Which way up do you have the diff ear bushings?

Instructions say and show the smaller half of the bushing on top, and the larger half on the bottom. I've got these instructions: http://www.whiteline.com.au/docs/ins...des/Z5206A.pdf

Fig 3 shows and step 6 says the above.

However most other pictures I see have the larger half on top, e.g. http://www.motoiq.com/magazine_artic...ssan-350z.aspx

And looking at the existing bushings, I would say the larger half does look like it should be on top.

Diff's already installed again so would appreciate feedback on this so I can remove/change the bushings round if needed...

Oh one last thing, I also saw this which shows the bushings again with the larger one on the bottom: http://www.whiteline.com.au/docs/bul...e%20BL-385.pdf

 

Are you looking for this information?
https://my350z.com/forum/9799327-post126.html

 

Smaller one goes on top. The bottom one is tapered to act like the metal plate that is a square-ish looking pressed thing on the bottom. Sorry for my slang haha

 

Not quite, unfortunately...I have instructions that show it as that, and that's how I've fitted it...but some of the pics I've seen show it installed with the larger one on top.

Do you have any pics of what you mean? Here's a pic of the OEM ears/bushings: http://www.importatlanta.com/forums/...rive-diff1.jpg

The larger part of the OEM bushing is on the top, not the bottom, so that's what makes me question the whitelines...

Btw I have literally swapped over just the bushings. On the bottom, I still have the metal washers and the rubber 'washers', and on the top I have the shaped metal washers that fit up against the subframe - the instructions don't say to discard anything and it all fits...so I put it all back.

 

Small bushing goes on top, and you do not discard anything. Been running these bushings for over 1k miles. The Whiteline instructions are correct.

 

Muffles, you only need to re use the big flat washers underneath. I talked to whiteline when I did mine and they told me to only reinstall the big flat washers on the bottom to hold up the front of the diff. Other than that, you don't use anything stock.

 

Ok there's a little conflict here...

One thing we agree on is small piece on top and big piece on the bottom so that alleviates the majority of my worries.

Te37s - did whiteline say why their instructions were wrong? Even the instructions I can download from their site still aren't correct - there is no mention of discarding anything anywhere...

Also just to confirm, you are basically saying to discard the thin rubber washers from the bottom, and not to discard the shaped metal plates *up top*? (Since these correctly adapt the bushing to the subframe, otherwise the load isn't spread properly)

So if the only question is now the presence (or not) of the rubber washers on the bottom, I think it would not make a dramatic difference, and also can be changed a bit more easily later on (just jack car up and change).

Thoughts?

 

The thin rubber bushings on the bottom don't really make a difference, but I re-used mine, and so did several other people.

 

Yeah, that's what I figured. I'll keep it as is unless some other info comes to light (I.e. if te37s has more details that might make me reconsider ).

 

Ok let me put this in a way you will understand since I'm not making sense to you. The stock bushings are flush with the diff on top and bottom, correct?!?! Correct. Now the whitleline bushings when installed in the diff are tapered and stick out past the diff, correct? Correct. Nissan incorporated that spacer washer for the top to put a gap between the diff and the car. The Whiteline kit already makes that gap, adding that spacer will put it too far from the car. Now for the bottom, you don't use the rubber. The whiteline kit is polyurethane and using the rubber is pointless. The ONLY stock component being reused is the big FLAT washer on the bottom.

 

Whoa whoa whoa...pretty sure in the diff bushing How-To, people agreed that you use the tapered metal spacer on top. Did Whiteline tell you not to use the top hat? I haven't noticed any adverse effects and I was under the impression that if you didn't use the top hats, you would be creating an angle. Always thought that the SPL solid bushings were the only ones where you threw away absolutely everything.

 

The stock bushing is not flush with the diff on top - it has both a metal and rubber portion to the bushing that puts the shaped washer higher and does not sit it against the diff ear itself. Is there any chance you had a different type of stock bushing? Mine matches any photos I've seen too?

Solid bushings it would make more sense to drop the tapered washers as the solid bushing can presumably sit against the subframe directly. But yeah I can't see that I could drop them with anything less than solid.
I'll take some photos later today to see if i can clarify things since there may be some confusion.

 

It's been a while since I installed mine but I remember leaving off some metal plates.

Edit: just looked on the Whiteline site. Instructions say to discard the formed plate. http://www.whiteline.com.au/docs/ins...ides/Z5068.pdf

 

I think that link is for the kit that only contains bushings for the front diff ears: http://www.whiteline.com.au/product_..._number=W93189 (the instructions link to the instructions you mention)

If I search for the full kit (diff ears plus rear mount) I get this page: http://www.whiteline.com.au/product_..._number=KDT911 (which has the instructions I linked to in my original post).

Perhaps this is something I should check with Whiteline, as the assumption is that the front ears are the same bushings in both pages, but perhaps they aren't (they certainly look different in the pictures).

I do know Whiteline only did the front diff ears for a while, before introducing the full kit.

Oh and here is the pic of one of my original bushings: http://img542.imageshack.us/img542/8...0504231548.jpg

It's been destroyed internally but you can see the metal lip with rubber section that usually sits above the diff ear. I guess the smaller of the bushings in the Whiteline kit replaces this.
What I don't understand is why there's a huge chunky bushing at the bottom now, since there was nothing there before but the (very thin) rubber washer that separated the bottom of the diff ear and the metal washer that holds the whole thing up.

I'm going to try and email Whiteline now, will update if/when I get a response.

 

Yeah, those are completely different looking, but I'd be interested to see what Whiteline says. It's easy enough to remove the top plates if they say to. Luckily no need to drop driveshaft or any of that nonsense.

 

So I got a reply from Whiteline saying to retain both oem washers. I was clear in my question that this was for the full diff bushing kit as opposed to the diff ears only, which appear to have different instructions and appearance. I'm double checking on the rubber washer but that is the most minor part so I don't think it will change much.

So as of now it looks like the full bushing kit should be installed with the washers - diff ears only may vary.

 

Whiteline have confirmed that the rubber washer doesn't need to be used, so I'm going to remove those tomorrow!

Just FYI this is all from Whiteline australia as I wanted to make sure the info was as direct from the source as possible (the guy I spoke to said the R&D department gave him the details so I'm happy!).

 

Sweet.

 

sorry for bumping old thread.. anyone have a pic of the upper washer?

 

My full diff bushing kit was recently installed per the confirmed order above EXCEPT without the top OEM formed washer. (The thicker bushing was installed on bottom and the OEM thin rubber washer was discarded).

There is a LOUD VIBRATION on medium to hard launches, (even though I no longer have wheel hop ). No vibration or noise during normal driving.

Could this be due to deleting the top OEM formed washer? Are there other potential causes of this vibration.

Edit: problem solved thanks to a call to z1motorsports. We swapped the bushings so the thicker one is now on top. We continue to not use the OEM formed washer (discarded). The problem with the thinner bushing on top (per errant Whiteline instructions) is that the pinion angle is changed which caused the vibration. Whiteline needs to update the kdt-911 instructions. Very disappointed. At least the fix only took 30 min using a lift and a trans jack. The driveshaft and axles do not need to be disconnected.