Lengthen Axle Tubes?

[AssPikle]

Is it possible? I have an axle out of a 95 cobra and I want to swap it out for my IRS. I know this axle is about 1.5" shorter than my IRS wheel base. Is it possible to have them lengthened to the correct length? I already have 04 mach1 axles I can use, just looking to see if it can be done. Any input?

 

[Cobra-Commander]

well a common mod is to cut and weld ford 9" axle ends onto an 8.8. that allows you to get rid of the c-clips that hold the axles in. You could do that and just add the needed legnth then. Personally i recommend against it because you have to boot your ABS and traction control as i have seen. (plus deal w/ an ABS light now) Reason being is the c-clip eliminators press onto the axle where the ABS tone rings would go.

i think it is over rated. C-clips are fine for a street car that is drag raced. You want to get rid of the c-clips if you throw the car into corners in race conditions. that places a ton of load on the carrier bearings and wears em out fast in a c-clip setup. that throws off your backlash setting and causes the rear end to start to whine. However if you were into road racing or auto X and were throwing the car into corners, you should just keep the IRS.

personally i say sell it, and buy a stick axle of the proper year 99-04. with what you will spend on making that 8.8 you have work, i think it would be better spent on buying the proper parts.
as for the 28 spline mach 1 axles, i would sell them as well. Take the 31 spline diff out of your cobra's IRS and buy some Moser 31 spline axles to go into the solid with it. I personally would buy a new diff, and keep the IRS together in case you want to roll back, but if you need to do it on the cheap, you can recycle the gears, and diff. You also need the pinion flange off your cobra if you want to keep the cobra driveshaft.

 

[AssPikle]

well a common mod is to cut and weld ford 9" axle ends onto an 8.8. that allows you to get rid of the c-clips that hold the axles in. You could do that and just add the needed legnth then. Personally i recommend against it because you have to boot your ABS and traction control as i have seen. (plus deal w/ an ABS light now) Reason being is the c-clip eliminators press onto the axle where the ABS tone rings would go.

i think it is over rated. C-clips are fine for a street car that is drag raced. You want to get rid of the c-clips if you throw the car into corners in race conditions. that places a ton of load on the carrier bearings and wears em out fast in a c-clip setup. that throws off your backlash setting and causes the rear end to start to whine. However if you were into road racing or auto X and were throwing the car into corners, you should just keep the IRS.

personally i say sell it, and buy a stick axle of the proper year 99-04. with what you will spend on making that 8.8 you have work, i think it would be better spent on buying the proper parts.
as for the 28 spline mach 1 axles, i would sell them as well. Take the 31 spline diff out of your cobra's IRS and buy some Moser 31 spline axles to go into the solid with it. I personally would buy a new diff, and keep the IRS together in case you want to roll back, but if you need to do it on the cheap, you can recycle the gears, and diff. You also need the pinion flange off your cobra if you want to keep the cobra driveshaft.

Thanks, that was really informative. I think I may just keep the one I got and get another for the cobra. It only has maybe 500 miles on it and looks mint. The paint isn't even dirty. I was so impressed with the shape of this rear I thought it would be perfect for my 91 4cyl hatch.