H-E Offset Differential Bushing Install Photo's

[Tim417]

I got these installed and enjoy the peace of mind they afford, especially since my springs are sagging at the moment. They do transmit a bit of gear noise and you will notice whatever slap you have in your drive shaft (I have a little). Those stock rubber bushings isolate the noise very well. For those that want a quieter setup, I believe Hendrix Engineering will be releasing a poly version of these offset bushings in a few weeks or so.

[Orange 2010 Camaro]

Originally Posted by Bretts

thanks those pics help visualize the job , do you think a good shop press will get them out? I want a graphite shaft its on the list anyhow ,but that's good if the stock shaft fit well!

As for pressing the OEM bushings out with a good shop press, the OEM rubber bushings have a STEEL SLEEVE that is approx. 1/16 in. thick & has an over-lap on both ends to LOCK it in the differential casting.

You would have to use a flat blade punch top to push the over lap in on one side, so that the sleeve diameter on one end would then be smaller than the inside diameter of the hole in the casting.

If you had a steel plug that was just a little smaller than the hole in the casting, you would then probably be able to press out the entire OEM bushing!

I will try to attach some photo's of the OEM rubber bushings if I can find some.

I hope this helps.

All The Best,

Orange 2010 Camaro

[1KillerSS]

I just got a set of these in the mail, hope to have them on soon!

[Bretts]

f I hope I donèt f this up lol

[CFD]

Originally Posted by Tim417

I got these installed and enjoy the peace of mind they afford, especially since my springs are sagging at the moment. They do transmit a bit of gear noise and you will notice whatever slap you have in your drive shaft (I have a little). Those stock rubber bushings isolate the noise very well. For those that want a quieter setup, I believe Hendrix Engineering will be releasing a poly version of these offset bushings in a few weeks or so.

I noticed the same thing although the noise I was getting, especially clunking was not tolerable, I just removed them. I like the idea and the reduced axle angle is a big plus. If the poly versions are made I may try them.

[Orange 2010 Camaro]

Originally Posted by CFD

I noticed the same thing although the noise I was getting, especially clunking was not tolerable, I just removed them. I like the idea and the reduced axle angle is a big plus. If the poly versions are made I may try them.

I have had no CLUNKING noise from day one of the install. ALL THREE of the mounting bolts MUST be tightened to 85 lb. ft. The Delrin bushings that I received from H-E were a PRESS IN fit. I actually had to use a machinist vise to press them in to get them installed correctly!

What I do have now, is some noticeable gear whine at speeds above 60 mph. Small price to pay for the extra strength in the drive line! Smartest $150.00 I ever spent!

All The Best,

Orange 2010 Camaro

[Tim417]

The clunking noise I have is due to some driveshaft slap, probably a little play in the pinion. Will probably address that later. CFD, with what did you end up replacing your bushings?

[CFD]

Originally Posted by Orange 2010 Camaro

I have had no CLUNKING noise from day one of the install. ALL THREE of the mounting bolts MUST be tightened to 85 lb. ft. The Delrin bushings that I received from H-E were a PRESS IN fit. I actually had to use a machinist vise to press them in to get them installed correctly!

What I do have now, is some noticeable gear whine at speeds above 60 mph. Small price to pay for the extra strength in the drive line! Smartest $150.00 I ever spent!

All The Best,

Orange 2010 Camaro

My bushings were also a press fit. I did a gear change and the bushings at the same time. Although I am quite experienced and have done many , many differentials during my 45 yrs in this business I figured I may have missed something as I didn't think the bushings was the issue. I removed the diff. and double checked my work, preload end play, backlash and patterning were all excellent so reinstalled it with no change, the clunking was excessive so I went through everything, the car has over a 100,000 miles on it so checked the axles and found some slight play in one of the cv joints so changed both axles, while I was at it I did the hubs, still no change. Pulled the rear again, I checked every nut and bolt in the back of the car to make sure everything was tight, inspected every weld on the cradle, checked everything around the diff to see if raising it had caused any clearance issues, checked all my suspension components and found nothing so went further changing all the bearings and re checked everything, put it back again and still no change. I removed all the matting and put the seat down and laid down with my head over the differential to see if I could pick up where the noise was coming from, sounded like it was coming from the differential so I pulled it again, this time I went for a full rebuild, replaced the friction plates which by the way were fried, also replaced the spider gears. Preload was set at 19 inch lbs with new bearings, backlash is at 4 thousands and patterning is as good as it gets, put it back and still no change. I've been watching this thread closely to see if anyone else had noticed clunking from it so kept driving it until the above post as I still didn't believe the bushings would cause this much noise transfer, I dropped it this morning and swapped the bushings with a set of poly's and the clunking is virtually gone. My car is cammed and has solid subframe bushings so if you lug it in gear and listen very carefully with the seat down and matting out you can hear the noise faintly, which one would expect.

Tim417, all differentials have some backlash, if not they would not last, these new gear profiles GM is using keeps it to a minimum, with earlier differentials I would never set backlash to the 3-6 thousands which is recommended but even so, if you grab a handful of drive shaft and turn it back and forth you will feel it, nature of the beast.

I think these bushings are a great idea, other wise I would have not wasted time on them. I am 100% sure the clunking being so noticeable was due to them ,in my case, A combination of my cam, ride height, backlash and every other variable combined made it pronounced, others may not be as bad and some may be quiet, no two are alike.

I have no problem with the purchase of them and if a Poly version comes out as I mentioned I may try them again, I am only posting this so if anyone else installs them and notices clunking or excessive noise it may save them some diagnostic time.

In my case, doing them along with a gear change took some time to eliminate all other possibilities.

[Tim417]

CFD, thanks for the info. I may swap mine out for the polys when H-E makes them available just to reduce the clunking. Rotating the drive shaft by hand, I have about 1/4" of play back and forth.

Orange 2010 Camaro, what size wheels and tires are you running? The photos of your setup look good.

Tim

[Orange 2010 Camaro]

Originally Posted by Tim417

CFD, thanks for the info. I may swap mine out for the polys when H-E makes them available just to reduce the clunking. Rotating the drive shaft by hand, I have about 1/4" of play back and forth.

Orange 2010 Camaro, what size wheels and tires are you running? The photos of your setup look good.

Tim

Ok, here you go. The wheels are from Tire Rack & are the BBS CH-R in Matte Black. YES, THEY ARE EXPENSIVE! Make SURE you LOCK them on if you purchase them.


The REAR wheels are 19 BY 9.5 ( with a 35 mm. offset) running 275/35/19 Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires.

The FRONT wheels are BBS CH-R 19 BY 8.5 ( with a 32 mm. offset) in Matte Black running 245/35/19 Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires.

Also, FYI , The 19 BY 9.5 CH-R wheels with the 35 mm. offset WILL clear the FRONT SS OEM brake calipers by about 3/32, so if you wanted to run a square set up on all four corners, you could!

I did not know this at the time I made the purchase for the four wheels I have, but if I had to do it again I would go with the SQUARE SET-UP & run the 275/35/19 Super Sport tires on ALL FOUR corners!

As you can see, the car is pretty much slammed, with the Ride Tech Level TWO coil overs, running a REAR fender lip to pavement dimension of 27.250, & a FRONT fender lip to pavement dimension dimension of 27.000 in.

The car handles like it is on rails!

Hope this info. helps you.

All The Best,

Orange 2010 Camaro

[Bretts]

cool! vids?

[woodside783]

Dose any alignment need to be done afterwards?

[1KillerSS]

Originally Posted by woodside783

Dose any alignment need to be done afterwards?

Yes, Thomas can give them to you they will be custom specs.


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[woodside783]

Ok thanks