How to: Whiteline rear diff carrier bushings
 

This is for the Whiteline W0592 bushings. I've did many searches on how to replace rear diff carrier bushings and never found a thorough walk-through. So I did it last night/this morning and heres mine :). Sorry I didn't take pics.

1) Jack the rear end up as high as you can

2) Move the exhaust out of the way. There are 3 hangers: one above and slightly behind the exhaust tip, one in the passenger rear wheel well, and one more on the rear subframe. Remove these and set the exhaust canister on a box so that the pipe is out of the way of the carriers.

3) Raise a floor jack so that the diff is sitting on the pad. Now unbolt the 2 vertical carrier bolts (19mm) and remove them. A breaker bar is most likely needed.

4) Now lower the floor jack all the way. The diff will droop down in the front and the CV joint on the driveshaft will be at an odd angle but it will be ok. Its still being held by the mustache bar from behind. The reason to do this is so that you have (MUCH) easier access to the 3 side bolts that hold the carrier to the diff.

5) Unbolt the horizontal bolts (all 17mm) to take out the carriers. There are 3 for the left carrier, 3 for the right. Two bolts along the bottom and 1 bolt near the top front. The driver's side top bolt will be the hardest because of how close it is to the gas tank. The only way that worked for me is to use a 3/8inch drive rachet, the shallowest 17mm socket I had, and a pipe on the end of the rachet (those things are on very tight). Even then its hard to get the socket on the bolt head. You need to wrestle with the heat shields near by.

6) Once you got the carriers off take it to a shop and have them press it out. Do not burn it out! I did that and that wasted a crap load of time because then you have no choice but to chisel away at the ring on the outside of the rubber bushing until it comes out. Save yourself the hours of stupid labour and give a shop a $20 to press them out.

7) Push the whiteline bushings into the carrier. The thinner half is for the top (it will say "upper" on it). Then push the metal sleeve through. All this is very tight so use a vice grip. Or do what I did and step on it. :)

8) Bolt the carriers on the diff again. Remember, 2 bolts on bottom, 1 on top. That will help you orient the left carrier from the right. And they also say LH for left and RH for right if you look carefully. Bolt those down to 65lb/ft. Or something close to it at least.

9) Jack the diff back up into position. Reuse the flat washer that used to be at the top of the bushing as the new bottom one (the middle black washer on the pic below). Reason being you need to spread the load of the bolt head on the Polyurethane bushing (or the bolt will eat through the polyurethane over time), and IMO the flat one does a better job than the original weird bowl shaped lower washer. Just make sure the flat side is facing the bushing. The other side has a nice pocket for the bolt head to fit into.

https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/at...ine=1414476952

10) Put the carrier bolts back in place. The torque spec is something like 89lb/ft I believe.

11) Pop the 3 exhaust hangers back in and lower the car down.

For reference this rusted looking L-shaped support is the (driver's side) rear diff carrier:

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...Picture114.jpg


Impressions: Much improved drivetrain bucking! I thought it was mostly my engine mount that was causing the bucking sensation, even though I have a weaponR torque damper installed. I did this install mostly for the clunk on hard shifts but it got rid of the awkward bucking on part-throttle too! Makes normal shifts smoother too since you don't have to worry so much about matching revs.

The downside is I get rear diff whining noises at part throttle on the highway. Sounds like theres a helicopter engine in the trunk at ~3k rpm. If you go 500rpm above/below 3k then it goes away, but thats exactly the rpm range I cruise at on the highway. Its loud enough that even with music blasting you will hear it.

Hope this helps! :)


UPDATE

Since I wrote this I changed out the bushings to a full set of energy suspension black bushings, including the mustache bar. I thought I'd add some instructions for the mustache bar portion. Make sure you have the above mentioned diff carrier bushings mounted.

1. Pull the nut out that connects the mustache bar to the rear subframe.

2. Remove the rear sway bar brackets from the subframe and move it out of the way, or unbolt the endlinks and take it completely out of the way. Support the subframe with a jack. Lower your rear subframe slowly, once you go like 2 inches you can pull out the bolts connecting the mustache bar to the subframe (it will now clear the trunk pan which was getting in the way). Then lower the subframe as far as it goes by supporting it with a jack, taking all 8 bolts out and slowly lower it. Its not going to mess anything up, the rear LCAs will support it.

This shows how much lowering is needed. The subframe is usually flush with the body when fully mounted.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-1...83-no/IMG_0460


You will see this:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-6...83-no/IMG_0464

If they front diff carriers still have the stock bushings the rear of the diff will tilt down far enough to easily access the bolts. If you did the front diff carrier upgrade first, you may need to drop the carrier bolts a little to clear the rear trunk pan and access these 3 bolts easily with a 17mm socket and extender.



3. Unbolt the mustache bar from the rear diff. These are on TIGHT! And very difficult to access if the rear subframe wasn't dropped which is why I recommend doing that first.

4. Wrestle the bar out of there. Its a tight fit, but with the subframe lowered it shouldn't take too much fighting.

5. Press/chisel/pry out the old rubber bushings and the metal casing (not just the rubber). This should be easier than the diff carrier bushings to take out since its thinner. I didn't get far with a C-clamp press and didn't even want to try the chisel method and waste hours of my life so I got a guy to press it out in his garage for $20 and a tea.

6. Put the new bushings into the mustache bar. They just press in by hand. Put the metal bore in it too. I recommend greasing the bushings once they're in, reason for which is seen in later steps.

7. Wrestle the mustache bar back in place, bolt the 3 bolts to the diff first since they are very difficult to line up, access, and thread in the bolts once other crap is attached to the mustache bar. Torque spec is 89lb/ft.

8. Raise the subframe into the mustache bar bushings like this:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-q...83-no/IMG_0463

So at this point is where another HOW TO over here got stuck. The bushings are wider than stock, so its a tight fit back into the receptacle of the subframe. Pounding it with a rubber mallet or hammer will get you no where since theres no room to generate a good swing. That other HOW TO guy actually pulled the entire subframe off to pound the mustache bar in. I wanted to avoid that at all costs because I didn't want to mess up the alignment. So I came up with this solution:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-J...0141026_132059

Put a wooden block, or whatever you have access to (in my case, brick) above the mustache bar. Then jack the subframe up into position. This will brace the block against the body of the car (don't worry it won't damage the body if you don't use metal) and push the mustache bar into the subframe. I got it just enough to where I can fit a screwdriver through the bore and line it yank on it until the bore lined up well enough to pound the bolt back in (remember the bolt will interfere with the trunk pan when you try to put it in, so lower the subframe back down again, which will also give you rubber mallet swinging room).


9. Now line up the subframe and put the 8 bolts back in. I expected this to be hard but surprisingly not bad. I had to push/pull the rear subframe around a little while lining it up but nothing unmanageable and still a 1 man job.

Tighten everything up. The subframe bolt torque spec is 65lb/ft. Reattach your sway bar as well.

And you're done! The mustache bar is a PITA for just 2 bushings, especially since 80% of the benefit comes from the front bushings. But in the end I did find the ES complete set provided better diff control (less bucking) and less overall noise than the harder whiteline bushings that only go on the front.

EDIT: The second pic is not of my diff. Its of another forum member's beatrush bushings. The whiteline bushings don't come with that metal washer (though they should've).

EDIT2: I recently did this again to my friend's car and took a few pics to help. Updated HOW TO to help. :)

thanks for the write up. will be doing this w/whiteline bushings this saturday!

^ post feedback after your install. :)


I have to update this thread. So the diff noise is getting to me and there is still a clunk on hard shifts, albeit much much less than before. The mustache bar is still moving and allowed to clunk. I'm thinking of replacing them with the energy suspension 4 piece kit. Its softer but also has the bushings for the mustache bar so it should totally get rid of the clunk while having less diff noise.

I bought the energy bushings for my diff and rear trailing arms. I might install them tomorrow night if not this weekend. Ill let you know the outcome for hard shifting clunk.

I've always wondered where these bushings went. Nice write up!

Update!

I didn't like the slop that I was still getting from the moustache bar mounts so I switched it all out for energy suspension black poly bushings. Now I officially have no slop in my drivetrain! Downside though is I hear the rear diff over a broader range of speeds and rpms. But its not as loud as with the whiteline bushings, for some reason. I think its because the whiteline bushings were stiffer.

Thanks for the write-up and first impressions. Looks like a good, cheap mod.

So how annoying is this going from 100% stock rear end to the upgraded bushings? I daily drive my car 40 miles a day, 50/50 city/highway. Will I want to kill myself? Will passengers absolutely hate it?

I just had a new clutch installed which more aggressive than my last setup, and it's clunking every time I shift at 3/4-WOT.

Thanks!

-Jalal

Well I've been driving it for about 2 weeks now and put over 2000miles on it. The ES bushings are breaking in and the sound is getting quieter and quieter. I now here it only at certain rpms and throttle positions, and its a lot quieter than before. Initially though its loud. As for will it make you kill yourself, that depends on your personal threshold I guess. This thing is as loud as a relatively quiet exhaust. Like a greddy or my JIC spartan DE. That said its not a deep sound, its an annoying high pitched sound. IMO if you have a front mount in your car and you find that fine then you probably won't be bothered by these bushings.

It makes a world of difference in getting rid of drivetrain slop. Between these, the blox front mount, and driveshaft bushings, I'd say these made the biggest difference. I'm talking if you come on and off the throttle quickly my car no longer bucks violently. It just responds to throttle input.

Heres a video that shows the diff bushing noise after 7k miles. Its quietened down a lot. The road noise is over-represented because of my snow tires but in general its more noticeable than what the vid shows but that because its almost too quiet for the go pro to pick up.

http://youtu.be/ygmkvqqMDzY

I have been looking into getting something to combat my engine banging and the violent buck when I leave off the throttle maybe this is an answer. The whine is just a noise right nothing is wrong with the rear diff correct?

Awesome! I have a Jun B.L exhaust with test pipe which is literally only a rear muffler with no other resonators at all. So my car is deep and at WOT loud. I think the rear diff bushings along with the driveshaft bushings might be a great addition. I've also been eyeing up a front lower motor mount. Either the Blox or the AMS with the street bushing.

Thanks for the feedback and keep updating this!

-Jalal

Well I just put in my stock bilsteins (with stock springs) for the winter and adjusted my works croxx plate so that the dp vibrates (less) on it. And the car sounds a whole lot quieter. The diff noise is now very distant. Barely more than wind noise at 80mph. You hear it in 1st and 2nd and then from time to time you may hear it depending on throttle position and rpm. But its very tolerable I'd say. The other noises coming from my car probably threw me off. If I still had my HKS hi power exhaust on I wouldn't even hear the diff noises.

Btw the front mount will make your steering wheel, dash, and seat vibrate more. As well as random other stuff in your car. But it helps quiet a bit with quick shifts. I have the blox front mount (don't recommend it) and weaponR engine damper. I also have the solid driveshaft bushings and I say they do absolutely NOTHING. I think it was a waste of 30mins and $40. I was about to put in buschur press-in poly mounts for the cam side and trans side, because I heard those can reduce the vibrations from the front mount. But I had trouble with that, which I'm currently resolving with the vendor. I'll let you know how that goes.

Thanks for the info! Do you know the durometer of the bushing in the Blox front mount? I think I'll do the rear diff bushings and bypass the driveshaft bushings. As I mentioned, I want to try out the AMS front mount in the street durometer. Not sure when I'll be doing this, though.

Keep us updated!

-Jalal

The blox mount is 90 durometer. I'm not sure what hardness the AMS street mount is, maybe 70?

On my drive this morning my walbro was louder than my diff. I'd say the diff bushings are probably fully broken in now. Glad I changed over from the whiteline diff bushings. :D

Thanks for all the added info! {thumbup} Def helpful.
After hearing your take on it, I don't believe it will be much of an issue for me. My exhaust is real deep, and I also have a Walbro 255 HP.

http://www.amsperformance.com/cart/A...tor-Mount.html
Is there a specific bushing kit from ES that includes the bushings for the rear diff/driveshaft/mustahce bar?

-Jalal