaches to the outside of the strut spring, one on each side of the spring.
<BR>(3)&nbsp; gear puller, can use a hammer and a block of wood on the
half shaft, but they loan them for free (just have to leave a deposit)
and this is just a lot easier and a lot surer.
<BR>(4)&nbsp; 3 foot pry bar, this has been suggested to pry the ball joint
pin on the control arm from the knuckle, but I could find no acceptable
place to use as a fulcrum, so I had to use another technique (see below).

<P><B>Dismantling Procedure:</B><B></B>

<P>(1) Loosen all lug nuts and loosen hub nut while the wheel is on the
ground (you will need the 30mm hub nut socket and maybe a cheater bar to
break it loose); (if the welds on the strut plates on the top of the strut
towers have been broken or drilled, take a marker and mark around these
plates so that you can relocate them later) loosen the three nuts on the
strut tower (don’t remove them, just loosen them to where the ends of the
studs are even with the top of the nuts); unlock the steering column; jack
the car up; place a jack stand under side rail of car body; remove the
wheel and then replace the lug nuts (two opposite each other tight against
the rotor, the other three screw on backward flush with the end of the
studs—will explain later); spray some Aerokroil penetrating oil on and
around the ABS sensor, if so equipped (let it soak while you do the rest
of the dismantling, give it a slight tap and a squirt occasionally, while
doing everything else), place a jack under brake rotor and jack it up to
relieve the pressure on the sway bar end link attached to the strut housing
and remove and discard the nut from the sway bar end link bolt by holding
the bolt end with another wrench and remove the bolt from the strut housing;
remove brake line from caliper (this requires the removal one hollow, hex-head
bolt, retain the bolt) and shove it up the strut tower to keep it from
leaking brake fluid; remove and discard cotter pin and crown nut from the
tie-rod-end, then remove tie rod end from the knuckle (strike the tie-rod-end
ball joint once with a hammer, this loosens it so it can be removed--no
need for a tie-rod-end removing tool); remove and discard pinch bolt and
nut holding control arm ball joint in place (use drift pin to push bolt
out), remove and discard pinch bolt holding strut to knuckle, now remove
the small bolt holding in the ABS sensor (wiggle the sensor back and forth
until it comes out of the knuckle).

<P>(2) Take a wire and run it through the holes in the strut housing and
around the half shaft to support the half shaft so that it does not drop
when the knuckle is removed, this technique will avoid the possibility
of damaging the CV joints by the half shaft dropping.

<P>(3) Use the gear puller to push the half shaft (or axle) part of the
way out of the hub. The CV joint will allow the half shaft to move inward
some. Use the lug nuts that we earlier installed backward on the lugs to
give the gear puller something to pull on. (You can remove the brake caliper
and rotor to get to the hub if you are very meticulous or you can just
pound the end of the half shaft with a hammer (please put a 2X4 or something
between the hammer and the half shaft to avoid mushrooming the end) if
you are the more Neanderthal type. (Warning, do not press or drive the
half shaft so far it jams the CV joint, this is just to break it loose
inside the hub, removing it completely comes later.)

<P>(4) Gently drive a screwdriver into the gap in the knuckle to ball joint
pin pinch joint. Now here is where you can use the 3 foot pry bar to remove
the control arm ball joint pin from the knuckle and then remove the strut
housing from the knuckle, as I said I had no luck at this, so if you meet
with the same frustration…try what I did—see E.

<P>(5) Compress coil spring with tool (if you jack the hub up some more
it will save a little screwing on the spring compression tool, then remove
the jack once the spring compressors are attached and tightened) spread
the gap in the strut pinch joint with a screwdriver as you did with the
control arm and tap on the top of the knuckle with a Ford wrench (hammer,
heard that from a Chebbie guy) until the strut comes out of the knuckle
(you may need to continue to tighten the spring compressors, and you may
need two&nbsp; people, one to push down on the brake and knuckle assembly,
thus putting pressure on the control arm, and one to jerk the strut outboard
from the knuckle; thus the reason you loosened the nuts on the strut tower).
(When the strut is disengaged from the knuckle, be careful to neither pull
outward on the knuckle assembly nor let it drop as it will hyper-extend
the CV joint.) Pick up on the knuckle and brake assembly, (you have the
caliper, rotor, and knuckle so it is somewhat heavy) and lift the knuckle
off the ball joint pin.

<P>(6)&nbsp; Now slide the knuckle, hub, and brake assembly off the half
shaft.

<P><B>Re-assembly with upgrade:</B>

<P>Be sure to clean up the junk yard knuckles and be sure that the any
rust where the struts, the ball joint pins, the ABS sensors, or the tie
rod ends are to be inserted has been removed (a little penetrating oil
on these areas won’t hurt, either). Assemble the calipers with brackets
and pads (use a rattle and squeak preventative on the back of the pads),
then place rotor and appropriate calipers on the correct knuckles, (as
in right side calipers with right side knuckles and verse-vissa, the knuckles
and calipers are side specific). Use lug nuts to hold the rotor on the
hub and make sure the brackets attach properly to the knuckle and that
the hub and rotor turns freely. The units can be totally assembled on a
work bench to confirm you have all parts and the correct parts for each
side together. They look rather impressive, as well, sitting there all
assembled—my neighbor ask what airplane they came off of. You will have
to remove the calipers and rotor from the knuckle and hub assembly before
installation, this little exercise was just (1) to be sure everything fit
together properly and (2) to familiarize yourself with how they assemble.

<P>(1)&nbsp; Take the knuckle for the appropriate side and then start by
locating the half shaft partly inside the hub and the strut partly inside
its strut pinch joint in the knuckle (basically you have to insert both
simultaneously).

<P>(2)&nbsp; Use a new hub nut to pull the half shaft fully into the hub
and tighten it snug (you will do the final torque when the wheel is on
the ground).

<P>(3)&nbsp; Then shove the knuckle fully up onto the strut housing. (There
is a metal tab on the back of the strut housing that slides down inside
the slot in the back of the strut pinch joint. This tab has a hole and
this hole is to be lined up with the holes that the strut pinch bolt screws
into. Insert and tighten the strut pinch bolt (70-95 lb-ft).)

<P>(4)&nbsp; Push down on the control arm and locate the pin inside the
knuckle. (Be careful not to damage the rubber boot seal on the ball joint.)
To get the pin fully inserted a small amount of persuasion with a hammer
(see—it really is a Ford wrench) will probably be called for here. Fully
insert the pinch bolt and attach nut (40-55 lb-ft). (If the bolt will not
slide into the knuckle, the ball joint pin is probably too deep and needs
to be slightly withdrawn.)

<P>(5)&nbsp; Attach the tie rod end and use new crown nut and cotter pin
(23-25 ft-lb). (Do not loosen the crown nut to align a slot in the nut
with the cotter pin hole in the bolt, continue tightening until alignment
is achieved.)

<P>(6)&nbsp; Insert ABS sensor and attach to knuckle with small bolt after
applying Blue Locktite (40-60 lb-in). (You may need to use a little steel
wool or fine sandpaper on the cylindrical part of the sensor to get the
rust off, to allow it to be fully inserted.)

<P>(7)&nbsp; Slide the rotor on the hub. (Use two lug nuts to snug the
rotor to the hub.)

<P>(8)&nbsp; Install the caliper by attaching the bracket to the knuckle
with the bracket to knuckle bolts and use blue Locktite on these bolts
(torque unknown—tight! I would guess 40-55 lb-ft) (The bolts come with
a locking compound already on them but it was probably removed it when
assembling the units on the bench--a small price to pay to know that you
have all the parts and that they fit before you tear down the wheels.)

<P>(9)&nbsp; Next you will attach the brake line as follows. There are
two copper washers, which are seals, included with the calipers. Remove
the two old copper seals, one on each side of the metal block at the end
of the flexible brake line. (You will have to pry them out of the block
with a small screwdriver or similar tool.) Place one of the new copper
washers over the hollow bolt you removed earlier; place the bolt through
the metal block, place the second washer on the bolt (in effect sandwiching
the brake hose end between the new washers), then insert the bolt into
the caliper body. (Tighten to 30-45 lb-ft).

<P>(10)&nbsp; Place a jack under the brake rotor and jack the wheel up
until the bolt hole in the strut lines up with the bolt in the sway bar
link assembly. Attach a new nut and tighten holding the bolt with another
wrench to keep the ball joint from spinning (tighten to 55-75 lb-ft).

<P>(11)&nbsp; Remove jack and install wheel. Lower car. Tighten the 30mm
hub nut (conflicting data on torque specs: one place says 180 - 200 lb-ft,
another 195 - 260 lb-ft; another words real, real, real tight.)

<P>(12)&nbsp; Align strut plate and tighten nuts on top of strut tower
(20-30 lb-ft).
<BR>
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