Your fronts should be good since nothing changed up there.
Here is my IRS to solid axle saga!
- Thread starter whyte_03
- Start date
ok, car is back on the road.. and thus far, i am happy as a mo fo.. the feel is way better than i thought.. i see people say the ride is shitty and so forth.. its pretty damn good is i say so myself...i almost cannot even notice a difference between the solid and the IRS while cruising over bumps and stuff.. its relatively smooth and i love it. I have only driven about 30 miles in town and nothing above 40mph.. i did hit 70 once to see where the rpm's were in 6th with 3.27's... 75mph is 2k rpms... nice for gas mileage but that won't last long as soon as i get my tax check...
i noticed the passenger side sits a nut hair higher than the driver side.. i might cut a lil bit of the coil on that side.. plus.. over all the car does sit a bit high and i might cut both coils to compesate for that... its got mac lowering springs from a 92LX 5.0 on it and i was thinking it might sit too low.. it doesn't... its got GT bilstiens in it now with steeda uppers and lowers... when i put it on the ground i putt'd/coasted to the auto hobby shop about 1/2 mile from my house to add gear oil in the rear end and to also tighten then upper and lower control arms and to overall inspect everything.. i only hand the upper control arms hand tight prior to arriving to the auto hobby shop so i could tighten them on a drive up lift so the suspension was at normal ride height. i still have no sway bar and that will come in the next week or 2.. no sure which one to get because the sway bar mounts sit lower on the steeda control arms unlike the stock ones that bolt to the inner portion of the lower control arm... the aero chamber exhaust sounds BOMB... its a BBK X-pipe routed thru aerochamber mufflers with turn downs... its sounds so damn good and i have not even gave it a WOT run yet.. overall i am happy with it.. with the new DF clutch, i am gonna have to buy a firewall adjuster and a quadrant... the tranny (freshly rebuilt) still does not shift properly and can be quite difficult most of the time.. ..by the way.. i changed the pinion flange without taking all apart to change a crush sleeve.. works just fine... new internals are going in next month anyways so no biggie there.. cheers
i noticed the passenger side sits a nut hair higher than the driver side.. i might cut a lil bit of the coil on that side.. plus.. over all the car does sit a bit high and i might cut both coils to compesate for that... its got mac lowering springs from a 92LX 5.0 on it and i was thinking it might sit too low.. it doesn't... its got GT bilstiens in it now with steeda uppers and lowers... when i put it on the ground i putt'd/coasted to the auto hobby shop about 1/2 mile from my house to add gear oil in the rear end and to also tighten then upper and lower control arms and to overall inspect everything.. i only hand the upper control arms hand tight prior to arriving to the auto hobby shop so i could tighten them on a drive up lift so the suspension was at normal ride height. i still have no sway bar and that will come in the next week or 2.. no sure which one to get because the sway bar mounts sit lower on the steeda control arms unlike the stock ones that bolt to the inner portion of the lower control arm... the aero chamber exhaust sounds BOMB... its a BBK X-pipe routed thru aerochamber mufflers with turn downs... its sounds so damn good and i have not even gave it a WOT run yet.. overall i am happy with it.. with the new DF clutch, i am gonna have to buy a firewall adjuster and a quadrant... the tranny (freshly rebuilt) still does not shift properly and can be quite difficult most of the time.. ..by the way.. i changed the pinion flange without taking all apart to change a crush sleeve.. works just fine... new internals are going in next month anyways so no biggie there.. cheers
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whyte-03
I am curious why you swapped out an independent rear suspension for a live axle. I've read your post and you seem to be a pretty sharp guy. The reason I ask this is soo many Cobra owners are removing their IRS and throwing them in the trash heap. This is probably not going un-noticed by Ford Motor Company and probably means we will never see an IRS in a Mustang again which is sad. There must have been a lot of expense and R&D went into installing them and this is a mistake they won't make again. Personally I don't care how it improves the ride. What I like about it is that it will maintain better adhesion to the pavement on a bumpy corner and the rear won't skate around because the wheels will be better planted to the pavement. I took a friend who owns a S2000 on the Angeles Crest Hwy and he was very surprised how well the Cobra handled the ripply pavement in the corners. A lot of the new Cobra owners have more of the “straight line drag race” perspective and like the fact it strips about 125 lbs. of the rear of the car. What they may not be considering if that the IRS removes 65 lbs. of unprung mass off each rear corner (that is more then the wheel and tire weighs), can be adjusted for camber and toe-in and will help balance the car better with that 650 lbs lump hanging off the nose of the car. For someone who is really only looking for drag race performance this swap makes sense. But removing it also takes away from some of the uniqueness of the car and may hurt resale value should they decide to sell it (I myself wouldn't consider buying one without it). I've hear a few of the GT500 owners who had a Cobra admit the car did not handle as well in a bumpy corner then the GT500 which is something they loath to admit. Put a set of delrin bushing on the upper and lower control arm and it is a far superior suspension over a live axle could ever hope to be.
You seem to be happy with the results so far which is what matters. My hope is some of the other guys reading this will think twice before replacing their independent rear suspension after considering what the advantages they offer over a live axle. Lots of guys swear that the live axle is a just as good and in some instances there is probably some merit to that. But in most rear world road conditions it is a step backwards.
Just my 2 cents worth.
I am curious why you swapped out an independent rear suspension for a live axle. I've read your post and you seem to be a pretty sharp guy. The reason I ask this is soo many Cobra owners are removing their IRS and throwing them in the trash heap. This is probably not going un-noticed by Ford Motor Company and probably means we will never see an IRS in a Mustang again which is sad. There must have been a lot of expense and R&D went into installing them and this is a mistake they won't make again. Personally I don't care how it improves the ride. What I like about it is that it will maintain better adhesion to the pavement on a bumpy corner and the rear won't skate around because the wheels will be better planted to the pavement. I took a friend who owns a S2000 on the Angeles Crest Hwy and he was very surprised how well the Cobra handled the ripply pavement in the corners. A lot of the new Cobra owners have more of the “straight line drag race” perspective and like the fact it strips about 125 lbs. of the rear of the car. What they may not be considering if that the IRS removes 65 lbs. of unprung mass off each rear corner (that is more then the wheel and tire weighs), can be adjusted for camber and toe-in and will help balance the car better with that 650 lbs lump hanging off the nose of the car. For someone who is really only looking for drag race performance this swap makes sense. But removing it also takes away from some of the uniqueness of the car and may hurt resale value should they decide to sell it (I myself wouldn't consider buying one without it). I've hear a few of the GT500 owners who had a Cobra admit the car did not handle as well in a bumpy corner then the GT500 which is something they loath to admit. Put a set of delrin bushing on the upper and lower control arm and it is a far superior suspension over a live axle could ever hope to be.
You seem to be happy with the results so far which is what matters. My hope is some of the other guys reading this will think twice before replacing their independent rear suspension after considering what the advantages they offer over a live axle. Lots of guys swear that the live axle is a just as good and in some instances there is probably some merit to that. But in most rear world road conditions it is a step backwards.
Just my 2 cents worth.
thanks for the input man, i see what you are getting at with the IRS.. i loved it.. hands down, my only complaint, and this my sound sad, is I was tired of resealing the diff cover every 6 months, I was tired of that damn clunk also... with the solid.. i lost A. weight, B. the damn clunk and C. i do not have to change a darn diff cover seal.. i have changed mine 3 times in a lil over a year (yeah i know my driving style blows).. i was fed up... BUT, i was not completely set out to do a solid axle swap until i found a great deal on a complete 02 GT rear in October from disk to disk for 440 bucks that had 35k miles on it http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/showthread.php?t=411627 (post number 40 pulled me in).. ..hell, all i did was resurface the rotors, added new rear brakes, lines and the appropriate suspension hardware and I was back on the road... it was a near 4 month process but that was also because i accomplished a new oil pan install, new clutch, tranny rebuild with 26 spline, resurfaced front rotors with new brakes and a new exhaust. But if I was to do an expensive multi thousand dollar swap.. then no, i would not have done this... I broke even by selling the IRS complete vs the price of the solid axle complete.... its got all stock internals but that will change.. i just wanted to make the swap, get it back on the road and do internals next. Within the next couple of weeks I will be having my torque box seams and upper control arms points welded to eliminate the possibility of getting that area all messed up. If someone is looking for what i mentioned on A. B. and C. and picking up a cheap complete rear.. it might be something for someone to consider. The value of the car with no IRS.. not really worried about that at all. But yes, if value of your car is a concern, then do not initiate the swap!! Peace!!
P.S. Go Tony Stewart!!!!!!!!!!!
P.S. Go Tony Stewart!!!!!!!!!!!
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do you have any pics of how the exhaust hangers mount ? im not sure if i have the correct ones or not.
i have an 03 cobra.i tryed 327 and hated them..i drive mostly hwy and it was nice at 100mph but seemed to lug alot in traffic,,try driving more in traffic or quietly like at 25mph..i have changed to 373 now and thats too high on hwy but great in traffic..goodluck othewise
no.. BUT be carefull with where the hangers go.. i originally thought the hanger points were right there near the driveshaft.. but their not.. they are out near the frame rail.. my dumb ass did not realize it til i seen a under pic of someone elses car. I can get you a picture later.. send me a PM of your e-mail and I can send these later today.. thanks
03cobramanIII
Banned
update the stock irs bilsten only have about a 1/2 of travel if that much with weight on car, i got some lakewood 50/50s now for a 97 cobra ,i went ahead and put my barely used eibach drag lauch spring in the rear , with the right side air bag,with 15 psi. it does seem to help with weight transfer i cut down on my 0-60 mph times to .5 seconds with fearthing the gas still, i did also removed my front sway bar , and added a rear sway bar. its i little looser in the corners now , but i dont cut corners hard anyhow,
my left rear side is about a 1/2 higher than the right side , if i blow the air bag up to 25 psi. it's only 1/4 off. but whem im sitting in it im sure it even.
my left rear side is about a 1/2 higher than the right side , if i blow the air bag up to 25 psi. it's only 1/4 off. but whem im sitting in it im sure it even.
one more question i have maybe somone can help me with. how far in do the upper control arm bushings go in to the housing? Also on the upper control arm tourque box there is a gap between the bushing sleeve and the box wall is that normal or do i need to use a spacer to take up the space there?
The bolts pull the sides together easily. I just measured the old ones and made these the same.
I was thinking that would happen it just looked like too large of gap to pull in
what did you torque your girdle cover bolts to and set the preload on the studs ?
what did you torque your girdle cover bolts to and set the preload on the studs ?
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Sorry, i just put the directions in the trash last week. If I had to guess it would be 25 ft. pounds on the cover bolts and 5 inch pounds on the preload for the stud caps. That cover is the new 2005 and newer 8.8 and it is the only one that clears the spare tire part of the floor pan.
thanks you have been a huge help
Hey fellas, new to the site!
This thread has exactly what I hoped in finding info on, but still havent found it all. I too have a 99 Cobra that has had the IRS ditched in favor of the SA. My problem is with the UCAs. I have no idea what type of adjustable brand they are but they use the heim joints. It seems that the bolt hole in the torque box is smaller than the hole in the sleeve of the arm and causes tremendous noise. What do I do to get it right? I've been told to drill the hole bigger to match the arm and select a new bolt:shrug:. I don't want to do that just yet!
And what about the ABS sensors. The light is ON, I cant find the harness connectors and I see no reluctors at either wheel. What if I need to do an axle seal...are all the tubes from 96+ the same seal diameter, because I have axle seals already, but are for a 96GT:??:
Any suggestions are welcomed!!
Good day!
This thread has exactly what I hoped in finding info on, but still havent found it all. I too have a 99 Cobra that has had the IRS ditched in favor of the SA. My problem is with the UCAs. I have no idea what type of adjustable brand they are but they use the heim joints. It seems that the bolt hole in the torque box is smaller than the hole in the sleeve of the arm and causes tremendous noise. What do I do to get it right? I've been told to drill the hole bigger to match the arm and select a new bolt:shrug:. I don't want to do that just yet!
And what about the ABS sensors. The light is ON, I cant find the harness connectors and I see no reluctors at either wheel. What if I need to do an axle seal...are all the tubes from 96+ the same seal diameter, because I have axle seals already, but are for a 96GT:??:
Any suggestions are welcomed!!
Good day!
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I drilled the hole out on the upper torque box to 9/16 so i can use the ford 14 mm bolts the axle seals are all the same
Im not sure but i think the seat has to come out to get to the abs sensor harness I still need to do this with my car
Im not sure but i think the seat has to come out to get to the abs sensor harness I still need to do this with my car
Thanks for the info , man. The ABS on these cars is a 4-channel right (a sensor at each wheel)?
Can anyone verify where I can find the harness connector for the rear ABS connections?
Can anyone verify where I can find the harness connector for the rear ABS connections?
I agree that drilling the hole larger in the mounting point would be the best thing to do. And the ABS sensor plug is located under the rear seat and you will need 2 sensors, one for each wheel. Steve at Tousley ford has the best deals on ford parts check the classified section.
What about the reluctors? Is he the SVTPARTS? If so, I've already PM'd him. Thanks again for the help.
Sorry, yes all the bearings are the same size so you need axles from a factory ABS rear end. The new axles are a little longer and make room for the tone rings.
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