Installed Cradle and Diff bushings this weekend
 

It was a beautiful weekend, and I've had these rear cradle and diff bushings itching to go in since April. The most difficult issue I had dropping the cradle was removing the magnaflow catback. The slip on portion of the exhaust was stuck, nothing a hammer and flat bladed screw driver couldn't fix though.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...8b6188cc93.jpg

I had a difficult time getting the old bushings out. The diff bushing practically fell out. The cradle bushings looked really good still. I tried burning them out with a torch. It seemed to work well until I ran out of acetylene. Then I tried using a sawzall with many different blade and nothing wanted to cut through the rubber, just melted it. I ended up using a drill and drilling out as many holes as I could and angling the drill to cut through and rip the parts I didn't drill through and then a sawzall to cut out the inner metal bushing. I cleaned it up a little and painted the cradle.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...1c056ae943.jpg

Re-installing the cradle wasn't bad. Again the hardest part I had was re-aligning the exhaust and getting to to not leak. After I drop the transmission for a new clutch the whole exhaust is probably getting cut down and welded to the proper length.

I went with the 95A green Race bushings. The diff whine is now audible along with the clunking from the dual mass flywheel. Slightly annoying but I'll take that over breaking a diff any day. A new clutch will definitely help and I'm going to change the rear diff fluid to see if that makes any difference. There was no added vibrations. The car feels completely different. Just hitting bumps in the road I could tell a difference, there was an even bigger difference when taking the twisties. The car did it so effortlessly compared to before. There is less body roll. I did a clutch dump at about 4k rpms and it didn't hop a bit. It was nice. I could see this mod making a huge difference during auto-x and road racing. I'm hoping to go to the drag strip friday and see how it runs. I ran a couple weeks ago and my best then was a 13.3 @ 108 with a 2.2 60'. Overall the mod was definitely worth it so far. It's slowly getting the muscle car feel that it should've had from the factory...

Air hammer... I think people underestimate the usefulness of brute force. It took all of 15-20 minutes for all the bushings and sleeves to get knocked out. I kinda marred up the cradle a bit in the bushing locations, so out came the burr bit to smooth it out. No issues at all afterwards. I went with 95a and a diff bushing from CS. I have a pretty pronounced parade clunk as well. But I was getting on it real aggressive through some canyons this weekend and it didn't make a sound, other than the normal whine.

Has anyone tried softer cradle bushings and not had gear whine after the install?

I don't think it's the cradle bushings that caused it. I would guess the differential bushing.

Also I tried an air hammer, it was a buddies and I think it was a cheap one, it didn't do much but make a lot of noise. I've always had a little clunk, I'm just assuming its the dual mass flywheel. If not oh well. I only hear it with the windows down or if I am really trying to listen for it.

I just did all of the bushings in the rear as well (all available). Like you I discovered that the cradle bushings were a pain. After the first one (2 hr's of pain lol) I had a few beers and thought there had to be an easier way!!

I ended up drilling a hole in the rubber for getting a sawzaw blade in a bit. Then I used the sawzaw to cut a relief from the top to about a half inch down the bushing sleeve (only cut halfway through the sleeve thickness) and then used a sldge hammer and a pointed punch to drive/curl down the sleeve where I cut it.

The result was getting 3 of them out in 20 minutes. This should save some time for others :cheers:

The CS cradle bushing tool works really well. Leave the cradle in the car. Takes about 3 hours total.

I have those in my car and noticed only a slight increase in noise.

Air hammers aren't as easy to use as you'd think and the CS tool is by far the easiest way to do this..

How is an air hammer not easy to use? Crank up the psi on the air line and give it hell. I used a cutting bit, you hit the outer bushing sleeve (bushing and cradle) and it will bend/cut its way down. Cut all the way through and then hit the other side. Starting the bit is the hardest part, but after you do a little trial and error, its easy money.

My brother (the accountant) would completely struggle with the best air hammer ever created.

Its big fat steel. It just scratched up the bushing seats a bit. So I deburred it and smoothed it with a roll. Its not a big deal really.

I'm unsure how one struggles with an air hammer. Unless it doesn't have enough psi running it.

I would've went this route if it didn't require a $350 deposit to rent the tool. Although I'm kinda glad I took the rear cradle out. I know so much more about my car now. It's quite a simple setup really.

Yeah I get that. But when you see the tool(s) you understand. I just put it on an empty credit card but I also understand that's not the best option for everyone

Haha no joke Max did mine in 2 1/2hrs in the car CS Lifer here

Well he didn't actually install the parts for me but it did go pretty smooth. Definitely more helpful than they needed to be.

Looks great! My diff bushing has been needing replacement for quite some time now, it's shot! I'm debating on doing the cradle bushings, as I'm not sure if they even need to be replaced? Do the cradle bushings normally go bad quick like the diff bushing does? I would prefer soft bushings that last longer than OEM rubber, not anything stiff or for race setups.

I don't think they go bad. They just are bad right out of the box. You know how you can't really 'feel' the rear tires in a corner or getting on and off the throttle? Those are why. The car just feels like the rear tires have like 15 lbs of pressure in them. The black ones from CS are not terribly hard.

Yes! The rear of the car does feel very vague to me, & floaty in corners. I just don't want crappier ride quality. If they have bushings that don't sacrifice much ride quality, I would be willing to do those.

Well based on your sig, your car isn't exactly docile. Cammed and slammed, you would hardly notice the street bushings, I'm sure.

Yeah, it's far from docile, but I'm actually trying to change that LOL. I bought it this way & 3 years later it's starting to annoy me more lately. It's sitting on Eibach springs & QA1 shocks & struts which I would love to change out for something more comfy riding, but there are not many options out there besides pricey coil overs, which are out of my budget. Wish I could buy some new stock-like shocks & struts, but there is nothing I can find for V's, & I would love to get some springs that sat about a 1/2" higher.... It sucks that nothing is really made for our cars, I come from Fox based Mustangs where there are a zillion parts available for everything you can think of, & I bought this car because I wanted a muscle car that rode nice & was still fast. This rides better than my Mustangs did, but definitely wouldn't say it rides "Nice".... Sorry for the rant & thread jack, that wasn't my intention here. LOL

The only downside is drivetrain whine may get a little more noticeable. It won't affect suspension compliance or harshness. In fact if you have anything but the stock exhaust I'd bet you won't notice any negatives at all.