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5.0 Mustang Cowl Shake/strut brace/subframe connectors

Hi - I bought myself a very nice clean 89 LX 5.0 convertible and it is my first fox body car and I can really see why this car has such a lot of fans - it is great and I can see these cars being put on the same gearhead pedestals as the 55-57 chevies and 64- 71 Mustangs in the near future.

Anyway like many other owners I want to keep it great and make it even better where I can.

One thing I am noticing and was expecting is quite a bit of cowl shake

- it has 86,000 miles on it so a combination of age and design are probably a factor here BUT .... one comment I will make is that I took my brother in laws 1992 5.0 convert which has about the same mileage on it for a drive and it is much more tight - I looked under the hood and there is no strut tower brace so I am wondering was anything done factory design wise to make the 1992 cars stronger in terms of body structure ? - I took a quick look under the front and can't see anything exotic there either . I know there are a lot of components that could come into play here but I just thought I would ask this question as a starting point.

I have new struts on the car which the person I bought it from installed but I don't know the vintage of the rest of the front end - it passed the mandatory safety inspections we have up here so nothing is worn below spec.

For reduction of the cowl shake and considering strut tower braces vs subframe connectors which one of the 2 is the best approach ?

Thanks very much for any responses to my guestions - I visit this group regularly and it seems like there are a lot of very knowledgeable members here who are very generous in helping fellow owners and fans out.

Reply to
donsjunkk
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Good observation. I too noticed the same difference between my '87 LX

5 liter and my current '93 Cobra -- the Cobra being noticebly stiffer than my older LX. What the difference is some where in the early 90's Ford strengthen the floor pan because of the earlier cars developing cracks in the pan around the seat bolts.

Both are equally effective, IMO, but the strut tower brace being the easiest, cheapest of the two to install. With a 'vert, I'd install both (use weld-in subframe connectors) and add a G-load brace.

Patrick

Reply to
NoOption5L

car should have a LOT more miles on it like 180k, or it must have been stored for 5 years or so. I have a 93, 145k miles no shakes at all. Squeeks yes, no shakes. I had a

1987 with 160k, no shakes both are ex police cars. orgional motors (93 got upper manafold replaced by supercharger) You may want to check the alingment in case the car may have been in a wreck, Or you may have some tires that are dish panned that will do that too, reset the cowl bumpers up some (on the front of the car they screw up) that should stop shake too. Check the lower part of the fan blade to see if it got worn, if so, the engine mounts need to be replaced, they hold the engine too low, (another way you can tell this is if the car lugs at very low speed 2mph or so it is the engine changing position causing the throttle cable to get longer/shorter)

That could be a problem, but alignment check should find it.

try the simple stuff first. subframes are more to get rid of torque flex of the body while accelerating. My 93 has loosened up a lot, has a supercharger on it, probably need subframes, cannot fit STB's in it.

Reply to
Zod, General

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