Carrier bushing redux

[The Other Rob]

Once again I say HOLY CRAP.. Been beating on the thing with an air hammer for an hour and it's still holding tight.. When the sleeve comes out it'll be in several pieces..

[speedy]

Once again I say HOLY CRAP.. Been beating on the thing with an air hammer for an hour and it's still holding tight.. When the sleeve comes out it'll be in several pieces..

Wow that thing should come right out Bebe's almost fell out!!!!!!
Do you have a round tip for your air hammer? If you do get on the edge and collapse it in toward the center should peel out easy like that.Also PB blaster is your friend.

I really don't think this is beyond your average garage mechanic.Imo it a really simple fix.I would be happy to do this for you if your up for a road trip if i can help in any way please call i will pm my phone number.

[The Other Rob]

Finally got that little bastard outta it's hole.. I'm sure it woulda been a lot easier if I'd taken a recipricating saw through it on on opposite sides first.. Hindsight huh..??

bushing.jpg (109.71 KiB) Viewed 860 times

New bushing in it's new home..

bushing1.jpg (129.06 KiB) Viewed 860 times

Weather permitting, I'll get the crossmember back under the truck tomorrow evening.. Then start trying to find out if the front ring and pinion is trashed again..

[The Other Rob]

Got it all back together this morning... Not much trouble..

The stiffer bushing is letting some new noises transmit into the frame.. Or at least making them louder..

Will cover in another thread..

[HawaiianH3]

Aloha Gang! New to the Hummer forum, been a long time Dodge Diesel owner and just bought the wife this 2006 H3. Loving the vehicle cause I can actually work on it. Found this thread as I was trouble shooting the "thunk" in the front suspension. Just ordered the bushings from Suspension.com. You guys were right, that dude is super cool, took my call during his lunch break!!!!
My question is, what else do I need to purchase. I will be sure to post some pics of the install to share. Loving the site already and hope to chat more with all of you. Ill give an update on price and picture when bushings come in. Should be mailed out tomorrow, he just got a shipment in so get um while there hot!!!

Update! Bushings came in and they included a spacer! due to the lack of response to my post im guessing folks want me to read the entire thread to figure it out. I was just wondering if now with the new set up will i need the "shock" bushing and the new bolt? Will the old bolt not work?? Guess I will find all these details out when i do the job. Will create a new post with pics when time to do the job. thanks again for all the support fellow HXC members.

[The Other Rob]

The shock bushing give you a bit more "squish" and helps isolate vibes a bit.. I still get some mild vibes transfering through.. Not sure of the shock bushing helps or not..

New bolt.. Can't recall, just took it for granted it was needed.. Details are the small stuff.. The big stuff is getting the OEM Sleeve out of the carrier..

[HummBebe]

IIRC the original bolt wasn't long enough, but you sure can try it...all you would need to do is run to Ace Hardware or something similar if it doesn't and pick up the recommended bolt.

Also just about everything you need to know is on the first page.

The shock bushing were an impromptu thing because we knew the OEM bushing was flexible and needs to absorb vibrations as Rob said. It is a DIY type fix, no true engineering went into this project. It's just the way the wheelers here do stuff, cheep, cheep DIY.

[The Other Rob]

It's just the way the wheelers here do stuff, cheep, cheep DIY.

LIAR.. I saw your front end build..

[HummBebe]

Well if we didn't do it that way it would have been triple the cost!

[08H3]

I didn't see it mentioned reading through this thread, but what is the distance from the top of the crossmember to the bottom of the differntial carrier on a NEW FACTORY RUBBER BUSHING? I'd like to know exactly what that distance is so I don't put the tail too high or too low and change the angle of the driveshaft. If anyone has that, I'd be glad to know.

[The Other Rob]

See the very first post..

The thickness of the new bushing lip and the 3/16 washer get you well in the ballpark of OEM..

[08H3]

I've got everything besides the time right now to put in Bebe's crossmember fix. My (second) bushing finally let go and the diff was flopping around making a racket in 4-Lo but I don't really have time to pull the crossmember right now, so I came up with what may be another 10 cent trail fix. What I did was remove the bolt completely and take a flat piece of 3/16" steel with a clearance hole in it and place that on the bottom side of the crossmember. I ran the bolt back up and torqued it back down to spec. Now the diff rest securely on whats left of the rubber on top, but there's no up and down play.

So this got me thinking, what is the point of the bushing in the first place? I assume it's only for noise and vibration reduction, so what would be the disadvantages to doing away with the bushing completely? Just use a solid plate on the bottom, and an appropriately sized (thickness) plate or spacer on the top between the crossmember and tail of the diff and tighten it all back up. Steel isn't going to wear out, so provided the noise and/or vibration are not an issue, does anyone see any fundamental problems with this?

Note, in the pic below, the lip on the steel is irrelevant. It just happened to be what I had laying around.

[DirtyH3]

How are the vibrations and noises now that you have it supported by the metal bracket?? I've thought about this long and hard and wondered why GM designed the mount points like this for a vehicle intended for offroad use. I've even looked into how IFS differentials on other trucks like the silverado are mounted. Much different.

I'm still waiting to do my bushing fix, have all the parts, just no time like you. Bebe's bushing mod seems to work for everyone too.

Here's my thoughts: all three mounting points for the front differential have similar bushings and to a degree, a certain amount of flex up and down as torque is applied. Given that you fix aka hard mount the center mount location and allow the other points to still flex, this could result in flexing of the housing. For example, your offroading and say, one wheel (right front) is slipping and then grabs; normally the center and right front bushing will flex. If the center mount is hard mounted, then only the right front bushing will flex (in a sense causing undesirable forces on the differential housing. Maybe Bebe can chime in with some experience after completing the bushing redux mod (i.e, how hard did she offroad using the bushing, etc).

[08H3]

How are the vibrations and noises now that you have it supported by the metal bracket??

Absolutely no difference between the steel plate and factory mounting method.

[HawaiianH3]

Changed out tranny fluid this weekend and thought about doing the bushing! Just wanna clarify again why the oem bolt could not be used? I have all the parts except for the bolt. Also still considering if the extra "shock" bushing "needs" to be added to the bottom portion of the lower bushing????