1996 Cobra Rear Pad Thickness Question

[IA-SteveB]

I have been trying to change my rear pads and rotors on my 73k mile 1996 Cobra. I went to Advance Auto and they sold me Carquest Wearever part #GNAD637. It said they were direct fit for the 96 Cobra. I also rented the caliper piston tool to make sure I was doing this right. Anyway, I screwed the piston into the bore on both sides, put the new pads in place and the caliper wouldn't fit over the pads. I tried cranking the pistons in further but they were in as deep as I could get them as far as I can tell. I did a little reading online and saw that there are different thickness pads for GT (16.8mm) and Cobra (14.9mm) due to the solid gt rotor and vented cobra rotor. I took the pads back to Advance and asked them to verify that it was right and they saw the same part # was specified for GT and Cobra. Their site even said they were 14.9mm. I asked them to measure them with a dial caliper to make sure they really are 14.9mm and they didn't have one. Grrr. I don't have a definitive answer on whether they were really wrong for my car.

I ended up returning them and going to O'Reilly Auto. Their system listed two different part numbers for their BrakeBest line. C627 was for GT 16.8mm and C627A for 14.9mm for Cobra with vented rotors. I had them order me the correct ones.

Has anyone else had trouble with Advance with respect to rear Cobra pads? I really hope this takes care of it because my car has been down a week now waiting for parts. Around here, EVERYTHING for Cobra has to be ordered.

 

[flstang65]

it all depends on who they are getting their parts from also, i do know that aap has a lot of cobra parts listed as gt and cobra so, with specialty vehicles like that you have to be very specific. for weird parts like that i have better luck at oreilly and Vato zone.

 

[Noobz347]

Order all dat-chit from RockAuto. IF nothing else, you can at least get the correct part numbers from their website.

 

[90sickfox]

Belt sander...and never have to worry again ..can get pads anywhere. Smh

 

[IA-SteveB]

So, I went back to AAP and had them pull the Cobra brake pads again so I could measure them with a dial caliper. They were indeed 16.8mm. That's what their system specified for the Cobra. Anyway, I now know. Lesson learned. At least my brakes work great again.