Roush is sn95 front swap worth it on fox saleens?

rcantu

New Member
Oct 24, 1999
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hi all,

I tried doing a search but didn't work well.

I want to keep my 16s and found out that I could use sn95 spindles and 03 GT calipers that are 2 piston. I picked GT because of the 16inch wheel fitment vs. cobras that need 17s.

is there a major improvement to braking vs the stock SVO discs? I don't want to waste my money if the mod isn't worth it.

thanks all
 
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Some will tell you yes, definetly.
I will have to disagree, and my car has had it both ways, and currently uses 95 spindles and bullit calipers, with 13 inch discs.

It very well could help you, but it also may not.
Depends on your driving style, if you are autocrossing or are blatently abusive, to the point where you are glazing the brakes all the time causing dangerous fade, yes you need the newer setup.
If you are a causual street driver, you won't see much difference.
This is backed up by the fact that the baer kit (basically the same as the 95 spindle swap, just without the spindles), barely beat out stock brakes on a fox, during the first couple stops, it's the 3rd and on, where the bigger brakes really shine.
 
i have to agree as well. The only thing I will add is that the 73mm SVO front calipers stop about as good as the stock 16" SN95 2 piston calipers. Not allot of advantage. The SN95 swap would mostly benefit you if you went to 13" rotors and 2 piston Cobra/MachI calipers. Other then that I'd leave it as it is. Get a set of good Hawk or Porterfield pads and that will do more for you.
just my 2 cents.
 
thank you both for your input. I didn't want to waste any money if I didn't need too.

This is for daily street driving. My brakes just felt mushy but it's probably needing just better pads as mentioned and ss brakelines.
 
when George swapped on the big brakes to his Saleen #197, i bought all the front brakes off him & will agree 100% about the 73mm calipers & SN95 2 piston calipers. just as good. i would just get good rotors & pads. i am still running the Hawk pads that came with the 73mm calipers i bought from George a few years ago! still gripping great too! thanx G!! :)
 
saleen supposedly used the SVO master cylinder which is suppose to be sufficient for running bigger brakes. As someone who has done stainless lines, good fluid, and great brake pads...I will say it made a HUGE difference, the only problem is if your a road racer, they will fade badly....if you dont race the car...the swap is not worth it
 
well now imagine my car & what this brake job did for me LOL. my 88 used to be a 4 cylinder so i started with cylinder brakes & rear drums. i now have all the correct Saleen/SVO brakes with SVO master cylinder, gutted factory proportioning valve with the FMS plug, SSBC adjustable brake preportioning valve, SVO 73mm front calipers w/ Hawk pads & 5 lug rotors, entire Saleen/SVO rear disc setup w/ axles removed from an 88 Saleen & correct mesh wheels. damn, it feels road race to me compared to the 4 cylinder brakes :)
i would leave the original SVO brake setup & add sloted rotors all aound & a good set of brake pads along with some SS brakelines. the SS brake lines are going to be my next little brake upgrade.
 
The Cobra R had the same rear end as y'all and it was routinely used to road race, if I remember correctly from my research.

The rears aren't the issue for road racing, it's the fronts, that don't like frequent hard stopping.
Rear brakes don't do much of the work, that's why the pads last twice as long.
 
The rears aren't the issue for road racing, it's the fronts, that don't like frequent hard stopping.
Rear brakes don't do much of the work, that's why the pads last twice as long.

The problem with the SVO front disc system is the plastic front caliper piston. After heavy use when heat builds up the piston will not return to the neutral position and drag the front pads building up a great amount of heat. On my SVO this happened several times and after sitting and the calipers cooling you could actually hear them pop back to the neutral position. Stillen makes a stainless piston rebuild kit that eliminates the problem and you can brake hard and happier forever more. I recently replaced all the brake system on my wifes 1987 Saleen convertible and couldn't find any rebuilt / reman calipers with the stainless pistons any longer.

For much discussion on this front caliper problem visit the SVO Club of America's forum and see what corrections those guys have made.