a few ?'s about a live axle swap!

[Keith 5.0]

I know there's a thread floating around here somewhere detailing the whole process, but my questions don't pertain to anything written in the thread.

1. Can I just swap driveshafts and be done with it, or do I have to replace the flange on the IRS? I would prefer to keep my D/S, but it really doesn't matter to me if we swap.

2. What do I have to do to swap ABS sensors? Does the solid axle have to come apart to do it? He's keeping my brakes if that makes any difference.

I'm doing the swap this weekend, so any help/ tips would be appreciated :beer:

 

[mikey99cobra]

the driveshafts are actaully different lengths, so they have to be swapped. He has to have an IRS driveshaft and you have to have a solid axle IRS. all you do is swap them, no changing flanges.

abs sensors have to be swapped, its very very easy to do. Just unplug under the rear seat and pull them out and under the car. they should come out with the rear for both cars. the sensors are different lengths i belive and thats why they have to be swapped.

Good luck with it, im sure you will love the solid axle.

 

[droptopsnake01]

I kept my cobra driveshaft.

 

[quick01snake]

i swapped w/ the GT i was trading with.

 

[Keith 5.0]

i swapped w/ the GT i was trading with.

You swapped what, driveshafts? Was there anything you had to do to make em work, or did they swap right over?

 

[mikey99cobra]

I kept my cobra driveshaft.

wasnt it a lil short? its supposedly like an inch and a half shorter than the GT shaft. whatever works i guess.

 

[Keith 5.0]

is the diameter & the bolt pattern the same on both of the driveshafts? What's the difference between the two, just that one's steel and one's aluminum?

 

[Sanchez]

1. Can I just swap driveshafts and be done with it, or do I have to replace the flange on the IRS? I would prefer to keep my D/S, but it really doesn't matter to me if we swap.

That depends on what you're swapping with. GTs and older Cobras have the same bolt pattern you do. Mach 1's have a different pattern (the same one as the 03 Cobra).

Your D/S is about 1/2" shorter than a GT, so your Cobra can use either one, but the GT donor will need yours. You can get away with a shorter shaft, but he can't get away with a longer one.

I'm doing the swap this weekend, so any help/ tips would be appreciated :beer:

Here are some parts to look out for:

- Quad shock mounts. These don't exist on your car. Similarly the rear IRS subframe brackets don't exist on your donor's car.
- The threaded tabs that the pinion snubber bolts go in need to come over from the donor.
- The exhaust hangers are totally different, so be sure to get those.
- You'll need a new catback. If you're going to put a stock GT catback on your car, put it in place before you bolt up the shocks and upper control arms. It won't go over the axle once everything's in place.

Other than that, all I can say is leave as many bolts in place as you can on the rearend as you're removing it. It makes it much easier to figure out where everything goes when you put it back in.

 

[quick01snake]

You swapped what, driveshafts? Was there anything you had to do to make em work, or did they swap right over?

we swapped driveshaft, and since it was from an auto '00 gt, we had to swap tranny yokes on the driveshafts also...

 

[Keith 5.0]

Great... Thanks for all the help guys. Sounds like everything should swap over fairly easily. I'll take some pics and let you guys know how it went :rockon: