My season is officially opened.

[jari]

It was a great day, so I took the cobra out and drove around with the top down for a couple of hours in the middle of the day.
When the kids came home from school, they wanted to go for a drive and take their friend with us.

As I turned on hwy I, I decided to show off a bit. I took the first gear easy but floored it on the second gear. The car lost traction and did a few nasty wheel hops and then I heard a loud screeching sound.

I let off the gas and stopped the car. Something was obviously broken. The clutch and transmission seemed to be OK, but if I tried to go, the car wouldn't move, just make a grinding sound. Fortunately we were less than half a mile form home, so I sent the kids walking back home to get the Excursion and some tow lines.

We towed the car back home and I lifted it up on jack stands. A quick investigation revealed the probelm.
The passenger side half shaft had snapped at the inner end. It was a really clean cut. Even the rubber boot was still attached.

The good thing is that it broke now and so close to home. It would have broken somewhere later anyways. Probably at GLD.

Now the question is, do I invest in expensive stronger half shafts or should I just dump the IRS and get a solid rear axle?

[Yelooooh98GT]

X2 I have a buddy with a 04 cobra and he has gone through probably like 5 or 6 half shafts that he has snapped, otherwise try hardened halfshafts if they make them im not sure.


If I remember right, they do, but I thought they were like 1400 bucks for a pair. That'd get you well on your way to having a pretty stout 8.8.

[Kirk]

That sucks, but good thing it was close to home.

[Greg@GLD]

Most of the guys I know who have IRS Cobras that drag race them or drive them hard have converted to a solid axle Jari.

We have had so many of those break at GLD it's crazy. You can have it beefed up if you really like the IRS, but I'd go to a live axle setup with that kind of power...

I had my Cobra out for the first time since last year also. Sure was a nice day! :beer:

[03snake]

I think the level 2 half shafts handle 800hp and the level 5's something like 1000. I haven't ugraded my half shafts yet, I will when they break but probably to a level 2, since I won't be seeing 1000hp with this car. It is not a dedicated race car, it is more of a somewhat fast cruise car. I like it that way. What I have done that has eliminated the killer wheel hop is add the billet flow ar steeda IRS diff. cover brace, I have seen alot of these IRS diff. covers flex under acceleration and break at the strip. Then I run with drag radials at the track. These 2 things have eliminated my wheel hop. On the street, if it starts to hop with cold tires I get out of it immediately. I know the half shafts will go eventually but I want to be able to return this car to stock if need be. Despite the IRS, I do love this car. The only plus to the IRS is that the ride is pretty nice.
Mike :shifter:

[TWIRKU2]

solid is the only way.

[Fatstang]

If you swap to a solid 8.8, you are also losing 80lbs. which is good!

[jari]

if you want a solid rear axle we can switch cars :hehe: id love to have a cobra

We could swap axles. Even trade. I'll even throw in the wheel hop for free:)

[jari]

I think the level 2 half shafts handle 800hp and the level 5's something like 1000. I haven't ugraded my half shafts yet, I will when they break but probably to a level 2, since I won't be seeing 1000hp with this car. It is not a dedicated race car, it is more of a somewhat fast cruise car. I like it that way. What I have done that has eliminated the killer wheel hop is add the billet flow ar steeda IRS diff. cover brace, I have seen alot of these IRS diff. covers flex under acceleration and break at the strip. Then I run with drag radials at the track. These 2 things have eliminated my wheel hop. On the street, if it starts to hop with cold tires I get out of it immediately. I know the half shafts will go eventually but I want to be able to return this car to stock if need be. Despite the IRS, I do love this car. The only plus to the IRS is that the ride is pretty nice.
Mike :shifter:

I have looked at the DSS shafts too. The Level 2 shafts have worked well on cars with 600rwhp doing 5000RPM launches with slicks.
I have a lot of money and time invested in the IRS. I rebuilt it last year with urethane bushings, 03 cross member and 4.10 gears. I also have a carbon fiber driveshaft that cost me an arm and a leg. I would hate to throw all that away, but I DO HATE WHEEL HOP.
Maybe I should keep the Cobra as a "somewhat fast cruise car" and put my money into my -91 GT and turn it into a (fun-) race car.

[03snake]

Maybe I should keep the Cobra as a "somewhat fast cruise car" and put my money into my -91 GT and turn it into a (fun-) race car.


That's what I would do if I had 2 cars. :shifter:

[SuperSonic]

I have seen it both ways for drag racing. I have seen IRS cars in the 10's, mostly cars converted to automatics, but there have been a few stick cars with an IRS go that fast also, but a lot of money was thrown into them to make them that stout to handle the power. If drag racing is your primary object, then switch to an solid axle. It can be made super strong for a lot less money and it is much easier to work on. I like the IRS because of what I do with the car which is go around corners fast, but have you ever taken a good look at the IRS they bolt into these cars? What a mess! I'm a mechanical engineer, and it just cracks me up how they designed this thing. I know that they wanted it to be a direct bolt in at the same mounting points for the solid axle, but when I lay under the car on the creeper and look at that mess, it's very easy to see why the car weighs in at 3800 lbs. Don't get me wrong, I like the IRS, but if I were to give up on my corner carving habits and concentrate on drag racing, I would swap a solid axle in immediately.

[jari]

I had the IRS out of the car last spring. I took it apart and replaced all the bushings with urethane ones. It is heavy, but it is also clever how they managed to make it interchangeable with a solid axle.
Now that I know how to do it, I'm pretty sure that I could swap an IRS and a solid axle in just a few hours. For now, I'm going to upgrade to DSS Level 2 half shafts, but I will keep my eyes open for a good solid axle setup.