Pics of rear diff mount bushing. Would you replace it?
 

I've read how some people drove thousands of miles on their blown rear diff mount bushings... and how most wouldn't notice a blown one in normal driving, but that structural stress under load (say 1/4 mi launch) filters out to other parts of the car hence the need to -or good practice- replace them (front/rear).

Yes/no? SPL? Whiteline Essentials kit?



https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/my350z....ca5e0ab864.jpg

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/my350z....6280301554.jpg

I personally would wait unless you're getting wheel hop, but I usually don't fix anything until it breaks or is necessary.

Yeah. That bushing should be replaced. When they start draining like that, it's a telltale sign. I bought this kit when I did mine, and chose the 'Z1 Solid' as my option. You can buy them individually too, of coarse.


https://www.z1motorsports.com/z1-pro...it-p-7026.html

If you've done it before, it's about a 2-3 hour job. If you've never done it, expect to spend the better part of the day questioning your sanity.

I would change it just to get rid of that terrible factory bushing. If you're driving a stick, the car will shift so much better, it's crazy. To be honest, Nissan should have gone with a urethane mount from the factory. That silicone-filled rubber thing is a joke.

From my experience, get the Z1 Motorsports Urethane kit. I would not recommend that you purchase the Z1 rear diff bushing puller tool though; a sawzall will get the job done much more quickly. The $100 Z1 specialty tool never worked on my car and I wasted over an hour trying to get it to work. I ended up removing the muffler and grabbed the sawzall from the wood shop and threw a metal-cutting blade on it. It went through the bushing sleeve like butter and sliding it out was a piece of cake (though I was using an air hammer to do that - your experience may vary.)

Holy crap thanks for the quick turnaround guys. Is this something I can do without a lift? My jack stands level the car maybe ~10 in off the ground, not much more than that.

No experience with bushing extraction and only basic hand & power tools to fix **** around the house. I know there's a DIY thread on this from the 2010-2012 era and I'll open it if I feel like giving it a shot... but if it's 2-3 hours labor plus solid bushings then maybe it's worth it to park some money aside to get it done (not the dealer, a trusted shop).

I replaced mine with a nice Urethane kit (includes those extra bushings to) from Whiteline and you can't go wrong there. I thought about the SPL "solid" one, but the new one is a good quality kit!

Had the shop do it all; would highly recommend that you have a trusted shop do this and not even mess with doing it yourself (diff. has to be lowered) because the worst part of this surgery is getting the oem piece out and you want to have your car up on a lift if possible anyway.

*I had ordered the yellow colored Whiteline kit, but their black colored one showed up at the shop. Great to have this done; wasn't in any rush, but once stock part is ruptured it's recommended to get it done (going non-oil filled bushing instead of the dumb oem part only makes sense). Good luck getting it done, I have some pics of mine on my hr build thread (pg. #11, post 214). Like Zak mentioned, the stock bushing is a joke/sucks! :icon38:

of course you can go to good ole youtube and judge for yourself. I went with the Z1 poly.

good luck

Sooooo... the car is an AT, will I still feel a difference? Maybe slightly less vibration (it's not harsh as is, I don't think)? The only time I get wheel hop on my 265/35ZR19's is if I'm stupid enough to punch it in 1M mode from a stop.

10 inches might be cutting it a little close. I think I had mine lifted about 18 inches off the ground when I did mine:


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/my350z....885224d9a3.jpg


You'll need a decent jack to be able to jimmy the differential out and back into place. It helps to have someone work the jack while you're under the car manipulating the diff. You'll need to remove the axles and disconnect the driveshaft to do it, along with all the sundry things you need to do those jobs. The front mounts are attached to the diff. The rear mount is on the subframe assembly, which is why you'll need to remove the muffler if you want to get a good angle at the factory sleeve with a sawzall.

You'll also need various metric wrenches, a torque wrench, sockets and extensions, a mallet and a few other tools.

Ezg mentioned to check YouTube to see if it's something you can handle, and I totally concur. I've seen videos of guys changing their bushings out on gravel driveways, which is not something I'd ever recommend, if for anything else, your own safety. When you're watching the videos, just keep in mind your comfort level working on car projects; this isn't very technical, it's just a lot of dirty work under the car.

Yeah, I have to bow out of the DIY option... I finished checking out YT and here I just noticed my hydraulic jack is probably half the lift capacity as Zak's. Just enough to make me feel alright when I have to take the wheels off. I don't think I'll be sliding under there doing work that's admittedly over my head.

I hope it's worth it, and it sounds like it is. :)

Buy a jack that lifts higher and do iiiiiiiiiiit. :icon44: You'll learn... But no, if you don't feel comfortable then don't.

I have a low profile jack that I place on 4X6's to max out the jackstands.

It pooped itself, so yeah, it needs to be changed. You may not think it's that bad right now, but you'll notice the difference when it is replaced. I had the Whiteline poly kit installed on mine.

You'll feel it. It actually make the shifts feel a little softer especially in manual mode.