Front Axle - Front Differential Mount Bracket Bushings
Does anyone have experience with changing the three front differential mount bracket bushings?
(MN125240 - front left, front right & MR418404 - front center)
I have attached schematics from the front axle workshop manual.
If you do have experience, please let me know what the job difficulty level is, how long it took, any critical parts of the process I should be aware of, as well as tips, advice and important tools.
On second thoughts
I'm definitely not attmpting this myself - the center mount has a bolt attaching it to the crossmember that can only be reached from the top - that might mean dropping the crossmember, which requires a special tool to suspend the engine from above - the engine normally sits on the cross member.
My front left diff mount is
My front left diff mount is completely busted. Rattling on bumpy roads, hard shift from P to D and vice versa (transmission mount is new), when I go over slopes I get this metallic clank sound, as well as when I go around a round about.
Suspension parts I changed very recently:
Shock struts, shock strut mounts, inner tie rods, tie rod ends, lower arm bushings, stabilizer links
Was still hearing the clank sound and a mechanic pointed out front left diff mount is very bad, and the front center mount is on its way out with a crack in the rubber
The left mount
The left mount should not be too difficult to get to - take off the left front wheel and "eyeball" it - does it look like you can reach all the bolts (4) holding it to the freewheel clutch housing? Does it look like you can get the bolt holding it to the cross member out?
It's the rear mount that I think will be the most challenging.
I was able to change all 3
I was able to change all 3 front differential mounts today with a mechanic.
Jacked it up, removed bottom guard and tires, placed jack stands, removed Stabilizer links, freed the sway bar, tie rod end, ball joint.
Then loosened the sub frame to lower it so we could gain space. Removed CV joint got the front L & R out then had to wiggle differential to a side to get the front center differential mount out. (Didn't need to drop the diff oil)
Took 5.5 hrs (parts spent 1 hr at machine shop to get pressed out and in)
Syndicate
I'm always tempted to respond
Whenever I see a question like this I'm always tempted to respond with something like "too difficult for you".
There's literally no way anyone can answer the question without knowing your "skill & experience" level - what if I say it's a "difficulty level of 5" - does that help you any?
Sometimes you need to get under the vehicle and look to see what's involved, you have the manuals to guide you, you know what you're capable of, you know what tools & equipment you have access to.
Let me say this, I've never done it, but I just went outside, grabbed my creeper & slid under the car and took a look, it's well within my abilities, however, it would probably take me longer than I care to spend, so I would more likely than not farm it out to a local mechanic (the older I get, the more I avoid physical grunt work).
Replacing the mounts does not appear to be a difficult task, removal of the parts that need to be removed to get the mounts off is where the challenge lies.
You're going to need to drop the front suspension out to get the CV axles out, the right CV axle is likely to be a pain in the butt to remove (because of the style of retaining circlip), some people do it with two large screwdrivers, I prefer a slide hammer puller. It would probably be easier to disassemble the innver CVs leaving the bell of the CV in the axle, and slip the mount over the bell, but that approach will require CV boot kits or at least the grease and retaining clips to secure the boots.
Question - why are you changing the mounts - they are not under any significant stress and I would say unlikly to fail.