It is fairly common knowledge that the 1988 cars had improved suspension. The multi link rear suspension is far superior to the '84-'87 suspension and while the '88 engine cradle and suspension is not a direct fit in the early cars, it can be installed with some minor modification. The installation of the cradle itself is accomplished by slotting the rear mounting holes and changing the width spacing on the forward cradle mounts. This is a fairly simple operation, requiring only hand tools and limited skill. The complicated part is properly locating the strut tower, without upsetting the suspension geometry. The engine cradle adapters that we supply mount up to the early car strut towers in the standard position, but off-set the strut forward of the original '84-'87 strut location to properly locate it for the '88 suspension. Due to space constraints, the standard diameter springs can no longer be used. The off-set strut hats are therefore designed for use with 2.5" I.D. springs found in our coil-over strut conversion kits and coil-over strut assemblies. Kits include all the necessary bushings and hardware for an easy installation.

ADVANTAGES

• The ' 88 cradle mounts solidly to the chassis, upgrading eliminates the need to install urethane or solid mounts in the early cradle in order to tighten up the rear suspension.
• The ' 84-' 87 rear control arms pivot with big diameter, soft rubber bushings whereas the ' 88 links are smaller, harder and tighter.
• The ' 84-' 87 rear suspension has a severe ' bump steer ' problem which the ' 88 does not have (this justifies doing the conversion by itself ).
• The ' 88 rear knuckle mounts the slightly bigger, vented. ' 88 brake rotor which is an improvement over the earlier car brake.
• With the aid of coil-over conversion kits, the early struts will work properly with the ' 88 knuckles.
• Axles are interchangeable between early and late cars.

If your are doing the cradle conversion and intend to order the 12" brakes please make sure you state all the application details clearly. The 12 " vented brake kit for the' 88 cars are broken into two sections, front and rear. Note also that we have available, replacement tubular suspension links for the ' 88 rear, in both polyurethane and spherical bearing style, pivots.