Ohh CTS-V1, why must you be such a clunky *****?!

My diff bushing decided that it was time to die. I could feel deflection literally get thrown to the rear of the car. Shifting also felt notchier than usual and when you gave the car throttle, it felt laggy as if weight was getting thrown around. I also figured this was a great time to also get the trans mount changed since I wasn't able to do that when I had originally bought the CS Black Motor Mounts.

Here's a pic of the CS Trans Mount, CS Differential Bushing, CS Differential Block with the CS Diff Bushing Tool



Stock Junk OEM Diff Bushing Rear



Stock Junk OEM Diff Bushing Front



CS Diff Bushing tool in action. The tool made the swap a breeze. Old bushing came out complete with the sleeve and the new bushing was pressed in without issue.



Lining up the CS Diff Bushing



Installed CS Diff Bushing Front



Installed CS Diff Bushing Rear



CS Trans Mount Installed



My final send off to stock diff bushing and stock trans mount!



With a lift, it took about 2 hours to get everything done. I have stock exhaust piping with a Spintech x-pipe and muffler delete. The exhaust bolts were too rusty to be removed but we were able to unhook the piping off the hangers and let it hang just enough to get room to use the bushing tool and remove the trans mount bracing. I probably wouldn't have done this had I had stock mufflers as they're heavier than straight exhaust pipe.

After driving around for about week, the car does feel solid again and planted. When I hit the throttle now, the car feels like it's squatting and you can actually feel it moving again without drivetrain loss. The clunk has been reduced significantly but some of it is still present under certain conditions. It's better than stock in any case so that's a step in the right direction. Think it's time to eliminate the dual-mass flywheel next. Shifting has also been improved and feels more precise rowing through the gears.

Thanks again Max and Kristi for the great customer service and products. Really made driving the car enjoyable again and just give it an overall better feel.

The only downside to this mod is that it's made anything that was previously loose more evident. Prior to performing the diff bushing and trans mount, I was chasing a noise that was emanating from time to time towards the rear of the car on the passenger side. It would vibrate off the frame slightly and would make more noise on rainy days. Now that things are a bit more solid, its started to become a bit louder and more prominent. I want to say that it's probably the metal shielding that goes around the frame and diff and sticks to the fuel tanks. Anyone ever had something similar happen? Side effects to having this removed?