I recently installed Cobra rear brakes on my GT. The motivation behind this was to increase pad life. At the track (Summit Point) I was getting about 30 minutes worth of pad life out of the stock GT rear brake pads. So in my effort to increase this I decided to upgrade to cobra rear rotors, since they are vented. The cobra rear upgrade utilizes the same caliper but the rotor increases .5" (from 10.5" to 11") and the good rotor selection increases. Stock a cobra comes with a vented disc and TireRack sells brembo replacements for a song.

For the upgrade, FRPP sells a 'kit', it runs about $190.00 however, they have been placed on backorder with no release date. If you buy just the necessary parts separately it will run about $300, why I have no idea...So I found someone with some gently abused cobra take offs from corner-carvers.com and he let me have the axel brackets, anti-moan brackets and rotors for $140. I didn't need nor want the dust shields as mine have been off for over a year. You will also need cobra pads unless your GT pads are worn down some, as the cobra rotor is a tad thicker, thus requiring a thinner pad.

So to recap the parts required are,

• Cobra Axel Brackets
• Cobra Anti-Moan Brackets (not required, you'll soon see why)
• Cobra Rotors
• Cobra Pads (or worn down GT Pads).

This install is suppose to be a direct swap, your mileage may vary. To being the axels have to be pulled so you can get to the 4 bolts holding the axel brackets in place. Not a big deal, just something you need to know. My rear differential with a Torsen took 2.5 quarts of gear lube. I didn't use any friction modifier because I have no clutches in the T2, so if you have the stock t-lock you might want to think about reshiming it and adding in some modifier in addition to the gear lube.

Once the axels are pulled and calipers/caliper brackets are removed, you can then remove the ABS sensor (yes you can retain your ABS). It doesn't look it but you can use a 1/4" socket to remove the bolt, just spray it with some PB blaster first. Then you can pull the 4 bolts on the axel brackets and the 2 nuts on the anti-moan U bolts, and you are done with removing parts. Nows a good time to give everything a good clean, scrub some rust off the axel and maybe even hit it with some primer and paint if you want. Just becareful not to get any debris in the Axel tubes. While you are in there you might think about replacing the wheel bearings if you have a high mileage mustang. I checked mine (currently I have 50k on the clock) and they looked fine, so I didn't bother.

To install the new parts, the cobra pieces go on in reverse. Just slip on the axel brackets, put the bolts on and bolt the ABS sensor back on. At this point you can slip in the axel’s. Be careful because you can push the axel further than necessary and damage the ABS sensor if you are not careful. Also watch out for the axel seals, you don't want to damage them, just take your time and support the axel as you slide it in, I had no trouble with mine. Once the bolts are tight you might as well button the diff back up by slipping on the C Clips, I’d hold off putting the cover on and filling with fluid, just in case you have to remove them again.

Once the axel bracket is bolted on and the axels are in place you can see if the anti-moan brackets will fit, mine didn’t. The Axel Quad Shock mounts were in the way. I haven’t had quad shocks for 2 years so I decided to grind them off. Easier said than done. I finally got the driver side off and installed the anti-moan bracket. At that point I decided against the passenger side, so I left the anti-moan bracket off.

Once you finish that up you can slip a rotor on and test fit the caliper bracket. I had to add shims and grind some of the bracket down so the rotor would turn freely and not rub the caliper bracket. A dremel works great for this as does some hardened washers. Just remove a little metal and test fit the rotor until you are happy.

In addition to the used rotors and GT pads, I also purchased some brand new brembo vented rotors for the front and rear, as well as some Hawk Blue and Black pads from MaximumMotorsports.com to try out at the track. The used rotors and stock pads will be for the street and the new rotors and hawks will be for the track. I'll provide an update once I return from Summit Point in a few weeks and let you know how the pads held up. I also plan on crafting up some Rear Brack ducts similar to the fronts.