1994 Rear Axle

[Jstanding]

Just purchased a roadster kit and intend on using a 1994 donor car for build. I was told by someone coming to buy unused parts from donor car that the rear axle is wider than a 1993 and will not work in the kit purchased. Is this true and will it affect the build with either the fitment in the car and also with the 17x10.5 Halibrand Replica wheels?

[CraigS]

This was just discussed last week. Search is your fiend.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Yes it's wider than '93 and earlier by 1 1/2". The housing is the same width; all of the extra length is in the axles outside of the housing. Richard Oben at North Racecars can set you up with axle shafts and caliper relocation brackets to bring your '94 rearend to Fox body width which will allow you to use the wider wheels and tires without issues.

http://www.northracecars.com/Brakes.html

Cheers,
Jeff

[rcflash]

I may be out of line here, but here goes... ten minutes after posting the question a response to search first was returned. Ok that is reasonable especially since the poster is a junior member, as am I, my beef is that there is a senior member that frequently posts questions that could be easily answered by a quick search. No one busting his b**** and pointing out a search would be appropriate. what gives is this hazing/preferential treatment??? As I am planning a build and will be utilizing the wealth of knowledge/experience here seeing another junior member getting search it response first is concerning. Of course Jeff K being the true gentleman he is offered up the answer requested. Awesome job Jeff, gives me hope that I will find help when needed. sorry for the ramble
ck

[jloehlein]

Another solution is to find a good local fabricator/drag car builder and have them narrow the rear end by 3/4" on each side. They do this all the time and it can be done cheaply, though the brackets from North Racecars are more foolproof. If you are going to have ABS, narrowing the rear retains the space needed for the ABS tone rings on the axles.

[6t8dart]

Just purchased a roadster kit and intend on using a 1994 donor car for build. I was told by someone coming to buy unused parts from donor car that the rear axle is wider than a 1993 and will not work in the kit purchased. Is this true and will it affect the build with either the fitment in the car and also with the 17x10.5 Halibrand Replica wheels?

J, I have a 95 rear on my MKIV, I am using it because I am keeping the ABS system. I have looked into it and decided that I did not need to narrow or replace the axles as long as you are not running 315 rear tires, I plan to run 285 wide 18" tires. Besides FFR, also, there are wheels available that have more rear backspacing. While true that the rear is 3/4 wider per side, the smaller tires are 5/8" (1 1/4" / 2 ) narrower, so the difference of 1/8" is inconsequential. If you dont plan to use the ABS, then yes, swapping to FOX axles and brackets is also simple.

FYI, I use search many times before I ask a question, however, It can sometimes give you some wild results that don't match...oh look squirrel! Then hour and a half later I am still reading somebody's build thread, and still don't have an answer. Plus, asking a question again can get you fresh perspectives. I personally don't mind anyone asking these questions again.

[frankeeski]

I may be out of line here, but here goes... ten minutes after posting the question a response to search first was returned. Ok that is reasonable especially since the poster is a junior member, as am I, my beef is that there is a senior member that frequently posts questions that could be easily answered by a quick search. No one busting his b**** and pointing out a search would be appropriate. what gives is this hazing/preferential treatment??? As I am planning a build and will be utilizing the wealth of knowledge/experience here seeing another junior member getting search it response first is concerning. Of course Jeff K being the true gentleman he is offered up the answer requested. Awesome job Jeff, gives me hope that I will find help when needed. sorry for the ramble
ck

And there you go. I too find it interesting that the very people that are prone to telling newbies "try using the search feature" are the very same people that continue to tell others to use the other forum because of the wealth of knowledge in the archives over there. Gee, how do you think all of those topics got to be so vast? Maybe because the questions and answers had been asked and answered so many times? In order for this community to continue it's growth we really need to be a bit more considerate to the new members coming here. If you have time to tell someone to use the search, you have time to quickly answer their question. If not, let Kliener answer it for you.

As it has now been said here, the 94 axle housing is exactly the same as the 93 and before. The axles themselves are what is longer. Change those out to the 93 and before axles (in 5 lug) and get some brake calipers brackets from Mike Forte @ Fortes Part Connection or Richard at North Race Cars. You can also get different offset wheels for the rear. Lastly, you can go the route I did, Wider hips on the old girl.

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa78/frankeeski/Fender%20Flares/20160207_113957_zps2apycygj.jpg (http://s200.photobucket.com/user/frankeeski/media/Fender%20Flares/20160207_113957_zps2apycygj.jpg.html)

[Gumball]

I'm using a '94 housing with the shorter axles and the brackets that flip the calipers from the back to the front. No troubles with my Mk3 (later body - wider width) and 315s on the 10.5" wheels.

Flipping the calipers around to the front gives plenty of room for the 3 link trailing arm brackets and the shock / spring assembly:

http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab15/CCRsAC/CablesDriver.jpg (http://s845.photobucket.com/user/CCRsAC/media/CablesDriver.jpg.html)

Lots of tire, with no issues of rubbing the chassis, suspension, or body:

http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab15/CCRsAC/RearPassengerSideView.jpg (http://s845.photobucket.com/user/CCRsAC/media/RearPassengerSideView.jpg.html)

[Jeff Kleiner]

Flipping the calipers around to the front gives plenty of room for the 3 link trailing arm brackets and the shock / spring assembly:



And even when shock clearance isn't an issue the forward mounting position allows for simpler and neater parking brake cable routing. If you switch be sure to swap everything side to side (Brackets, mounts, calipers and anti moan brackets).

Jeff

[Gumball]

Ditto what Jeff said about a neater installation. Here is my parking brake cable routing with a home-made bracket that ties them to the center section cover.

http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab15/CCRsAC/Cables1.jpg (http://s845.photobucket.com/user/CCRsAC/media/Cables1.jpg.html)

[Jstanding]

Thanks guys, all great info. I do not know how anyone could even think of attempting one of these builds without the help of everyone here. Thanks again

[totem]

I've been there, trying to search information. It's not easy.
Here is what should be known: there is 2 width of axle housing, 3 length of axle, 2 offset of brake. Also, axles have 2 diameters for wheel hub center bore and 2 bolts patterns.

That give plenty of combination so it's worth validating your plan with knowledgeable persons.

I not certain at all that Fox width axle are required to run 315 on a MK4. It leaves a lot of fender gap. A stock 93-94 axle width can probably fit 315 on a Mk4 using FFR wheels.

I went into a lot of trouble to source parts just to finally discover that Fox width axles are not flush with fenders.

[edwardb]

Don't have anything to add regarding the axle question, but just a comment about searches and suggesting people to search vs. just answering their question. And BTW I personally don't think it has anything to with preferential treatment, senior members, whatever. The fact is that some questions do get asked repeatedly, and a search is always a good place to start. Additionally, some questions aren't short easy answers. The proverbial base kit vs. complete, what engine should I choose, why does paint cost so much, etc. These end up often being long threads, and best to start reading those. The search function on this forum doesn't work that great IMO, so that doesn't help.

Suggestion: Instead of using the native search engine, use Google. It works very well in my experience. From Google, type "site:http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/ keywords" without the quotes and replace "keywords" with whatever you want to search for.

Personally, I try to answer questions directly if I have experience with what his being asked, but if it's a commonly discussed subject will also provide links for further reading. It's easy to do using the search method I described.

[Jeff Kleiner]

I've been there, trying to search information. It's not easy.
Here is what should be known: there is 2 width of axle housing, 3 length of axle, 2 offset of brake. Also, axles have 2 diameters for wheel hub center bore and 2 bolts patterns.

That give plenty of combination so it's worth validating your plan with knowledgeable persons.

I not certain at all that Fox width axle are required to run 315 on a MK4. It leaves a lot of fender gap. A stock 93-94 axle width can probably fit 315 on a Mk4 using FFR wheels.

I went into a lot of trouble to source parts just to finally discover that Fox width axles are not flush with fenders.

A couple of things; '93 and '94 axles are not the same width. If you are attempting to make the tires flush with the fenders you'll have to run an extremely high rear ride height so that they do not come into contact when the car is loaded and hits bumps. Consider yourself warned.

Jeff

[BEAR-AvHistory]

I try to answer whatever I can even if its a repeated subject. When I started here I asked a lot of questions & got a lot of help. Am happy to be more of a contributor now & happy to help the next new guy become a contributor.

Agree with Dale the search function can be ornery at times based on how a search question is written. Just give the guy the benefit of the doubt & if you have time to write anything make it an answer or a link to the older thread that has the answer.

[rcflash]

Thnks for the search tips, I imagine that will help a lot.
ck

[Jstanding]

Thanks for the info, where did you source those axles and brackets?
I'm using a '94 housing with the shorter axles and the brackets that flip the calipers from the back to the front. No troubles with my Mk3 (later body - wider width) and 315s on the 10.5" wheels.

Flipping the calipers around to the front gives plenty of room for the 3 link trailing arm brackets and the shock / spring assembly:

http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab15/CCRsAC/CablesDriver.jpg (http://s845.photobucket.com/user/CCRsAC/media/CablesDriver.jpg.html)

Lots of tire, with no issues of rubbing the chassis, suspension, or body:

http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab15/CCRsAC/RearPassengerSideView.jpg (http://s845.photobucket.com/user/CCRsAC/media/RearPassengerSideView.jpg.html)

[Gumball]

I bought the axles and brackets from Forte's. Mike is a vendor here and a great guy to work with.