how much gear is too much for 01 snake?

i have a 01 cobra vert w/ an o/r h-pipe, flows, k&n (which will soon be replaced by a cnl 80mm mass air) and i am thinking about puttin on some 4.10's or 4.30s. my mechanic who only works on high performance mustangs says with my stock IRS, i have a very good chance of breaking an axle from wheel hop starting out or powershifting into second. so my question is, do you think i should put these gears on without doing anything suspension wise? and how much worse is wheelhop with friggin 4.10s or 30s, and how much would gears help me throughout my powerband? help help help. thanks

13.9 @ 100mph

if you're going to drag race pretty frequently or dont drive a lot on the freeway, may as well go with 4.30's or 4.10's. in drag racing i think its a given that eventually something will break

ANYTHING ABOVE 30'S ARE TOO MUCH SOME GUYS LIKE 56'S BUT MY OPINION IS THATS TOO DAMN MUCH. i'VE GOT 4.10'S WITH A 6 SPEED TREMEC I COULD HAVE AFFORDED TO GO WITH 30'S EASILY.

i think that 4.30's are about max....4.56 is pretty much a drag only gear...4.30's are even pushing it in my book

I am kind of leaning to the 4.30s myself. The insurance on this car is crazy and the resale went to **** so since I might be stuck with it might as well mod it to be a tire burner.

I'd go with 4.30's. I wish I would have put them in my GT insted of 4.10's. Oh well, they'll do for now. A Vortech and 3.73's or a T-56 with a .50 OD and 4.56's might be in the future for me.

I have also heard ford mechanics saying that going with 410 or higher can destroy the rear end because of the irs i guess, Im not sure what the exact problem would be , honestly I have not noticed any more wheel hop than on my old 95 gt with a live rear end. 3 things occur to me with the irs when launching. A) you dont give it enough gas and you bog it B) you give it too much gas and you just light em up C) you give it right in the middle and whoolaaa you have wheel hop.
But there is a place right between B and C that you get a nice smooth launch with basically no tire spin, this is assuming you have tires that can hook up and a talented right foot
The more and more I read about different gears, the more I just want to leave it alone. Because it seems like it will cause more harm than good

ive beeen told that gts need different gears because they have les rpm's!! just what i heard

im runnin 13.9 right now with a 9.0 1/8th. how much are 4.10's gonna lower my ET? Also i've heard w/ 4.10's your shifting into 4th right at the traps...

doesnt the bigger gears kill the gas milage

i have 3:73's in my 98 cobra vert and i wish that i had put in 4:10's. on the other hand i want to s/c it so i am glad that i use 3:73's. if i were you i would go with at least 4:10's.

i had 4.56s in my IRS 99 cobra. loved them. they were perfect. my car is daily driven with about 300 miles per week put on her. gas milage stayed about 20mpg unless i was just pissed off that week. the least i would go is 4.30s. these cobras love to rev. dont base your opinion on what gt owers say unless they understand the differences in the cars. its like comparing apples to oranges. Best thing to do is drive a cobra with 4.10s, 4.30s, 4.56s and see how you like it. gear changes on these cars can be pricey so you dont want to regret it when your done. good luck!

Trade your IRS for a Solid axel...there are many people out there that would do the trade.

Still got 3.27's? Get on the freeway & leave it in 4th. 70mph should be right under 3,000 rpm. It would be just under 2,800 in 5th gear with 4.56's. How's it feel on the freeway in 4th? It'll give you a decent feel for 4.56's.

If I ever get around to doing gears in mine, I'll go 4.30's.

I put 3.73 in my 99, seems to be good all around gear, did other mods at same time so i cant say exactly how much it will help your 1/4

I have an N/A '98 Cobra with 4.30s. I too struggled for a while trying to figure out which gear to put it. After talking to many Cobra owners the general thought seemed to be, "These cars love to rev, so don't fear the gear." So I crossed my fingers, threw in the 4.30s, and have never looked back.

Funny story. My buddy has a 99 GT with 3.73s. I let him drive my Cobra to see what he thought of it with the 4.30s. He stomped on it in 2nd gear and shifted to third very shortly thereafter. I said to him, "Dude, what the hell are you doing?! You still had 1500 rpms to go!" He immediately responded, "Holy **** dude. 4.30s are perfect on a Cobra. You can still rev out each gear much longer than my GT, but it gets up into the power really fast!"

On the freeway in 5th gear at around 70mph I turn somewhere around 2700rpm -- that's about a 700rpm increase over the stock gears. At first it was a little nerve racking seeing the tach a bit higher than usual, but these motors are meant to rev. And besides, what the hell did you buy a Cobra for anyway? To cruise on the freeway? Hell no. You got it for acceleration, or at least I did. Also keep in mind that by lowering the gears, you might not lose any top end. A '98 Cobra probably can't hit redline in 5th gear stock, but by lowering the gears 5th ends up actually being usable (compared to an overdrive) and can more easily approach redline. I've never tested this, as I don't care about top speed, but it's an interesting thought.

By the way, I primairly drive my Cobra around town/cruising on the weekends -- maybe at the dragstrip once every few months. So you can kinda get an idea of how and where I actually use my gear. I use it mostly in the "real word," so to speak.