DIY: Whiteline rear differential bushings
 

It seems like more and more of these are failing. I figure more and more will be failing too and I didn't see a DIY for one yet. So I thought I'd be nice and take a few pictures and list out what to do to save people a few bucks. This was done on a friend's car. I may be doing mine shortly, so if anyone has any questions or wants any different pics let me know and I can add it to this.

It is not as hard as it sounds, and you can easily get it done in half a day with the right tools.

Tools needed:
Assorted sockets and wrenches 10-19mm (need 2 of a few of the wrenches)
Breaker bar
Hammer
Transmission jack (could always beast it out and in I suppose)
Drill and bits
Sawzall (or one of those all-thread/pipe puller deals and a large socket)

Step 1: Blow your stock differential bushing and leak fluid all over your shiny exhaust
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-I...019_090117.jpg

Step 2: Go in to get it replaced under warranty and be given a quote for ~1600 bucks

Step 3: Order some Whiteline differential bushings for like 99 bucks

Please be advised: Now would also be a great time to replace your rear sway bar, change your rear-end fluid, get a finned diff cover, do a gear change, etc

Ok onto the DIY for real.

Raise the car up and support it. I went with the lower control arms for the jack stands.

Remove your rear exhaust. You can either pull the rubber piece off the hanger. Those things are always a PITA so I usually go with simply removing the hangar with the three bolts in the rear.

You can get the diff off with only removing the rear section. But removing the mid section will make it a lot easier. It all depends on your exhaust and how big of a pain aligning the mid section is.

Next, remove the brace (6 bolts). Then undo the nuts for the sway bar on the end link. These may spin and require you to put an open end on the back. They were also on very tight so we used an impact gun to get them off. You can pick whichever one is easier for you. We chose the bottom ones. Then, remove the sway bar mounts. Remove the sway bar and set it aside.

Things should be getting a lot clearer underneath. Go ahead and tie up your axle shafts so that when you disconnect the diff they don't fall down. Disconnect the two sensors on the differential and move them out of the way.

Then use two 17mm wrenches to undo the drive shaft bolts. We placed a rag under the heat shield to support the drive shaft and not bend the heat shield once it was loose. Then we un-did the axle shafts. Feel free to mark the drive shaft and axle shafts to re-install in the exact position.

Next, break all three differential bolts loose, but do not remove. The rear bolt for the leaky bushing needed a 1/2" breaker bar to budge. Once the bolts are loose, position and secure your transmission jack. You will need to pull the differential towards the front of the car to get the bolt out of the rear bushing, then lower. Disconnect the vent tube. If you left the mid section of your exhaust in place, you will need to angle the front up to get the differential out.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-z...019_103706.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-N...019_103657.jpg

Put some tubing on the vent tube, bend it over and the zip tie it closed to prevent fluid from leaking out. Turn the diff over and place it on some wood. You can then use a large socket to bang the bushings out. You could also sawzall through the bushings. I'd go with the hammer and socket.

Grease and install the new whiteline bushings. Reuse the metal top collars on reinstall. The bushings go in very easily.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-R...019_130519.jpg

There are several methods to remove the center differential bushing. We drilled holes into the top and bottom bladders. Drill out enough of the rubber to get the sawzall blade into the bushing.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-D...019_113315.jpg

Cut through the outer metal ring. Make sure you cut all the way through. We cut from both sides and kept trying to hammer it out. There was a small piece in the middle still connected. Once that was cut, it came right out.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-5...019_130510.jpg

You're now ready for re-install

Grease up the center differential bushing. We installed the bushing from the rear of the vehicle. We used the bottom collars from the front bushings and a bolt I had laying around and a piece of scrap metal to pull the bushing into the hole. We then maneuvered the differential back into place. Jacked it up, reconnected the vent tube, moved the diff backwards to get the bolt into the rear diff bushing. Then we put the rear nut on, put the top hats back onto the front bushings and installed the front diff bolts. Tightened all three. Reconnect the sensors.

Reconnect the drive shaft, reconnect the axle shafts. Disconnect whatever you used to support the axles. (Old speaker wire in our case). Reconnect the sway bar, will need to hold the back nut with an open end to tighten. Reconnect the brace, reattach your exhaust, lower the car, profit.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0...019_152745.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-6...019_152759.jpg

All in all, it took about 6hrs with a lunch break and going out to the store to get new blades. If we had it to do over again, we could probably get it down to ~4hrs. The biggest pain was the center differential bushing and once we got it cut all the way through it was easy. (The right blade also helps a lot)

Getting the center differential bushing back in was probably the second hardest part. Again, a long bolt with thread all the way combined with the collar from the front bushing and piece of scrap metal worked very well for us. We put the bushing in from the rear, on the other side put the bolt through the collar and the scrap metal so that it wouldn't go through the hole. Put the nut on, and tightened it to pull the bushing into the hole.

Thanks again for the help man! Great DIY. My knuckles hurt haha

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My diff bushing just took a dump on me today. Thanks for the DIY!

As much fun as this DIY looks, I'm having a shop do it...

Its not really THAT bad, we had some trouble getting the main bushing out and were still under 6 hours total work for 2 guys in a garage.

My suggestion having done it: Dont just do the bushings, get the nismo finned diff cover and new fluid and do it all at once while you have it down.

Yeah that's a good call. Just bought one.

And gears and an LSD unit if you're ever going to. May as well remove the whole thing once :)

So I recently did my WL diff bushings and can't recall where these two plates came from ha can any one of the diy guys have an idea where it goes? I thought I saw it drop from diff and DS, tried to place it there but it seem not to work? Drives fine without them but would like to put them back where they belong haha
http://i.imgur.com/GTdXcj1l.jpg

Those go on top of the 2 front bushings in between the bushing and the body

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Thanks for the quick response!

Edit: well i went ahead put the top-hats back on while I was messing with my e370; didn't notice any change yet so guess that's good. Btw I have the big bushings on top with top-hats and the small ones at bottom plus washers. Anyone else rocking this combo come to have any issues? Just curious because maybe my e370 is drowning it out lol

Is there any other way to get the rear collar out with out destroying it? I was thinking about getting the energy suspension ones that reuse the stock rear collar.

Really good write up OP. This is one job most people try to avoid doing themselves. Good job!

Maybe something like this?

Nissan Solutions: Patented Diff Mount/Removal Tool - YouTube

I just put a new rear diff in, and did the bushing at the same time. I used to cut method on bushing, but I used an air hack saw. Cut like butter, and took maybe 30 mins to get out.

I also found a much easier way to install the new center bushing. Place it in the rear, and use the handle of a hammer and position the end over the hole of the bushing. Now rest the handle of the hammer on that black bar the is a few inches down. Pull toward you and it pops right in. I'll post a picture tomorrow so you can see what I'm talking about

There is another way to get it out. The ring on the bottom of the side diff bushings fits over it perfectly. Place that over it, find a socket abiut 3 inches long and that is large enough for the whole center bushing to fit into. Go to the hardware store and buy at least a 12 grade fine thread bolt and nut (preferably on that is threaded all the way) 12MM will the the hole perfectly. Now assemble that with the ring on the back side (rear of the car side) place the bolt through, socket on the other side, and attack the nut. Keep tightening it until it pops out.

Just make sure it's lined up perfectly. Also, I have no idea how you would get it back in.... maybe the same method I said above, but with a much longer handle?

Good luck!