jsdailey

Back in January this year my son had some grinding noise from his right rear brakes, turned out to be the axle broke where the clip holds it in. The mechanic that repaired it is a neighbor who owns an All Tune & Lube, and suggested I order the parts direct from Summit to save some money.

After we got the parts they replaced the axles, carrier and both rear brakes. Last week, my son had the same grinding noise coming from his right rear. This is after driving the car for 3 months without incident.

I had him take it to the mechanic immediately. The mechanic called next day and said the right axle is loose, not broken, but moving in and out about ¼”+, allowing the rotor to rub the brake calipers. They took the differential cover off and the axles were fine, just loose. They spent the next day diagnosing the problem and first call today said that the axles from Summit were bad, probably milled incorrectly. They purchased new clips from Ford, and the Ford clips would not fit the Summit replacements (these are Ford racing replacement axles?).

They said they spoke with a local Ford Dealer and suggested we purchase Ford replacements, install them, and see if the axles from Summit are bad. I called Summit and they said they would allow the return if the axles were defective, no problem (got to love Summiit). Well, I called the mechanic and said go ahead and order the Ford axles and if they fit, I would buy them, if not, I wouldn’t. He said Ford would not allow a return, as axles are special order. I told he I needed to consider what’s going on here and call later.

A little while later, the mechanic calls and wants to know if I am the original owner, which I am not. He then suggested that the axle might not be a GT axle; it could be a Cobra axle, which requires different axles, carrier and brakes.

I was upset that they didn’t discover this when they made the original repair. The mechanic said it was assembled by a fellow that does not work there now, and they have no idea how he put it back together the first time.

So, the mechanic is going to research the axle to see if he can locate a serial or part number that would identify the axle as either a GT or Cobra and then advise how to repair it.

That’s the story so far.

If anyone has any experience with 94 Mustang rear ends and could advise me on how not to get screwed, I would appreciate your advice.

conv_stang

I'm pretty sure the axles on GT and Cobra are the same from 94-98. Same length, same 28 spline. Unless it has a rearend assembly from another year. When you order axles they are broken down in year 79-93, 94-98, 99-04 and 05 +

jkuza324

Bought axles from Steeda for my 98 and they were Superior`s brand. I too had a noise/ grinding, as it turnes out the manufactuer of the axles and others, machine the slot for the "c" clip enough off from where the slot is on the factory axles. This in turn puts the rotor in contact with the rear caliper bracket when rim is installed. Steeda told me this was common to aftermarket axles and the fix is to get 2 hardned washers to install on one side between the mounting plate and rear caliper bracket. I did so and no problems since the install in 2003. If you remove the rear tire on the affected side and look from the top down using a light to see, you might see where the rotor is contacting the bracket. Hopes this helpes. Oh the 99 & up axles differ in the ABS rings on then, same otherwise.