I removed the differential crossmember and replaced the rubber bushings. The new rubber bushings appear to be repro's. They look like the OEM's but were missing GM part numbers. When I went to reinstall the crossmember, I could not get it mount flush up against the frame. The bushing "sockets" jam up against the frame bell shaped "plug" about 3/8 of an inch short of of bushing/frame contact. I would imagine many C3/C2 owners have replaced their old bushings with these repro bushings and had the same problem. Any solution?
Actually I torqued the crossmember bushing to frame attaching bolts up to 85 foot pounds and still could not get the bushing to mate to the frame. (55 ft-lbs is spec value). I even tried to remount the old bushings and they also similarly jammed with about 3/8 inches let to go, even though they previously had been flush to the frame. The bushing supplier said to just mount them with the 3/8 clearance remaining. Will driving the car force them into position? I've considered reaming out the bushing "sockets" but I can imagine if I get them too big, the crossmember will be loose. Did the factory use some sort of a press to install them originally. Did torqueing the original bushings achieve a flush mount with 55 ft lbs of torque? Thanks
Actually I torqued the crossmember bushing to frame attaching bolts up to 85 foot pounds and still could not get the bushing to mate to the frame. (55 ft-lbs is spec value). I even tried to remount the old bushings and they also similarly jammed with about 3/8 inches let to go, even though they previously had been flush to the frame. The bushing supplier said to just mount them with the 3/8 clearance remaining. Will driving the car force them into position? I've considered reaming out the bushing "sockets" but I can imagine if I get them too big, the crossmember will be loose. Did the factory use some sort of a press to install them originally. Did torqueing the original bushings achieve a flush mount with 55 ft lbs of torque? Thanks
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