1997 Cobra Differential/Axle Questions

[cargiytroy]

Hello all. I just purchased a 1997 Cobra convertible and I'm new to the forum. I have a couple of questions and need your opinion. The car has 50000 miles and the rear end is making noise. Needs rebuilt due to sitting and fluid not being changed I'm guessing? We pulled the rear axles and changed out the axle bearings thinking that was the noise. The drivers side axle has a slight bit of pitting on it. We used the bearings that ride in a different spot than stock thinking that would be a good fix. The new bearings did make a difference, but still noisy. SO my questions are:

Should I just rebuild the current rear end, new bearings etc., or go with one of these 31 spine carriers/axles if I'm going that deep?

If I do stay with rebuilding the stock set up, where that axle shows some pitting should I just replace it?

 

[01yellercobra]

What are the goals with the car? If you're planning on lots of power then you might as well build for it. If you're going to stay basically stock then I'd say a basic rebuild is all you need.

 

[cargiytroy]

not planning on building it up power wise. Is there any reason the stock carrier would need replaced or is that something I shouldn't worry about. When we had everything apart the gears looked great and everything seems tight and not out of the norm. I guessing the races and bearings are pitted a bit from sitting.

 

[ZD302GT]

If not adding power I would just keep the 28 spline carrier and axles. The bearings on the carrier and the pinion bearing may need to be replaced as well if the axle bearings needed to be replaced.

 

[01yellercobra]

not planning on building it up power wise. Is there any reason the stock carrier would need replaced or is that something I shouldn't worry about. When we had everything apart the gears looked great and everything seems tight and not out of the norm. I guessing the races and bearings are pitted a bit from sitting.

If it still leaves two black marks I wouldn't worry about it. You can always rebuild it while you're in there if you want. I think FRPP still offers the carbon fiber clutch kits.

The bearings could be pitted. That happened on my 98 GT. There wasn't any metal in the fluid, but when we pulled the diff to swap gears there were pits all over the races. It was so much quieter after the gear swap was done.