[pay2play]

I finally got my '96 Cobra up on the hoist Friday. It looks great, really clean, with only 55k miles on it. She has BBk off road H pipe with the O2 sensor bypass, flowmaster mufflers which sounds great. I added a pair of hub centric spacers to fill out the rear wheel wells. My car came with '07 mustang premium wheels/tires when I bought it and the offset was way off! When I get around to it, I'll post pics. It is one of 158 Black/Tan convertibles in 1996. I'm kinda liking that. Thanks for listening to me boast. Now, please help me understand these cobra calipers. With wheels off and looking over the pads, why do the front calipers move when you grab them? The mounts seem un-broken and proper the way it is designed, but, the brakes squeek constantly when driving down the street. The rotors are practically new and there is a lot of pad left (metalic pads). That is very irritating to me. I can't be sure if I'm getting looks because of the exhaust note, great car looks or that annoying break squeek.

 

[Nicks79]

My first question would be is everything tight? when the brakes are applied do they still move?

 

[2oo5GT]

Take them off and regrease the sliding pins, see if that helps.

 

[2Manystangs]

I have a feeling those spacers you installed are causing a bind condition and causing the brakes to squeak...normally they only squeak when the pads are worn the the wear sensors are exposed...it's also possible there is a dust buildup....I'd have a good mechanic look at them.

 

[pay2play]

Thanks for giving me something to look for. Nicks79, good point about tightness when brakes applied. I'll have to check that out. 2005GT, thanks, The sliding pins were greased as well as the pad clip area. 2Manystangs, the spacers are on the rear end, no annoying brake noise from that end now, just the front brakes. I did clean all of the wheel well/brakes/suspension in detail with a citrus based degreaser when I bought it a couple weeks ago. What would a wheel bearing sound like?

 

[madz510]

a whoosh whoosh whoosh sceubbing noise. they never squeak. grease the back of the front pads, the piston, and any other areas where the pads make contact to the caliper. clean the rotor and make sure it isnt blazed. if nothing else, try going in reverse really fast then slamming on the brakes. occasionally that can help the rotors if thats whats squeaking.

 

[pay2play]

I had the cobra back at the shop again Thursday. Still trying to figure out the CEL code. I have an evap code, O2 code and a new one, IMRC stuck shut. We checked the IMRC and they are free, unbound and the cables don't appear bound up or anything. Brakes still squeak. I'll try the reverse thing. I have done that in the past, and sometimes it does seem to seat the pads in the proper location.

O2 code is a mystery. I know with the off road H pipe, it will trigger the CEL, but there appear to be the signal tricking devices in the O2 harness. The code is from bank 2, number 2. When there is more time, we'll try to figure out which side is #2. Could just be a non-functioning signal blocking device.