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I’ll be dropping the rear subframe soon to do the trailing arm bushings. I’ve already replace the subframe bushings with AKG and replaced the brake lines with stainless. What else should I do while I’m there?
BTW, I’m getting a howling noise, but I’m not sure if its the differential, the rear wheel bearings or something else. Am considering swapping from a 4.10 to 3.73 at this time. Thoughts? Also, is it any easier to do the rear wheel bearings while the subframe is out? Thanks.
If you have a press, the rear wheel bearings are easier with the trailing arms out. However, if you have tooling like the Sir Tools B90 kit, it makes no difference whether the trailing arms are mounted or not.
If you drop the subframe, the weld in camber/toe adjusters and new trailing arm bushings are a good idea. But with the subframe bushings being new, there is no reason to drop the subframe just to replace the RTABS.
I would do the sway bar reinforcements while you have it out as well. Turner sells some good kits.
http://www.turnermotorsport.com/html/subcategory_detail.asp?modelcode=E30&subcat_id=92
Sorry, meant to say that I am dropping the subframe to do the weld in camber/toe adjusters. I’m actually having a shop do it, so I may consider having them do the wheel bearings since I’ve heard this job is pretty difficult and since I’m not sure if the shop will have the right tools to press out the bearing.
Thanks for the suggestion on the sway bar reinforcements, but have already done that.
Generally the wheel bearings only howl when you are going around a corner. the bad bearing will howl loudest when it is on the outside in the corner. As for the diff if the fluid looks fine I wouldn’t worry about it. Now would be a good time to pull the cover off and look though.
My car was a bit loud like that when I had it at the dyno. The mechanic running the dyno said my diff bearings were going. I swapped to a spare diff and it was much quieter the next time I was at the dyno. So something was up with the diff but I am not sure what.
I dropped the subframe in order to put in the weld in camber/toe adjusters. Finished putting back together this weekend. I consider it a success since not parts were left over but one thing lef to do. I couldn’t find a torque value for the 22mm subframe bushing nut.
turbo329is wrote:
I changed the fluid recently…it still looked clean, but figure it was worth a shot. I think I’ll do the bearings since the fronts were bad and I’m sure the rears are the originals. Not sure what I’d be looking for if I pulled the cover off except for maybe some shavings.
my thoughts are that if it really makes you faster - it’s worth it… If it’s going to make the difference between winning a race and coming in second, it’s worth it… If it ONLY adds noise vibration and harshness to the car… Then new rubber ones might be just fine.
At $300 bucks for the M diff cover, is it worth it? Does it offer a performance adavantage or does the increased cooling just make your diff clutches last longer?
FishMan wrote:
Good question, I didn’t realize it was so expensive now, could have sworn it only cost about 150 when I first bought mine for my M3, of course that was like 10 years ago. I know it definitely reduces diff temps, whether that does anything I don’t know. If I had to guess I would imagine the stock cover is probably fine and I would keep the stock bushing with that.
I think they were $150, but someone figured out the value to a niche market. There are junked M3Coupes out there, a lot of them made their way into 318ti’s and E30’s but they are still out there in salvage yards.
FishMan wrote:
It’s worth 0.2 seconds at Road Atlanta. More at twistier tracks. 
Increased cooling makes it easier to comply with the highly technical (but never-put-in-practice) differential break-away test.
Patton says not to put one on because the fins hang down low enough that they will catch on curbing if you go out of bounds.
I think they look cool, so I put one on.:woohoo:
weld-in toe & camber kit (akg)…
from what I’ve seen/read, looks like the toe plates should be centered and the camber plates should be set to bottom. I have lowering springs now (tokico) and will be installing h&r race soon… hope! would you all agree on the camber plate placement?
btw: i’ll be checking camber/toe before sub is dropped.
ok, looks like the front camber is close to -3 and rear is -1.8 (via string/square method)
I have the fixed camber plates from IE and Tokico lowering springs, H&R’s will be lower (good guess?). The rear Toe is close to 0.
Should I set the rear camber weld-in plates to the bottom, centered or up top vertically??? The Toe plates will be centered horizontally.
Please advise…
Thanks!
W~
FYI, had the rear wheel bearing replaced and the howling noise is gone. Care feels much better with the new bushings.
Those of you that have followed me around the track, and many of you have, may have noticed my excessive rear camber! The fish car does have the weld-in adjustable RTabs, but the car was originailly built with a different suspension setup (Koni adjustables) and different ride height. After dropping the subframe, I found that the slots weren’t ground out enough to dial out camber like I want. That’s fixed…
To remove the toe side adjuster bolts, I had to remove the subframe bushings (complete PITA). I have the purple poly subframe bushings from Powerflex which are 80A poly and labeled as the “street” bushings. The trailing arm bushings are black poly. All bushings are in great shape.
Okay, so my question is should I replace the poly bushings with aluminum subframe bushings? I’ve been told that stiffer aluminum bushings are better, and I believe they might be, but what are other racers using? There is a part of me that thinks a little compliance in the rear might make the car a bit more forgiving and easier to drive.
What do you think? What are you running? Who has tried poly and aluminum? I’m only interested in “upgrading” to aluminum if it will make the car faster!
are solid bushings legal back there? even if they were i think i’d stay with poly for a little compliance back there to increase grip. i don’t think added stiffness in the back would make you faster.