Found someone selling some MM kit locally so I picked it up for the 01 snake. Forward offset A-arms with delrin bushings, a fat eibach front swaybar with endlinks, full length subframe connectors, a k-member brace, CC plates, aluminum rack bushings and and a steering shaft. I'll pick up the front and rear coil-over kits and bilsteins for all 4 corners next month. We'll see about the k-member. I don't really want to have the front wheels pushed that far forward again but I'm running 245's now so it probably won't rub so much if I do it. I'll probably have to wait to have it installed until I go to Africa in July just because it's a DD for now and I have some farm equipment to buy but never can tell. Aye. There's the rub, for in this sleep... what dreams may come.
Maximum cobra, coming soon
- Thread starter r3dn3ck
- Start date
cobrajeff96
Well-Known Member
Nice score, it'll surely change the car for the better. But I think you'll have to trim the front of the wheel well and front bumper area because mine has the regular arms (neutral offset) but the K-frame geometry pushed the tires within a few hair's width from that boundary of the front bumper.
weendoggy
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If it's all MM stuff, don't worry. I did a complete setup with my '02 and have the forward offset/delrin/doodah/arms/coil-overs etc and don't have any bind or rub with tires. I run 275/40-17 (4) street on 9" and track are 255/40-17 without issues. You will have to trim the inner liner for coil-over clearance. Get a PB in the rear and really make it feel better!
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ttocs
Post Whore
well heck yea who doesn't love MM?!
let the drinking begin!
let the drinking begin!
Did the math on the whole thing. What I picked up would have been ~$2001 ordered from anyone at retail even with taking advantage of grip box and package savings. I spent $1400. There's ~$1870 left to spend on coil over kits and new shocks/struts. The k-member and IRS bushings, we'll see about. My last pair of new edge body mustangs, both of which had an IRS for a while, were both full Maximum cars. The first one went landing gear up after a major braking system failure. The 2nd one eventually went from a coil-over converted IRS to a 98 cobra solid axle with a MM PHB/TA setup. The PHB/TA was better for standing starts and I was sick of breaking center sections and diff covers but the IRS simply can't be beaten in terms of cornering, at least once everything is properly set up.
cobrajeff96
Well-Known Member
Did you only use OEM diff covers. The FRPP cover I ran for a while and I abused it like it should be. Never dragged it on slicks or anything but I put it to use for sure.
Now I’m curious how much power you were making and what you were doing to blow a diff cover.
My coyote made 450rwhp/410ft lbs and I used to drop the clutch at 6k rpm on slicks. My irs is holding up fine. I do have the ford racing cover and a bunch of ftbr parts though.
My coyote made 450rwhp/410ft lbs and I used to drop the clutch at 6k rpm on slicks. My irs is holding up fine. I do have the ford racing cover and a bunch of ftbr parts though.
badass98svt
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Pretty sure you will need a MM K to work with the front arms. Or you need new arms to go with a different K
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The delrin bushings are the reason they won’t work. Had they been urethane, it wouldn’t be a concern. @r3dn3ck you need to consider that fact. The MM k-member alone will push the front wheels .75” forward and then the offset arms another .75” for a total of 1.5”
This will give you an idea of what you’re up against.
badass98svt
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Never heard that. That's good to know
That’s what I’m here for!
weendoggy
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That's weird. I'd used delrin bushed MM arms before on a stock k-member. Oh well. I guess the K-member is going to get done too. Thanks lads!
I have no idea why it was fragging diff covers. I was using stock covers at the time. I think it had to do with the bushing setup that the prior owner of the IRS put on it. The front diff bushings were all metal, either aluminum or steel, but not the rear mount and the rest of the bushing set was in not great shape. The flex in the rear would have been incompatible with the zero flex in the front causing binding and eventually breakage. I didn't know that at the time. My assumption that it was the bushing mismatches is based on the fact that it would blow the ears off of aluminum center sections which I wouldn't know about immediately followed soon by fragging the rear cover which I usually found out about right after parking and seeing the trail of gear oil. I was poor then and prone to getting work done by homies and what must have been the worst mustang tuner in existence at the time. This time around I'm not poor and I take it to a shop staffed by guys with 40 years of race car and fabrication experience and I'm a lot more experienced so I run the ideas I think are questionable past you guys. If you barf at it then I reassess and modify plans accordingly. The new shop I use does perfect work every time and they charge appropriately for it. Everyone else charges the same amount but few can seemingly be trusted to actually do the work up to a useful standard of quality. Hard lessons to learn in life #1: buy once, cry once is a law of nature.
I have no idea why it was fragging diff covers. I was using stock covers at the time. I think it had to do with the bushing setup that the prior owner of the IRS put on it. The front diff bushings were all metal, either aluminum or steel, but not the rear mount and the rest of the bushing set was in not great shape. The flex in the rear would have been incompatible with the zero flex in the front causing binding and eventually breakage. I didn't know that at the time. My assumption that it was the bushing mismatches is based on the fact that it would blow the ears off of aluminum center sections which I wouldn't know about immediately followed soon by fragging the rear cover which I usually found out about right after parking and seeing the trail of gear oil. I was poor then and prone to getting work done by homies and what must have been the worst mustang tuner in existence at the time. This time around I'm not poor and I take it to a shop staffed by guys with 40 years of race car and fabrication experience and I'm a lot more experienced so I run the ideas I think are questionable past you guys. If you barf at it then I reassess and modify plans accordingly. The new shop I use does perfect work every time and they charge appropriately for it. Everyone else charges the same amount but few can seemingly be trusted to actually do the work up to a useful standard of quality. Hard lessons to learn in life #1: buy once, cry once is a law of nature.
Thanks to y'all for your information. I was able to connect with another local Cobra driver who had ordered A-arms with poly bushings and he also got himself a k-member so after a bit of discussion we swapped bushings. This converts my induced need to buy a K-member into an option. I'll probably still get a K-member but I like having options.
Bought new 03 Cobra spec Bilstein shocks about a week ago. Those just came in this morning and have now been sent off to MM for grooving. Since it's so close to being done I said the heck with it and pulled the trigger on the Bilstein struts and coil over kits with springs today along with a couple bits and bobs I need for the install. I should be able to drop the monster off at the shop by end of month and they'll likely have it back to me a day and a half later. Looking over the car a little closer, it looks like someone might have put a couple mods in it. I found a curious little dealie under the dash that looks like it was part of an alarm or an immobilizer, one little red led that never lights up is all the clue it gives to what it actually is. I'm also starting to think that someone may have lowered it but if they did it wasn't much.
Other continuing developments:
After I got it back from the shop during the radiator fiasco the slightly disheartening noises that seemed to emanate from the area have stopped and there's now a very distinctive burble to the exhaust note, particularly right after a cold start. With my hearing loss sitting around 80% such things are not always detectible for me. I'm wondering if they didn't set up the mid-pipe so it was in contact with the bell housing the first time around and they fixed it during the radiator replacement. They would have needed to put it on a lift to inspect the clutch as I'd asked and would have noticed the sound test driving it.
What about this clutch inspection? During some spirited driving a hood rat in a clapped out hood hellcat decided it was race the mustang time. I wound out to 6500rpm in 2nd gear and when I went to rip 3rd the tranny shifted just fine but the clutch pedal stayed on the floor when I lifted my foot and then a few days later I went to leave from a stoplight and the clutch seemed like it didn't engage all the way as the car didn't go anywhere but the revs went up and I could smell clutch burning. Since then though it's been 100% reliable even doing 6500 rpm shifts and it grabs really firmly. Don't know what it was but it seems fine now.
Other continuing developments:
After I got it back from the shop during the radiator fiasco the slightly disheartening noises that seemed to emanate from the area have stopped and there's now a very distinctive burble to the exhaust note, particularly right after a cold start. With my hearing loss sitting around 80% such things are not always detectible for me. I'm wondering if they didn't set up the mid-pipe so it was in contact with the bell housing the first time around and they fixed it during the radiator replacement. They would have needed to put it on a lift to inspect the clutch as I'd asked and would have noticed the sound test driving it.
What about this clutch inspection? During some spirited driving a hood rat in a clapped out hood hellcat decided it was race the mustang time. I wound out to 6500rpm in 2nd gear and when I went to rip 3rd the tranny shifted just fine but the clutch pedal stayed on the floor when I lifted my foot and then a few days later I went to leave from a stoplight and the clutch seemed like it didn't engage all the way as the car didn't go anywhere but the revs went up and I could smell clutch burning. Since then though it's been 100% reliable even doing 6500 rpm shifts and it grabs really firmly. Don't know what it was but it seems fine now.
cobrajeff96
Well-Known Member
It's the design of the OEM style pressure plate. They stay engaged for a longer period because of the centrifugal forces on it. A set of twins with those spring steel straps around their circumference eliminates throwout bearing float entirely.
One tired OP. It was 100F and no shade. My hair was matted and tangled after writhing around on the ground for 10 hours. We did the CC plate install, 4-wheel coilover conversion, replaced the A-arms, replaced front sway bar, added a 4-point k-member brace, steering rack bushings, and subframe connectors. We left the steering shaft for another day. I was too whooped after day 1.
Ride height after install and 500 miles.
Day one halfway through.
Magnaflow exhaust doesn't seem to fit really awesomely. I'd not been aware of this until I started the suspension work. Will be speaking with Magnaflow about this. The cat-back isn't much of an issue but the mid-pipe is hitting the passenger side frame rail and hangs really low. You can see a subframe connector in the background.
Rear IRS coil over with bilstein shock
CC plates. After 350 miles I popped the hood to inspect and found the strut shaft wasn't snugged to the spacer. It'd settled about 1.5mm. Saw a guy in the parking lot of the gas station with an electric impact working on the front end of a car behind a trailer. Asked him if I could borrow a 22mm socket and his impact for a second. Zipped the strut shaft bolts down and back on the road.
EBC Yellow pads on new rotors with the CO and sway bar.
Those that have done CO conversions know what kind of a difference it makes. Steering is precise, oversteer is able to be induced and predicted and controlled instead of a total surprise. Wheel hop in the rear is much reduced and the rear is a lot easier to push loose in a corner. Brakes are absolute tooth chippers. Chassis rigidity is something I notice especially around driveways. One wheel or the other of the rear get unloaded and spin a bit particularly on dirt. I need to mess with the ride height a bit to make it the same on both sides, it's out about 5mm on the passenger side.
One Maximum Cobra, delivered as ordered.
Ride height after install and 500 miles.
Day one halfway through.
Magnaflow exhaust doesn't seem to fit really awesomely. I'd not been aware of this until I started the suspension work. Will be speaking with Magnaflow about this. The cat-back isn't much of an issue but the mid-pipe is hitting the passenger side frame rail and hangs really low. You can see a subframe connector in the background.
Rear IRS coil over with bilstein shock
CC plates. After 350 miles I popped the hood to inspect and found the strut shaft wasn't snugged to the spacer. It'd settled about 1.5mm. Saw a guy in the parking lot of the gas station with an electric impact working on the front end of a car behind a trailer. Asked him if I could borrow a 22mm socket and his impact for a second. Zipped the strut shaft bolts down and back on the road.
EBC Yellow pads on new rotors with the CO and sway bar.
Those that have done CO conversions know what kind of a difference it makes. Steering is precise, oversteer is able to be induced and predicted and controlled instead of a total surprise. Wheel hop in the rear is much reduced and the rear is a lot easier to push loose in a corner. Brakes are absolute tooth chippers. Chassis rigidity is something I notice especially around driveways. One wheel or the other of the rear get unloaded and spin a bit particularly on dirt. I need to mess with the ride height a bit to make it the same on both sides, it's out about 5mm on the passenger side.
One Maximum Cobra, delivered as ordered.
