SPL diff bushings
 

I broke my rear diff bushing a few months ago, and I had a set of these bushings laying around (never got to install em on my 350Z). Can't have the diff flopping around like that so I dropped off the car & some parts at jnaut's shop (J Spec Auto). J Spec Automotive Inc.

Yep, solid aluminum diff bushings from SPL. These are a set made for a 350Z but I had Jason aka jnaut squeeze them into my Z. What a royal pain in the *** these were. It took quite some time & effort to remove the rear bushing. Squeezing the aluminum bushing was slightly less annoying (but still a pain the ***). NOTE: The 350Z bushing was slightly oversized and needed some work to be squeezed into the 370Z subframe. Installing the front set were cake by comparison. The entire rear subframe had to be dropped from the car to get the job done. And yes an alignment was needed afterwards. Perfect opportunity to install a set of rear camber arms.

How do they drive? I picked up my Z from the shop and went on a 180 mile road trip to the other side of FL. DAMN these bushings are LOUD. Any and all gear whine is transmitted throughout the entire cabin. Certain mph ranges are worse than others but highway speeds are tolerable. Note: I had Jason install another pumpkin with 4.08 gears at the same time. These gears had a little bit of a whine (in comparison to my stock 3.7 gears). On the brightside, shifting seems smoother but then again I had all the fluids replaced for this visit as well. No wheel hop on the street. Car feels planted onto the road.

The road trip gave me some time to think about what to do about this? So I grabbed a sheet of 45mil (approx. 1mm) thick EPDM rubber liner and gave it to Jason to squeeze between the bushings & subframe in an attempt to quiet down the noise. He ended up putting a few pieces between the subframe and body as well to reduce the noise. In the end it helped. Noise was reduced and now it is liveable (but still noticeable over stock). Would I daily drive the bushings w/o the rubber insulation? HELL NO. Would I daily drive with the rubber insulation? Yes.

Props to Jason @ J Spec Auto for all this work done to my Z!!! I had decent amount of work done on this visit and the car feels awesome. THANKS!!

http://jspecautomotive.com/

PICTURES!!!!!
http://www.the370z.com/members/tranc...me-off-car.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/tranc...ushing-out.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/tranc...-gonna-fit.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/tranc...g-1mm-time.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/tranc...nally-twss.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/tranc...t-bushings.jpg

CLIFFS NOTES:
-stock bushing is a piece of sh*t
-SPL aluminum diff bushing set (from a 350Z) adapted to my Z
-350Z bushing is slightly larger diameter than 370Z bushing
-removing stock rear bushing sucks hairy ballsack
-installing aluminum rear bushing sucks hairy ballsack (could have been avoided if I had access to a lathe)
-installed bushings feel great but noisy as f*ck
-fitted 1mm sheets of EPDM rubber between subframe & bushings and between subframe & body; helped make the noise tolerable
-should be less noise w/ stock gears
-I wish I knew someone was working on a set of urethane bushings earlier

So the 350z bushing is not the same size as the 370z? Or was it just sanded down because it was difficult to install?

350Z bushing is:
1) slightly larger in diameter (requires some machining)
2) slightly longer, not important, it just sticks out a little bit on our subframes

Just contact SPL for the 370Z specific kit, or wait for a urethane replacement set. I didn't feel like waiting for the SPL bushings and already had these on hand. Someone had to try it. :icon14:

Thanks again to Jnaut, I would have burned my car to ground out of frustration if I attempted this myself. :icon17:

I'm just worried about the bushing comming off of the subframe. I want to do this myself, hope it goes smoothly.

from what i saw, it was a ton of fun getting the stock bushing out. i'll let jnaut chime in and put in his 2 cents. :icon17:

Out of curiosity.....how do you break a rear diff bushing??

good question. i have no idea how i did it.:confused:

everyone that i know personally who has done it either has FI and/or track abuse (1/4 mile).

or drives it like he stole it*

You can also break it if you like going sideways.. true story.

or driving iit the way it was meant to be driven! :icon17:

Damn... I got out of my car today and heard some hissing coming from the rear.... Looked under and saw oil dripping on the hot exhaust.....hoping extended warranty covers this....:(

UPDATE

Swapped out the SPL diff bushings for the urethane Whiteline bushings. It's a night & day difference! And I think the Whiteline ones are a bit cheaper too. I wish I knew about these before I installed the SPL ones.

How was the fitment? Did you have to modify it to fit?