Wheels, front suspension & brake upgrade for The King

[N14ParkwayRacer]

Lately I've been using my Mark VI as my daily driver. Because of that, the 36 year old front suspension bushings are starting to turn to dust. Every day the car's steering is getting more & more play in it.
One of my original plans was to upgrade to the 1998 brakes & front suspension. Unfortunately to do this requires bigger wheels, so I had to get those first.
I picked up a set of 1996 Mustang GT wheels with tires that had a lot of tread left on Craig's List for $200.
Not realizing they wouldn't fit on without spacers.

[N14ParkwayRacer]

After doing some measurements & some internet searching I found some spacers. They had to be at least 1.5 inches thick to clear the studs because the 96 GT wheels didn't have any relief holes in the back where the studs would stick out.

[N14ParkwayRacer]

Here's how they look on the car. The tire side wall height could probably be a little taller but for now it'll have to do.

[N14ParkwayRacer]

I ordered a set of 1994 upper control arms & the Energy Suspension control arm bushing set. I already have all of the 1998 front suspension parts I need. I'm going to put new Moog upper & lower ball joints, new brake rotors, pads & hoses as well.
I'll post some pictures of the parts when they come in.

[GM_Guy]

Looks good on there.

They had to be at least 1.5 inches thick to clear the studs because the 96 GT wheels didn't have any relief holes in the back where the studs would stick out.

Since your wheels sit in a good spot this is a non-issue, but if you need to run spacers, you cut off the excess stud if they stick out too far.

Alex.

[Grand Marquis GT]

I think they look great!

Sharp car!

[N14ParkwayRacer]

Thanks a bunch guys!

My bushings came in today!

[N14ParkwayRacer]

And here's the 94 Grand Marquis upper control arms I got on eBay.

[N14ParkwayRacer]

So after work I went to my storage garage & grabbed the rest of the 1998 front suspension / brake conversion parts. They are filthy!
Starting tomorrow I'll start cleaning everything & burning out all the bushings.

[87gtVIC]

Awesome. Looking forward to your progress.

[N14ParkwayRacer]

Ok so what's the story with the upper ball joints? I read the brake upgrade thread & it says you can use either. Is that definitely true? I'd rather use the 1998 ball joints so everything matches up & it's easier to order parts in the future. The only difference I see is the camber & caster adjustments are switched between the 94 & the 98.

[GM_Guy]

Hit up rockauto and check part numbers. I know at some point the ball joint actually changed, but that may be strictly box ball joint vs big brake parts ball joint. Now that I type that out, box lower ball joint is a different size from later lower ball joint. Just need to use whatever ball joint matches the lower arm year.

Alex.

[sly]

92-02 uses the same lower... at least the replacement loaded control arm is the same for the civi cars. I would suspect that the upper is only different bey the camber/caster adjustments.

[gadget73]

The uppers changed somewhere along the way from a handed ball joint to a non-handed. Either fit and function just fine, but you get 2 of the same part number vs one left part and one right part. The actual arm itself is the same from 1992-2002, the only change is that the cross-shaft went away in favor of brackets on the frame. If you're really determined you can actually break apart a stock box upper arm and fit the shaft into a later 90s arm. Just no reason to do it if you can get one thats already together though.

[N14ParkwayRacer]

Thanks to everyone for the help. I'm going order some Moog 1998 uppers & lowers. Also when I bolt the upper arms to the frame, do I keep the shims from the 1980 arms or do I mount the 1994 arms right to the frame? It seems the 1998 upper ball joints have all the camber & caster adjustment built in.