Factory Five Roadster Build Part 6 - Rearend Install

To cap everything off, DTS installed one of its aluminum support covers (PN TA 1806, $160) in place of the stock stamped-steel unit. The aluminum cover uses load bolts to spread the carrier bearing load to the substantial differential cover and out to the housing. This prevents gear and bearing wear by holding everything in place. The cover also allows easy oil fill and drain servicing. The front of the housing received a new Mustang-style companion flange (PN FM E9TZ-4851-A, $44) to receive our upcoming driveshaft.

The Factory Five rear lower control arm brackets attach over the factory brackets welded on the rear itself. The attachment is via 1/2-inch bolts, which requires the factory mounting bolt holes to be drilled out (they're metric on the late-model Mustang). You can find 1/2-inch drill bits with reduced shank diameters that will fit in a 3/8-inch drill.

The Factory Five brackets are a snug fit over the factory brackets on the rearend and will require some force to seat. A rubber mallet and a lady-foot prybar through the bolt holes did the trick for us. We also drilled the shock mounting bolt hole with the 1/2-inch drill bit, and placed a 1/2-inch bolt through the shock mounting bolt hole to help keep the bracket in alignment while tightening the other bolts.

For our Factory Five 3-Link suspension, we'll also have to mount the upper link bracket to the housing. Commonly called a "banana" bracket due to its shape, it is clamped around the passenger axle tube.

The bracket is fitted to the axle tube and butted up against the iron centersection of the housing. Start all four bolts loosely and tighten them a little at a time to draw the bracket together around the axle tube.

The bracket is fitted to the axle tube and butted up against the iron centersection of the housing. Start all four bolts loosely and tighten them a little at a time to draw the bracket together around the axle tube.

When the axle bracket was drawn together by the four bolts, we noticed the axle vent hole had a small section of the bracket covering it. We determined the cause was that the weld bead at the end of the axle tube prevented us from butting the bracket up against the centersection. We plugged the vent hole and carefully trimmed away the bit of bracket blocking the vent hole.

Another casualty of having our bracket bumped over a bit was the alignment between the axle bracket's support leg and the differential center section location it bolts to. The gray iron center drills easily, so we ran a drill bit through the bracket's support leg end and made a new hole for the mounting bolt.

These two minor modifications were due solely to welding the axle tube, so most of you won't have to do this. Next month, we'll install the brakes, and hopefully our Roadster will roll out of the garage for the first time. Stay tuned.