Anybody heard of this before?

[bobc]

I was looking over a Z this weekend for a possible purchase (It's currently on ebay) and noticed something I thought was a little different. The front of the differential was not resting on a pad. Instead there was a metal (probably aluminum) bracket bolted in its place. It was like a goal post with two uprights that bolted into the differential on each side on onto the cross bracket. The differential and cross member are bolted together through this bracket as one unit with no cushion between.

The owner said he thought the previous owner may have raced the car. Was this a racing trick? What would it do? The current owner said he got a lot of road noise through the car and I would imagine, metal to metal contact between the cross member and the differential would contribute to that.

Anybody heard of this before?

Bob

[sblake01]

I seem to recall the Datsun Comp./Nissan Motorsports offered a solid differential mount which sounds like what you are describing.

[GD71240z]

It eliminates any diff movement under hard acceleration. It can also get rid of the common diff "clunk" heard in the s30's. There are a few different people who sell them (Motor Sport Auto for one).Down side is it does create alot of road noise. Not realy the best choise for a daily driver IMO. It is good on the track though from what I have heard.

Another good way to stop diff movement is to replace the moustache bar bushings with poly bushings and install a new rubber front diff mount. Which is what I did on my 240z and it has been great. No more clunk under acceleration.

[=Enigma=]

Arizona Z Car makes one but I have seen others as well. Check it out here as well as some other eye candy:

http://www.arizonazcar.com/diffmount.html

[COZY Z COLE]

Arizona Z Car makes one but I have seen others as well. Check it out here as well as some other eye candy:

http://www.arizonazcar.com/diffmount.html

There are a lot of Z owners who use Dave's specialty parts in HP/Raced prepped cars and I've never heard or seen them described as "eye candy".

LARRY

[=Enigma=]

If it looks nice and is pleasing to the eye, it is eye candy to me. And I don't mean to take anything away from the improved functionality or performance that an item provides, only to say that it is pretty as well.

[rdefabri]

Dude,

Those billet parts are SWEEEEET!!! Eye candy for sure....

[bjhines]

In order to use them you must solidly mount both the front and rear of the differential... I have owned and currently race several 240Zs... I have used the solid diff mounts in the past...

I have pictures of a diff lower X-member cracked and fatigued to the point of failure... this was because I used a solid front mount with a poly bushing mounted rear bar on track for several years...

The mustache bar is a SPRING!!! it really does not matter how solidly you mount the eyes... it WILL FLEX.... the differential is rock solid.. it is very heavy.. the differential will wobble and twist under pressure and eventually cause the stamped sheetmetal crossmember to crack and fall apart... It is absolutely imperative that you mount the front and rear of the differential solidly if you change factory mounting at all...

A good alternative has been posted on HybridZ.org... it involves using a bracket that bolts to the restraining strap mounts... ignore the factory front mount and replace the mouting with a bracket the holds the front of the differential under compression not tension...

[texasz]

A good alternative has been posted on HybridZ.org... it involves using a bracket that bolts to the restraining strap mounts... ignore the factory front mount and replace the mouting with a bracket the holds the front of the differential under compression not tension...

Do you have a link to the solution on Hybridz?

[bjhines]

http://alteredz.com/drivelinemods.htm

Halfway down the page...