Who has done solid axle swap? how do you like it?

[rotor_powerd]

I would say downgrade is in the eye of the beholder.


My car is far from downgraded from my experiences with both the IRS and SRA. If I were to buy another Cobra today, the first modification would be a solid rear, no doubt about it.

 

[black2kstang]

No one really answered my question. I am concerned about the car hooking the best on the street. I know that most people do the sra swap because its less likely to wheel hop and break. But my car will not be on the track much. I want it to do its absolute best ON THE STREET.

 

[ac427cobra]

No one really answered my question. I am concerned about the car hooking the best on the street. I know that most people do the sra swap because its less likely to wheel hop and break. But my car will not be on the track much. I want it to do its absolute best ON THE STREET.

For all around performance and comfort, quality of ride and superior handling, the IRS is your best choice by a long shot.


:thumbsup::coolman::beer:

 

[64T-bolt]

No one really answered my question. I am concerned about the car hooking the best on the street. I know that most people do the sra swap because its less likely to wheel hop and break. But my car will not be on the track much. I want it to do its absolute best ON THE STREET.

bushings and a brace (thats it, domt get suckered into 1500 dollar axles that will break just as easily the first time it wheel hops). . you'll be good to go. keep it simple. My IRS was doing just fine on track and street with a bf brace, and that was it. . . .bone stock bushings, 700 ish rwhp, with a good tire (soft side wall to absorb shock).

I switced to a SRA recently because my car is morphing into a track only car. I would not switch out the IRS on a street car. If you do, keep it for reinstallation at a alter date. .

 

[BlownCobra32v]

So I'm new to the 03/04 cars but I have a built 96 Cobra that has a SRA, the handling should be similar if I do an SRA swap in my 03?

 

[Digital]

inaccurate information is saying that a solid is only good for drag racing, thats a load of crap and you know it. A solid can be made to handle, you cannot deny that. Well the irs may handle better depending on what parts are used. You can build a solid axle to handle, and not have to worry about the wheel hopping @ the track, plus the benefit of weight loss. It just humors me that people say putting a solid in a cobra makes it a drag car and "butchers" it up. I have no doubts you know what you are talking about. But statements like that are bogus. You arent butchering a cobra by putting in a solid. You unbolt one rear, and bolt the other one in how is that butchering it?? There is no cutting, hacking etc etc to make it work. Its a direct fit.

Is it butchering because it didnt come in the car from the factory?

Well then i guess installing a kb, whipple etc on and 03/04 should be considered butchering as well. Lets get real here.

My point is, you see it all the time on the internet. People talk about solid swaps in these cars and you get some people that read on the internet that you should only use it for drag racing and have no first hand experience. Going to a solid was one of the best mods i could have done to the car. I dont drag race it a ton. My car is mainly a street car and i love it. I dont have to worry about the hop, $1500 axles, and i saved a ton of weight. My car cuts 1.4 60s @ the track, and turns awesome on the street after a few adjustments. Now if i built the car for strictly autocross/roadracing then maybe i would have weighed my options more and kept the irs. Maybe if i was, like you said, looking for that every last tenth on a lap time then it would be a different story. 99% of the people looking to go solid arent in it to autocross their car. They want a balance of street performance, handling, weight savings and straight line performance. If you do it right and its not hard, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a solid. Now if you are doing an sra conversion, putting in a spool, 50/50 rear shocks, etc etc and intend on street driving it then yes i agree, its only good for a straight line

but lets cut the horseshit. You can build a solid to have the best of both worlds. Handling (maybe not as good as a fully built irs to corner carve like a gt3 porsche), weight savings and drag racing. I dont think the op is concerned about corner carving his car to the maximum. The biggest most inaccurate information about sras is that its for straight line only and has no street manners. Hell my solid feels more stable then the wobbly irs does.

Maybe you are biased yourself because you are in the business of selling irs upgrade parts. I dont know you from a hole in the wall, but im sure you know what you are talking about. But for anyone to say a solid is for drag racing, straight line only is a crock of shit and you know it.

quoted for mother ****ing truth /thread


Maybe everyone is having trouble because there is so much crap info about the solids and IRS.
Imma try to lay it down real smoothe and easy for ya...

For most people will the swap to solid from irs be helpful? No.
Will the IRS break at the track or on the street for most? No.
Will the IRS handle better over a Solid for most on the street or 95% of their driving? No.
Will the weight savings the Solid offers over the IRS over shadow the ride quality difference? Yes.
Will the IRS be better if you autocross over a solid? Yes.
Will the IRS be better if you are a spirited city driver? Yes.
Will the IRS be noticably better then a Solid if you are a spirited city driver? No.

Now I will try to go into a slightly more advanced explanation...
Most people come to the point that they are scared they will break the IRS or they are tired of the hopping and extra weight.
If you are not worried about either of those things please stay with the IRS. You are wasting your money otherwise.
Should you invest loads of money into the IRS if it hops? I don't think so. I don't think it's worth spending a thousand dollars or more upgrading the IRS to make it stop hopping. But that is a question each person must ask themselves.
Do I think one should instead spend the thousand and buy a solid to prevent hopping? No. If your reason to go solid is soley the hopping then you should not go solid.

Who should go solid? You need to ask yourself these things and if you don't say yes to 3/4s of them please stay with the IRS.
Are you afraid you will break the IRS?
Are you experiencing wheel hop?
Is your IRS mostly stock?
Do you want to reduce weight from the car?
Do you not want to invest over a thousand dollars into the IRS?

If you answer Yes to atleast 4 of those questions then you should go Solid.
Otherwise stick with the IRS and either put money into it or live with what you got.


Most people with a built solid will NOT notice the difference between the two.
If you are into autocross then stick with the IRS. No one is forcing you to swap.
But if you are not into autocross there is no down side of having a solid over an IRS.
It's that simple. You can have a well behaving solid for less then $1200 that will take you into the 9s and feel great on the street. Then sell the IRS and recoup half your cost. Essentially a 600$ mod.




Now that i've talked about that i'll talk about my own setup.

From my sig: Rear End: 98 GT Solid - Shimmed GT500 Differential - Moser 31 Spline Axles - Moser 2" Studs - FRPP 3.27 Gears
Pretty much what happened was I grabbed a 98GT solid out of a junk yard since it was cheaper and I wasnt worried about having the shorter wheel base.
I purchased some moser axles and studs off jegs and a set of frpp 3.27 gears off lethal as well as lethals 8.8 rebuild and shim kit. I also got a set of stock gt springs from the junk yard and grabbed a set of 50/50 adj shocks.
I also went to autozone and gave them the used gt brake calipers and got some new ones for like 60$. Also snagged some drilled and slotted rotors off ebay for 120$ while I was at it.
I also upgraded the bushings and U&L control arms as well to poly and tubular respectively.
I found a shop in central florida that specialises in upgrading gt500 suspensions and they were selling used low mile gt500 diffs. I bought one for 100$ off a gt500 that had 137 miles on it.
I then took everything to my friend that builds rears and had him slap it all together and shim the diff tighter.
I dropped the IRS out with my buddy using hand tools and slapped the solid in over the course of 2 nights.

What is my personal take? I noticed very little handling difference on the street. The ride was very close as far as stiffness and travel over bumps. The IRS does feel a little better over very uneven terrain though.
I don't have any sway bars in the back or front so I can't really corner carve but it feels the same to me on hard turns with the IRS possibly being a little better.

Over all i'm very happy with this mod and would easily have done it much sooner had there not been so much controversy on the forums about it.

 

[whyte_03]

I LOVE MY SWAP!! Did mine at 55k miles.. car has 98k miles.. NO PROBLEMS with the rear at all.. when i bought the car at 14k miles I did the diff seal 3 damn times.. on the 3rd time is when I decided enough was enough.

The only thing I wish I would have done was weld all the seams of the upper and lower control arms mount areas.. i have no problems there but would like to have done it for more stability.

Once all the parts were obtained..IT WAS EASY!! the handling was the same and the ride was the same after the swap... if anything... its better because there is no damn clunk..no damn diff seal leaking and no half shafts to worry about. AND i still have no sway bar and the thing hangs about as good as it did with the IRS. good luck!!

by the way.. I used the Ford C Springs.. just had to cut 1 coil off the rears.. LOVE em

 

[Black Sex]

If it matters to anyone, I did a SRA swap about 5K miles ago. I do like it and dont have any complaints about it. I got an offer of doing a trade. So I am converting back to IRS. Right now I have 3.73's. I like them and at about 70 mph it turns 2k rpm. The IRS im getting has 4.10's, diff brace, and subframe bushings, so I see how I like that. I will be looking into some diff bushings. ;-);-) Im going to shoot you a PM tomorrow Bruce

 

[mustang_guy]

I picked up my Solid rear end on the weekend and plan on sandblasting, painting and welding the axle tubes this week.
Then the 31 spline carrier, Ford Racing girdle, 3.55 or 3.73 gears and moser axles. I decided to keep my Cobra rear brakes on it by using Mach1 brackets (I hope 15x10 inch drag wheels will clear)
as far as Control arms Im planning on ordering TeamZ upper and lowers, strange adjustable shocks and stock GT springs (maybe half coil cut) and stock sway bar

I was looking at the stock bushings in the rear end at the upper control arms, they look in good shape but Im debaiting on putting aftermarket ones in while the rear end is out but have no idea what I should replace them with?


Lastely I have a question about one piece mounted to the front of the diff housing, its the flat wide piece. I was told it doesnt do anything and to take it off for weight. Anyone know anything about this?

 

[black2kstang]

It helps stop the vibration your rear puts out. And if you plan on adjusting your pinion angle you might wanna leave it on,

 

[kenswickedcobra]

I like mine and have no regrets. 3.73s, I went with the HPM mega bite jr. LCAs and definately love them compared to the UPRs I originally installed.

 

[rotor_powerd]

Fastest lap time at Laguna Seca in the 2009 World Challenge series.


I wonder why the SUPERIOR rear suspensions of the 911, Vette, and Viper put them behind the Mustang?

 

[mu22stang]

^ Uhhh, winning a race/setting a fastest lap is a bit more involved than that...

 

[ac427cobra]

Fastest lap time at Laguna Seca in the 2009 World Challenge series.


I wonder why the SUPERIOR rear suspensions of the 911, Vette, and Viper put them behind the Mustang?

I highly doubt anyone here preps an SRA like that SRA is prepped. :read:

A vast majority of SRA swaps on this board are either Mustang GT, or Mach 1 units with better bushings and control arms. :idea:

 

[rotor_powerd]

That's really great, but 3 of the most prominent IRS cars you have cited again and again are still behind it.

 

[kenswickedcobra]

It all depends on what you want in the car, if your gonna be out on a road track trying to carve corners for a living then I'd say stay with the IRS. If you want to get rid of the annoying wheel hop Id go with a SRA. However, a SRA car is bad to drive, handles great to be exact.

 

[mu22stang]

That's really great, but 3 of the most prominent IRS cars you have cited again and again are still behind it.

I certainly hope you aren't declaring that the SRA has any sort of general superiority over the IRS on a racetrack with turns, elevation changes, curbs, undulations, bumps, etc., especially with this sole example. You'd be fundamentally, historically, and literally wrong.

 

[ac427cobra]

That's really great, but 3 of the most prominent IRS cars you have cited again and again are still behind it.

Once you hang around racing for a few decades you'll understand that it's not a brand, a driver, a sponsor or even an owner that makes a team successful. What makes a team successful is the team itself, the chemistry the team has working together and the tools the team has at their disposal. Ok, not to mention a sizeable budget. ;-)

The subject at hand is not multi-million dollar race teams and their success or lack thereof. What we are talking about is ordinary, every day people and basic suspension systems on daily transportation. :read:

 

[steedafever]

i did the swap and love it. it drives great on the street too

 

[Digital]

Once you hang around racing for a few decades you'll understand that it's not a brand, a driver, a sponsor or even an owner that makes a team successful. What makes a team successful is the team itself, the chemistry the team has working together and the tools the team has at their disposal. Ok, not to mention a sizeable budget. ;-)

The subject at hand is not multi-million dollar race teams and their success or lack thereof. What we are talking about is ordinary, every day people and basic suspension systems on daily transportation. :read:

Exactly, in that case the SRA does great, just as good as the IRS.
Case closed, Thanks for admiting it finaly.