HOW TO: IRS Subframe bushings at home

[NJredfire03]

oh yea, you mentioned the lube locker as well earlier in the thread. haha, ive read so many irs threads I dont remember them all. I used the lube locker also which seems to be working great. After seeing what I went through with my diff cover, im not entirely sure how you would do it with it still in the car. Im sure its possible but I have no idea how.

did you use any spray adhesive for the LL gasket or no adhesive? used blue locktite for those diff bolts right? And like I said, I'f I have to get a mini funnel and a little bathroom cup to fill it 1 1/2 oz at a time i'll do it. I guess that will be a part of my report when it's all done haha.

 

[SVTr1gger]

I didnt use any other adhesive, just cleaned up the diff nice and installed the cover and lube locker. I used red loctite because thats what I had around...ive had no trouble getting things apart with it...its just a little tougher than the blue haha

 

[NJredfire03]

I didnt use any other adhesive, just cleaned up the diff nice and installed the cover and lube locker. I used red loctite because thats what I had around...ive had no trouble getting things apart with it...its just a little tougher than the blue haha

HA right on man, thanks for that info. I'm at a 50/50 right now if I'll get to work on the car this weekend. If I do I plan on getting the rear completely done, and the front at least on jack stands if not done.

 

[SVTr1gger]

Today I put the last four hours into the list I had posted earlier. Finished off the passenger side with the new spring, shock and caster camber plates, and then moved onto the driver side..fully dissassembled and installed the same.

The final thing I did was the MM steering rack bushings, it was a pain in the toosh. After getting it all finished..I realized how bad I needed an alignment, which will be done saturday. Then Ill have my review.

I did all this in 24 hours total...I was quoted 25 by a speed shop.

 

[NJredfire03]

Today I put the last four hours into the list I had posted earlier. Finished off the passenger side with the new spring, shock and caster camber plates, and then moved onto the driver side..fully dissassembled and installed the same.

The final thing I did was the MM steering rack bushings, it was a pain in the toosh. After getting it all finished..I realized how bad I needed an alignment, which will be done saturday. Then Ill have my review.

I did all this in 24 hours total...I was quoted 25 by a speed shop.

Damn, good for you man. I'm hoping im at around 15 hours for everything. I'll be looking forward to your review

 

[NJredfire03]

oh yea, you mentioned the lube locker as well earlier in the thread. haha, ive read so many irs threads I dont remember them all. I used the lube locker also which seems to be working great. After seeing what I went through with my diff cover, im not entirely sure how you would do it with it still in the car. Im sure its possible but I have no idea how.

I just realized that the FR cover that you put on has the fill plug at the top of the cover, where as the OEM cover has the fill plug at the middle of the cover. I'm assuming this is why you had a hard time filling the diff with fluid. I'll let you know if I had the same trouble or not.

 

[ac427cobra]

I just realized that the FR cover that you put on has the fill plug at the top of the cover, where as the OEM cover has the fill plug at the middle of the cover. I'm assuming this is why you had a hard time filling the diff with fluid. I'll let you know if I had the same trouble or not.

That is NOT a fill or level hole, that's a diff cooler return connection. :read: There's a fill plug in the same position as the OEM cover. :idea:

 

[NJredfire03]

That is NOT a fill or level hole, that's a diff cooler return connection. :read: There's a fill plug in the same position as the OEM cover. :idea:

Wow, thanks for the heads up. I was totally oblivious to that. Any insight on filling the diff with it still in the car?

 

[ac427cobra]

Wow, thanks for the heads up. I was totally oblivious to that. Any insight on filling the diff with it still in the car?

You can fill it using a couple of different methods. One would be to use a hand pump and pump the gear lube in or get a hose that will just fit into the fill hole and run it over by the right rear tire. With the tire and wheel off, pour the gear lube into the hose with a small funnel. Not the fastest way, but it works.

 

[NJredfire03]

You can fill it using a couple of different methods. One would be to use a hand pump and pump the gear lube in or get a hose that will just fit into the fill hole and run it over by the right rear tire. With the tire and wheel off, pour the gear lube into the hose with a small funnel. Not the fastest way, but it works.

Yes, I did a little search and found out that warming the fluid up and getting a hand pump will work just fine. Thats the way I will be doing it. Again thanks for that heads up.

 

[SVTr1gger]

Ah yes, that would be a minor detail. I forgot about that, Ive done so much work and used so many parts I cant even think clearly haha

 

[SVTr1gger]

You can fill it using a couple of different methods. One would be to use a hand pump and pump the gear lube in or get a hose that will just fit into the fill hole and run it over by the right rear tire. With the tire and wheel off, pour the gear lube into the hose with a small funnel. Not the fastest way, but it works.

This is actually how I did it, (being that I am a plumber) I cut down some rigid 3/8 water supplies and attached a 3/8 flex hose to it and ran it out where the tire should be. I needed a friend there, and it was slow...but it worked quite well.

As for my review of all my work done..here we go so far. I had my alignment done yesterday and my new tires mounted and balanced. Keep in mind my mod list was as follows...
-FTBR Full bushing kit with delrin diff mount
-FR Diff Cover & Lube locker
-FTBR deluxe bump steer kit
-Tokico d-spec shocks
-Eibach Pro kit
-MM Caster/camber plates
-MM Steering rack bushings

The car obviously is lower than it was (pictures to come shortly). My steering squeak is gone thanks to the rack bushings. It is also a little more responsive and actually feels looser than it did before. The caster camber plates are at MAXIMUM adjutsment and are still not perfect of where they should be, but alignment is fairly close considering. So far from what I have been able to tell in the short amount of driving, the shocks and springs are pretty comfortable. I have not adjusted the firmness of them yet, and will probably begin to do so later today. The bumpsteer seem to be doing their job, and I was actually complimented on my choice of equipment. They had never heard of FTBR but were happy with the quality of the part. Lubelocker and diff cover are nice...see no leaks or issues yet.

Now..onto the the bushing kit! I have not tried to race or drag the car yet..but I can tell you that the car is actually more comfortable in turns. I still have my stock subframes in (MM to be welded in within the next few weeks), but the car actually seems to lay flat through turns and take them even better than it did before, as if the rear is moving much smoother. That could be a placebo effect...or it could be that all the mods are complimenting each other. Either way I am happy with the ride. I also have no driveline vibration (that I can tell) except for the usual in low RPMS that everyone complains about. Being that my tires are not broken in yet...I have not jumped off the line anywhere, as soon as I have my chance Ill take the time to tell you how it handle from there. I can tell you that I was in 2nd gear at around 3k..dropped the pedal to the floor and the rear broke loose at around 55k, it was not shaky or hard to control.

That for now is my review. Overall at this point I am happy with my results...but I hope to never have to drop the IRS again

Before:

After:

 

[NJredfire03]

This is actually how I did it, (being that I am a plumber) I cut down some rigid 3/8 water supplies and attached a 3/8 flex hose to it and ran it out where the tire should be. I needed a friend there, and it was slow...but it worked quite well.

As for my review of all my work done..here we go so far. I had my alignment done yesterday and my new tires mounted and balanced. Keep in mind my mod list was as follows...
-FTBR Full bushing kit with delrin diff mount
-FR Diff Cover & Lube locker
-FTBR deluxe bump steer kit
-Tokico d-spec shocks
-Eibach Pro kit
-MM Caster/camber plates
-MM Steering rack bushings

The car obviously is lower than it was (pictures to come shortly). My steering squeak is gone thanks to the rack bushings. It is also a little more responsive and actually feels looser than it did before. The caster camber plates are at MAXIMUM adjutsment and are still not perfect of where they should be, but alignment is fairly close considering. So far from what I have been able to tell in the short amount of driving, the shocks and springs are pretty comfortable. I have not adjusted the firmness of them yet, and will probably begin to do so later today. The bumpsteer seem to be doing their job, and I was actually complimented on my choice of equipment. They had never heard of FTBR but were happy with the quality of the part. Lubelocker and diff cover are nice...see no leaks or issues yet.

Now..onto the the bushing kit! I have not tried to race or drag the car yet..but I can tell you that the car is actually more comfortable in turns. I still have my stock subframes in (MM to be welded in within the next few weeks), but the car actually seems to lay flat through turns and take them even better than it did before, as if the rear is moving much smoother. That could be a placebo effect...or it could be that all the mods are complimenting each other. Either way I am happy with the ride. I also have no driveline vibration (that I can tell) except for the usual in low RPMS that everyone complains about. Being that my tires are not broken in yet...I have not jumped off the line anywhere, as soon as I have my chance Ill take the time to tell you how it handle from there. I can tell you that I was in 2nd gear at around 3k..dropped the pedal to the floor and the rear broke loose at around 55k, it was not shaky or hard to control.

That for now is my review. Overall at this point I am happy with my results...but I hope to never have to drop the IRS again

Before:

After:

Wow, nice man. I'm hoping to have some kind of the same review but not to it's entirety because I didn't do all the work you did.

I got to work on mine a bit more friday night and got the front subframe bushings in and bolted back up. I torqued the front subframe bolts to 76ft/lbs as per MM's instructions. I used the 14mm replacement bolts and not FTBR's stage 8 9/16th's. Wondering if I have the correct torque on those bolts. Also I noticed that there was no way that the OEM bolts were torqued all the way. Pretty easy to come out. They were also the 12mm that came from factory. i was having a pretty nasty almost crunching noise on bumps coming from the right rear. I was told it was due to those 12mm bolts. So I am hoping that the new bushings and 14mm bolts will fix that. Another observation, on the right side front subframe bushing, it was almost too easy to remove that bushing. It felt like it came out without much effort at all. I'm wondering if that had anything to do with the crunching sound on bumps.

After having the front subframe dropped for about only an hour, getting it back up into position, where the holes lined up again, was not an easy task at all. We had to use dead blows, pry bars, and even a ratchet strap to get the holes lined back up to bolt it back up.

I looked at the OEM diff cover again to look for the fill plug. And I only see one plug on the OEM cover and it's half way up the cover on the right side. This IS the fill plug, right?

 

[SVTr1gger]

I would assume that is the fill, I actually had to fill mine through the plug that you check the oil level from. I could not access the other haha.

 

[ac427cobra]

I torqued the front subframe bolts to 76ft/lbs as per MM's instructions.

If that's what MM told you to torque them to, I would suggest you contact them and tell them that is incorrect. :dw: 76# is the torque for the OEM 12mm bolts. :read:

I used the 14mm replacement bolts and not FTBR's stage 8 9/16th's. Wondering if I have the correct torque on those bolts.

At the bottom of our installation tips and photos page we have a torque listing of IRS fasteners:

Installation Photos and Tips

As you can see, the 14mm bolt (which BTW is more costly than the 9/16" bolt we offer) has a lower torque value than the 9/16" grade 8 bolt. The 14mm bolt requires a torque value of 131 ft. lbs. The 9/16" bolt requires a torque value of 145 ft. lbs. This is because the 9/16" grade 8 bolt has a larger diameter and is a stronger bolt. Not to mention, it's less expensive which is why we chose to use it instead of the 14mm version. We like saving our customers their hard earned money. :idea:

I looked at the OEM diff cover again to look for the fill plug. And I only see one plug on the OEM cover and it's half way up the cover on the right side. This IS the fill plug, right?

There is only one plug on the back side of the Ford Racing cover approximately two thirds up from the bottom. This is approximately the same location as your OEM cover fill hole. That's your fill plug.

Wondering if I have the correct torque on those bolts.

Hopefully the above information answers your questions.

:thumbsup::coolman::beer:

 

[NJredfire03]

If that's what MM told you to torque them to, I would suggest you contact them and tell them that is incorrect. :dw: 76# is the torque for the OEM 12mm bolts. :read:



At the bottom of our installation tips and photos page we have a torque listing of IRS fasteners:

Installation Photos and Tips

As you can see, the 14mm bolt (which BTW is more costly than the 9/16" bolt we offer) has a lower torque value than the 9/16" grade 8 bolt. The 14mm bolt requires a torque value of 131 ft. lbs. The 9/16" bolt requires a torque value of 145 ft. lbs. This is because the 9/16" grade 8 bolt has a larger diameter and is a stronger bolt. Not to mention, it's less expensive which is why we chose to use it instead of the 14mm version. We like saving our customers their hard earned money. :idea:




There is only one plug on the back side of the Ford Racing cover approximately two thirds up from the bottom. This is approximately the same location as your OEM cover fill hole. That's your fill plug.




Hopefully the above information answers your questions.

:thumbsup::coolman::beer:

Bruce, as always, you're the man. Thank you for the info. And I'm just reiterating, I'm not doing the FR cover. I will be using the OEM cover with BF Brace and your front and rear diff mount bushings.

 

[DSG2NV03]

Nows a good time to get everything clean while you are in there.
http://www.svtperformance.com/forum...nsion-upgrade-progress-powdercoat-inside.html

 

[NJredfire03]

Nows a good time to get everything clean while you are in there.
http://www.svtperformance.com/forum...nsion-upgrade-progress-powdercoat-inside.html

OH WOW!!! That looks awesome!!! I wish I could do that right now. I have thought about powdercoating everything on the IRS one day. I have a feeling that one day I will tear it all apart during a winter and get that done. I would also love to clean up the underbody, some rust is building up, and get that rhino lined. These are all things I'd like to do when I'm making the big bucks haha. One day, it's always good to have a dream, a goal, and something to look forward to.

 

[DSG2NV03]

OH WOW!!! That looks awesome!!! I wish I could do that right now. I have thought about powdercoating everything on the IRS one day. I have a feeling that one day I will tear it all apart during a winter and get that done. I would also love to clean up the underbody, some rust is building up, and get that rhino lined. These are all things I'd like to do when I'm making the big bucks haha. One day, it's always good to have a dream, a goal, and something to look forward to.

Yea, but you can always get out the simple green and get all that crud off there. I did all this on my ridiculous government salary!

 

[NJredfire03]

Yea, but you can always get out the simple green and get all that crud off there. I did all this on my ridiculous government salary!

simple green to get rust off?