Solid Differential Bushings?

[nitto85]

Curious as to why there has not been any offerings of solid aluminum differential bushings.
Too much road noise? More harm than good?

I was doing some searching around the net for some stuff, and came across some for other makes/models of cars, so it peaked my curiosity.

[CHMSC]

I know pfadt quit making their diff bushing because people would complain about rearend noise even though they warned about the added noise

I would only assume solid bushings would be even worse as far as noise and driveline vibration.

[2012LS3VERT]

An option would be running one solid and one high durometer rubber or Polly bushing.

[tw78911sc]

you can buy machined delrin bushings, basically solid. I have them, but decided not to install them yet because I'm not convinced there is a performance gain to be had. It doesn't impact geometry like trailing arm bushings. I know I was advised to not use poly, they get eaten up and break apart with time.

[Dexman1349]

Edit: Nevermind, I thought you were talking about cradle bushings...

BMR has a setup with one delrin bushing and a pair of poly bushings. It's their attempt to solidify things while still keeping the noise/vibration down. That's probably the way I'll go when I get there.

[2012LS3VERT]

Originally Posted by Dexman1349

Two options out there for solid aluminum: ADM Performance ($500 on their website) and Detroit Speed (~$725 @ JDP Motorsports).

Those are the sub frame bushings, OP is referring to the differential bushings on the diff housing.

[Dexman1349]

Yep, I caught that already. My bad

[BMR Sales]

BMR does offer a Delrin diff bushing kit, which is about as close to "solid" as you're going to find. We also have a new kit which has 2 poly bushings and one delrin bushing for the rear cover (as mentioned above). For most people, the delrin bushings are going to be too noisy for street use. The harder the material is, the more NVH it will transmit. This can make the rear end pretty noisy on some cars. Our new kit (BK046) with the one delrin bushing is what we recommend for high HP cars that still see some street use. You will still get some increased NVH, but it's not as noticeable as the all-delrin kit.

[nitto85]

Originally Posted by Dexman1349
Two options out there for solid aluminum: ADM Performance ($500 on their website) and Detroit Speed (~$725 @ JDP Motorsports).

Three options, *cough* sig. I know you caught and fixed your post, I just had to point that out ha!

I really was just curious about solid aluminum (more of a why not question), but I really like the new BMR differential bushings, that will probably be what I go with.
Unless I decide to do something different....

[Apex Motorsports]

Originally Posted by BMR Sales

BMR does offer a Delrin diff bushing kit, which is about as close to "solid" as you're going to find. We also have a new kit which has 2 poly bushings and one delrin bushing for the rear cover (as mentioned above). For most people, the delrin bushings are going to be too noisy for street use. The harder the material is, the more NVH it will transmit. This can make the rear end pretty noisy on some cars. Our new kit (BK046) with the one delrin bushing is what we recommend for high HP cars that still see some street use. You will still get some increased NVH, but it's not as noticeable as the all-delrin kit.

Keith nailed it. You can get away with solid rear cradle bushings without any problems but the diff is another animal. Many of these cars have noisy gears, even straight from the factory, and do not know it because the soft stock bushings are isolating it. Once you install a harder bushings you may start to hear it. However, the new BK046 kit is really exciting. That is a very clever approach that should provide close to a best of both worlds solution.

[JDP Sales]

Outside of a serious drag racing application, I do not recommend differential bushings. There is just not enough benefit to warrant the NVH that comes with them for very little benefit. Our JDP Camaro runs on the stock differential bushings.

Best regards,

Tyler
888-308-6007