ComicArtist Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 I was under the rear end yesterday welding up a broken exhaust hanger, and noticed a gap in my subframe bushing. Is it supposed to look like that? Seems to me like there shouldn't be that gap at the bottom of the bushing. Any input? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUNNY Z Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 For future reference, thats the "mustache bar". Mine looks the same way. It's close to 40 years old! You'd be tired if you took 40 years of abuse too . Bushings like this are the reason I'm doing full poly all around. Should really tighten up the car as a whole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComicArtist Posted February 20, 2012 Author Share Posted February 20, 2012 Gotcha. I didn't think there was supposed to be a gap. Guess its time to upgrade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zgeezer Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 I was under the rear end yesterday welding up a broken exhaust hanger, and noticed a gap in my subframe bushing. Is it supposed to look like that? Seems to me like there shouldn't be that gap at the bottom of the bushing. Any input? The answer is no. There should be no gap at either the top or bottom. To my eye, it looks as if someone dropped the mustache bar and did not reassemble the top and bottom "rubber washers" (the pieces that have all the bumps on them) correctly. IIRC those drop down and fit into the rubber bushing contained inside the bar. Drop the mustache bar and take a look. G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 (edited) Do you have a jack stand under the differential? It looks like the weight of the car is on the mustache bar. If you drop the car down you'll probably find that the gap closes up. You can see the bushings with the car down. The gap distance is set by the nut and washers bottoming on the sleeve inside the bushing. The rubber just fills in the space between. A cheap way to tighten things up is to get some big washers that will fit over the sleeve and compress the rubber. If you take the nut off and drop one of those rubber coated washers you'll see how it works. You can do it all with the car on the ground. The end of the mustache bar will drop a little but you can push it up with one hand. Edit - fixed a spelling error and added a detail. Edited February 20, 2012 by NewZed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rturbo 930 Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Mine used to look like that. I simply replaced the bushings. Problem solved! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComicArtist Posted February 21, 2012 Author Share Posted February 21, 2012 Yes, there is a stand under the diff. I'll try checking it out while it's on the ground, that could just be the problem. Still, it seems like there shouldn't be that much play in the rubber. Either way, poly bushings are only like $20 so I might as well go ahead and replace them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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