Trade my GT rear end w/03 Cobra?

[jasonh_86]

There was a guy at the track last night with an '03 Sonic blue cobra.. he was running 9.75's in the 1000 ft.. he saw my car and came over and talked to me about what all i had done to it.. then he asked if i wanted to swap my solid rear for his independent rear.. it would be swapped from rotor to rotor, including all the brake lines, sensors, etc.. along w/the exhaust after the midpipe to the tips on both cars.. he said since he had enough $$, and it'd be costing him less to do this than it would be to buy another one and get it put in, he would pay for everything except for my gas up to the shop, which is about 1 1/2 hours away from my house via the interstate.. is it worth it to get the independent rear end or should i keep mine?

 

[Mike97gt]

why do you want the independant. it sucks. trust me all it will do is add weight.

 

[MidnightGT]

There was a guy at the track last night with an '03 Sonic blue cobra.. he was running 9.75's in the 1000 ft.. he saw my car and came over and talked to me about what all i had done to it.. then he asked if i wanted to swap my solid rear for his independent rear.. it would be swapped from rotor to rotor, including all the brake lines, sensors, etc.. along w/the exhaust after the midpipe to the tips on both cars.. he said since he had enough $$, and it'd be costing him less to do this than it would be to buy another one and get it put in, he would pay for everything except for my gas up to the shop, which is about 1 1/2 hours away from my house via the interstate.. is it worth it to get the independent rear end or should i keep mine?

My opinion is keep your rear end. It's much better for dragging then the cobra's independent rear, as the independent is better for road course racing.

 

[jasonh_86]

i know mine's better for drag racing, but i'm not gonna race it out at the track anymore.. i just dont feel like messing w/it really.. i'm afraid i'm gonna tear somethin up, and that's the last thing i need.. that's why he wants the rear end out of my car, b/c he cant find anyone w/a GT that's still got a good rear end out at the track and he finally found one, so he wants to trade.. i'm more into road racing and racing around on the interstate and the highways.. i just dont know how my car would do w/the independent rear.. and also, would my 18x9" FR500 wheels (straight from Ford Racing ) fit on the independent rear?

 

[mity2]

i want to get IRS. I do not frag race, all i ever do is drive highway that are croppy.
For the handring and ride quality, u can't beat IRS...
I was going to do it with member here, but I haven't heard from the guy in while...

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Indepenedent rear suspension is not old school. Mustangs are old school. Therefore they do not go together....

 

[Gearbanger 101]

I'd swap it in a heartbeat. Ignore these naysayer who still refuse to see anything but a solid axle under a Mustang. And who gives a rats ass if they're not the greatest for drag racing. You'd never notice the difference unless you were running D/R's or Slicks. The '03 IRS didn't have the same horrible wheel hop problems as the '99 and '01 Cobras. Not to mention it will ride and corner 10x better and your FR500's will fit like a glove.

Personally, if he's willing to swap strait up, you'd be a fool not to.

 

[Mustang5L5]

I'd do it.

I rarely take my car to the track but i routinely go for drives on winding roads. Having driven an '01 Cobra, i'd trade for the IRS in a heartbeat.

Keep in mind, you'll have to trade exhaust's too. The cat-backs are different

 

[1992 2.3LX]

i would do it in a heartbeat but i perfer the corners to the staright line. it's all about what you want to do with the car. and if a shop is doing it i hope they would garuntee their work so then you don't have to worry about breaking anything.

 

[Gearbanger 101]

Keep in mind, you'll have to trade exhaust's too. The cat-backs are different

There was a guy at the track last night with an '03 Sonic blue cobra.. he was running 9.75's in the 1000 ft.. he saw my car and came over and talked to me about what all i had done to it.. then he asked if i wanted to swap my solid rear for his independent rear.. it would be swapped from rotor to rotor, including all the brake lines, sensors, etc.. along w/the exhaust after the midpipe to the tips on both cars.. he said since he had enough $$, and it'd be costing him less to do this than it would be to buy another one and get it put in, he would pay for everything except for my gas up to the shop, which is about 1 1/2 hours away from my house via the interstate.. is it worth it to get the independent rear end or should i keep mine?

 

[mustang70]

I say do it. If someone came to me with that offer I'd want to know what time he wants me at the shop.

 

[Mach428]

If you don't like drag racing then its an awsome trade, especially since it will be free of cost. As long as the shop does good work and it doesn't cause more problems then its worth to you....It's a good trade

 

[jasonh_86]

i talked to a few of my buddies, they're probably the best w/the mustangs in the area, and they told me to keep my solid rear axle because there's more stuff to risk tearing up in the IRS.. i really like the idea of the IRS on the interstates around here because if you dont already know arkansas has some of the worst roads in the U.S... my solid rear feels perfectly fine while driving, but i know the IRS outperforms Solid rear, except at the track.. i do plan on just doing street racing, or whatever you wanna call stop light-to-stop light.. i am looking for the best setup to get my tires to hook and stay on the road from a dead stop.. i know w/the tires i have they don't like to grip.. they dont have hardly any sidewall flex and if i let too much air out, they'll run down real bad.. so i have no idea what to do

 

[Mike97gt]

i know i posted earlier to this but i want too make the same point again

1. it sucks for launching

2. it's heavy.

 

[Bornstanger]

tru it's heavy, but it adds that weight to the REAR of our nose heavy cars. just remember, life is all about trade-offs. sacrifice power for handling, vice versa. maybe sacrifice going out and boozin every weekend so you can get that next mod. trade-offs...

 

[cavepony]

Call MM or Steeda or some other place that handles suspensions. I asked Steeda if they would do the swap between my GT and a Cobra and they basically said unless you want the cool factor don't do it, they can make a solid handle better then the IRS from the Cobra.

 

[jasonh_86]

after talkin to my mechanic buddies about it, i've just decided not to mess w/it and keep the solid rear.. i really dont want to have to get the IRS worked on if i ever mess it up, and i dont feel ike taking the chance on it.. they made a point to me.. they said "all the Cobra guys w/IRS are UPGRADING to the solid rear that you have in ur car..."

 

[Gearbanger 101]

i talked to a few of my buddies, they're probably the best w/the mustangs in the area, and they told me to keep my solid rear axle because there's more stuff to risk tearing up in the IRS..

After reading this alone, it would be enough for me to disregard any of your buddies so called "expert" opinions. My Cougar has IRS and makes over 425fwhp. Several people on TCCOA have hard hitting bird and cats with the IRS and none have gone south. Even Mike Siska who runs a 2.3L Whipple making over 550rwhp running 10.8’s in a 4,000lb T-Bird all through a bone stock IRS rear end with ZERO issues. And look at all the 400-500hp Cobra's running around with IRS. You don't see them barfing out parts at every stop do you. The IRS is especially superior on rough roads over the solid axle. Like I said, if you're making hard 10, 11 and 12-second runs on slick or Drag Radials....sure, you're gonna break something eventually. Buy you know what....the same goes for the stock 28-spline axles on your GT.

Assuming this guys IRS is in good shape, it's a win, win situation for you anyway you slice it. You're making a big mistake not switching it over. Some guys are asking over $1000.00 premium to do this and aren't even including the exhaust in the deal. This guys is willing to go strait up with you.

It's your money and your decision, but the very fact that you're considering it, tells me that the more you learn about them from here on out, you're going to be kicking yourself in the ass for listening to your buddies who obviously have no clue on this one.

 

[jasonh_86]

those guys i talked to are the two head Ford guys around here, especially with the mustangs.. they have seen lots of IRS cobras come thru and have had to replace so much stuff.. but why would he be wanting to go to the solid rear if the IRS is so great? the solid rear is just stronger, it may not CORNER as well, but i dont care because i dont plan on doing any high speed cornering around here.. i'm just looking for a street car, something to race around on the streets.. not around curves, but not at the drag strip.. i dont plan on ever getting a set of slicks, but i think you might need to check again on the IRS.. these guys have gone thru schooling/training to work on this stuff.. they know their stuff..