Modified diff mount

[Konish]

I had this stock mount modified to use both the stock rubber isolation as well as an energy suspension sway bar bushing (donut) or old valve spring. The stock mounting stud was cut off and a hole was drilled in it's place. Essentially a bolt passes through both plates with the head welded to the top plate. It'll bolt up exactly like the stock mount with the suspension bushing/spring mounted between the nut and the differential cross member.

 

The benefit here is that the top plate can still extend upwards, but is limited by the dampening from the spring or bushing. My hope is that the stock rubber isolator combined with the less compliant urethane bushing/spring will limit the upward moment while providing all the benefit of noise isolation and required compliance from the stock mount...without all the bracketry of the RT mount. If the stock rubber isolator was capable of arresting most of the torquing moment by itself without ripping in half in short order, the welded bolt head shouldn't experience enough force to tear it from the weld. I'm also hoping that the limited compliance in the bushing/spring will keep the whole mess from ripping through the cross member like a solid mount. However, if it does fail, then it'll be an RT mount next.

 

EDIT:

I guess you could just use a rounded head bolt and make it without welding the bolt to the top plate. With this method you could also jam 1/2 a polyurethane bushing (sway bar link bushing) in between the top and bottom plate then put the bolt in place. The benefit here is that you have a polyurethane bushing both in tension and compression giving the stock rubber pieces a break in both directions.

 

Edited October 3, 2010 by Konish