Question About Cobra Brake Upgrades.

[5LugFoxFanatic]

I have a question about brakes. I have an 86 with SN95 front brakes and rear as well. I just bought a 13” Cobra upgrade, and want to know about the rears. I am doing a 2003 IRS swap shortly, and I am still not sure if I need swap the rears for the Cobra’s. I know that the Cobra uses a bigger rotor and thinner pad. But what I am unclear about is if I can use 94-04 GT/LX brakes on my IRS or if I have to buy rotors and pads. From what I understand, the calipers are the same, it’s the pads that are thinner because the Cobra uses a thicker vented rotor. I do not want to spend 180 bucks for calipers if I do not have to.

 

[vristang]

Subscribing to a soon to be sweet thread!

I would think that the '03 IRS would come complete with Cobra brakes?

Please continue to post your progress, this is a great swap!

 

[tunedin302]

I'm thinking that most of us in the 5.0 forum won't have an answer for you. I would suggest posting in the 4.6 modular forum. Also, there is a guy on corral who has done this same swap.

 

[5LugFoxFanatic]

Nope did not come with brakes. The guy I bought it from took it out to drop in a solid axle….so he would not destroy his IRS with 1200hp. He kept the brakes obviously for his solid. It did come with springs, Bilsteins, billetflow diff protector and poly diff bushings. I am in the process of making a website of every detail, brake line bend, every tool needed and about a million pics when the install is taking place. When I get done, I’ll post it here, expect a few months.

Only reason I post here is because it deals with Foxes, but yeah I'll post there as well.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Yeah you kind need to put the Cobra brakes on it.

However, you can reuse your calipers. The calipers are the same but the "bridge" portion is different. It's wider to fit over the CObra rotor. You can make the GT/V6 ones work with a small clearancing with a grinder. If you have a Cobra rotor and try to slip the caliper on, you'll see what needs to be grinded away. Not a big deal. Also you'll need to shave down your pads slightly if they are too thick. Most parts store "Cobra pads" are just GT pads anyway and some cobra guys need to shave them down.

As for other brackets, not sure what he left you with. Can you get a pic of the IRS where the brakes would mount? A few angles would help.

 

[HardmanGT]

Does the IRS assembly have the caliper mounting and anti-moan brackets installed still? If so, grab some new pads and rotors. That would be all you need.

The Cobra brakes use a bracket that positions it higher to clear the larger diameter rotor. The pads are thinner to accomidate the thicker Cobra rotor. The calipers are identical.

 

[Mustang5L5]

The Cobra brakes use a bracket that positions it higher to clear the larger diameter rotor. The pads are thinner to accomidate the thicker Cobra rotor. The calipers are identical.

The height difference is made up through the axle bracket, which he does not have. Therefore there is prob a bracket on the IRS the caliper bracket would then bolt to.

The GT and Cobra caliper brackets are the same height. You could put a Cobra bracket on a GT, but you'd have to grind the bracket wider slightly

 

[5LugFoxFanatic]

Here's a really crappy pic of it with my cam phone. I'll take some better pics this sunday.