A must read if you have done the frame recall/repair

[Jack B]

We just changed rear-ends tonight. I installed a quaife with 3.33's. Here is an interesting find. When they do (recall) the the driver's side rear frame mod they box in one of the two brackets that contains a bushing for the rear-end. When they do this the oem bolt is too short (this is my guess) and they install a bolt that is one inch longer. The oem bushing is already pretty sloppy.If the bushing-to-bolt clearance is great, under torque the rear ends sort of floats and the bolt works on the bushing increasing the slop even more. Once again, this is not a lot movement, perhaps .020 to .040, but, the greater the clearance the more the bolt works (destroys) against the bushing.

I hope that Dodge didn't supply the new bolt for the recall and here is why. The original bolts are 14 mm diameter over the whole length. The new bolt is 14 mm, but, in the center (about 2 inches of length)it is almost .050 smaller in diameter. Since it is longer the bushing rests against the small diameter on one side of the bushing. The result is you are adding .050 in clearance to the already sloppy fit in the bolt-bushing assembly. I only have about 5,000 miles on the recall and the loose fit had already started to neck down or erode the already smaller diameter bolt. The radial clearance is almost 1/8" on one side of the bushing, I don't know if this hurts handling, but, it sure cannot help.

Has anyone seen this and how hard is it to get a full diameter 14 mm that is 4" long in a 9.8 strength. I am indicating 14 mm, my bolt gauge shows 14 mm, but, it only measures .542, which is 13.79 mm. I would have thought the diameter would have been a full 14 mm.

 

[Jack B]

Just to summarize, the rubber/metal bushings in the differential arms are sloppy (bolt-to-metal bushing) and rigid (no give from rubber bushing to the frame). This condition is exacerbated when you do the frame recall. I am pretty sure this applies to all Gen 2's.

Here is the fix, any supplier of frame bushing can give you a poly bushing for a C5 vette. Their read-end set-up is sort of like a viper. Merely take these poly bushings and drill them out from .504 to .544 (14 mm). For some reason 14 mm bolts don't measure a full 14 mm. You will also have to throw out the 120 mm bolt from the frame repair and install a new 100 mm x 14 mm bolt. Just replacing that bolt will close up the slop and this can be done with little effort.

 

[Vic]

What?









































Ha hah, just kidding, I got it, I got it.....


I've seen some other Chrysler products with crappy bushings, like my Jeep. It used to make all sorts of clunking noises. One time I replaced the panhard bar up front, because the bushing was undersized, or loose or something, and I had to buy the whole bar, can't just buy the bushing. The new one had the same problem! I decided that I'd never buy another Jeep.

Whats up with these bushings? [/seinfeld voice]

 

[TOOOFST]

Jack BBBB to the Rescue!Always good stuff from you Jackster.
PS.Are you still dealing with DENNY's RACETESTED Nitrous?
If so how's it going?

 

[Jack B]

Vic:
see the first post, if you took your differential down and saw the slop in the bushing you would be shocked. It is a built in factory problem that is made worst by the frame recall repair. I am just pointing out a way to tighten up the suspension without spending a lot of money. If you don't want to replace the bushing, merely change the bolt, the recall bolt (changed during the recall) has a smaller diameter in the body than the original bolt does.

I will find part number out and post it.


Scotty:
Rich has been missing in action, probably found an additional hobby.

 

[Vic]

Good tech tip. Uhm rather, its GREAT tech tip!

 

[Warfang]

Good tech tip. Uhm rather, its GREAT tech tip!

I wish I could understand the tip... not quite the grease monkey I wish I was. Which year(s) does this effect?

 

[Bad_Byte]

Jack I think it would be great if we could get a couple of pics that show exactly which bolt/bushing is involved. Great to know though, thanks.

 

[Jack B]

I will put some pic's together

 

[Vic]

Warfang, it affects any Gen2 that has had the frame recall done. Evidently, the new diff mount bolt is longer than the old one, and tapered somehow, which allows the bsushing to move a bit too much.

Did I get that right, Jack?

 

[Steve-Indy]

Recall 998 (steering rack and diff mount) includes ALL 1996 Vipers (Gen and II), 1997 and 1998 Vipers....for 1999 and 2000, it was front end only (Recall 999).

 

[Go Fast For Life]

Thanks Jack...

Great post.

 

[Mark Hahn]

Anyone have the frame repair/recall done in the Seattle/Tacoma area? Thanks for the post Jack. MGH

 

[Marv S]

You must be registered for see images

You must be registered for see images

 

[Jack B]

I am fighting a staff infection in my leg, as soon as soon as we find the right antibiotic i will post pictures, part numbers and comparisons. It really is very interesting. But if you have access to a spare differential, place a 14 mm bolt in the oem bushing, it will shock you. Then think that the recall bolt is even worse.

 

[Viper Specialty]

Jack- I have the feeling the bolts from my Shock Bolt Kits will be what you need. 14mm full diameter, coated and 10.9 rated.

 

[93Cobra]

So any recalls that have been performed are going to have this problem unless a tech noticed the smaller diameter bolt and replaced it with a bigger one.

Hmmmm...I wonder if the Dodge tech will take my word for it and install a bigger bolt when I go get my recall performed. This is good info....

 

[Jack B]

Dan:

what is your "shock kit" comprised of? What length are the bolts.

To further expand, I just did a quick calculation, the play cause by the poorly designed bushing and recall bolt will cause the car to float about 1/2" at the outside of the body, this is before the slack is taken up. What it ends up doing is beating the bracket to death.

 

[KepRght]

what do you think about putting a delrin busing in there? i have a pair but havent installed yet

 

[Lee00blacksilverGTS]

For clarification this problem applys to recall 998 and NOT 999? So 1999 and 2000 are not involved?

 

[Camfab]

For clarification this problem applys to recall 998 and NOT 999? So 1999 and 2000 are not involved?

That is correct Lee.

 

[FrankBarba]

Wasn't the recall 998 for vipers that saw track time or racing????

 

[Big E]

Recall 998 (steering rack and diff mount) includes ALL 1996 Vipers (Gen and II), 1997 and 1998 Vipers....for 1999 and 2000, it was front end only (Recall 999).

You don't have to have track time for the recall. It was probably first found on Vipers that had track time. It could happen to a street driven Viper too. Its free & its good insurance if you drive you car at all.

 

[Jack B]

what do you think about putting a delrin busing in there? i have a pair but havent installed yet

I think your going to find that it won't fit. The offset is wrong and the hole diameter is wrong. I truly think that we have missed a major problem with the viper suspension, the play in the factory bushing is terrible. I read an article about the ZO6 and one of the first things the development team did was insert close tolerance bushings.

I had to cut both sides of the bushing in a lathe and then ream the hole. There is play in all Gen1 and Gen2 bushings, it just gets worse with the recall bolt, DC got lazy and kitted the wrong bolt with the frame fix.

 

[_Niz_]

Where did you get the 3.33's?? I thought they were only in testing phase??

 

[Kmrumedy]

Arrgh! I'm scheduled to get the recall done this week!! I bought a 1997 B/W that is getting shipped to me from Oregon to Montreal Canada. I had to get the recall done in order for it to pass the border.

I have sent this info to the seller. I hope the techie doing the work doesn't dismiss the information.