Prothane Tranny mount install

[ellik]

Im installig my tranny mount this weekend.... some of the other topics suggest im going to need to make some minor modifications like drilling the crossmember to make it work.
anyone install one recently and have some short cuts or suggestions on what im going to encounter and the easiest way around them?

[viper98885]

The modification are minor if you even need to do them at all. You WILL fell some major vibrations when you first drive it and you will most likely think that something's wrong. There is nothing wrong, it's what all poly tranny mounts do for the first little while. It will go away. Just a heads up.

[White95]

can you do a walk through of when you install it?? I'm thinking about doing the same install but I'm not sure about messing with the tranny.

[ellik]

well, thats kinda what im looking to get right now to get me through the install, but I'll do a write-up afterward too.

do I have to unbolt the tranny and drop it a little? that would suck, I just changed my tranny filter and fluids like 500 miles ago. any info is appreciated.

[RallyRed 98]

you're not really "messing" with the transmission. it's super easy.

put the front of your car up on jackstands or ramps and chock the rear tires with the parking brake "on."

position a floorjack squarely under the transmission (not on the pan) and raise the jack plate so it is in contact with the transmission. you should not be able to spin the jack plate around and in fact, the transmission should move up maybe a millimeter or two, just so you know that the floorjack is securely supporting the transmission.

unbolt the 1 bolt on the trans mount from the crossmember. at this point you can unbolt the crossmember and drop it, or you can remove the two bolts holding the mount onto the transmission and drop the crossmember and mount as one piece. it's up to you, really.

remove the old mount from the crossmember. remember how many turns past "tight" the bolt was. now, on the energy suspension version, you have to elongate the hole in the crossmember about 3/4" toward the FRONT of the car. i used a power drill with a good bit and a hacksaw, but i bet a dremel would work much better.

after this, follow the instructions supplied by the manufacturer as to how to mount the various washers and the preload plate.

bolt everything up exactly as you took it off, remember how tight they were when you took them off.

take the car for a spin! the shudder when you take off will be discouraging, but it subsides greatly within a week, and goes away completely within a month. If you hear any odd clanks or rattles, roll the car back up on the ramp and make sure everything is tight. i made this mistake myself and in fact, you should probably check it even if you don't hear any clanks.

if you need more in depth help or pictures or whatever, e-mail bbecker@vt.edu :D

[Riles]

The instal is INCREDIBLY easy. You just need two jack stands to make it simple. After the car is jacked up (under the front), you unbolt the transmission crossmember. This sounds like a big word, but it is just a one foot long piece of metal that is connected to the body by five bolts (two on each side and the transmission mount).

After you have all 5 bolts off, the thing will fall right off, and you will easily be able to access the tranny mount, which will also literally fall off after removing the two bolts that hold it on. Then, bolt your new one up and see if the hole lines up0 on the crossmember- mine did, but some don't. If they dont line up, you just have to drill a longer slit on the crossmember. You'll know what I mean when you see it. Then just bolt everything back up and your done.

It is about a half hour job with one socket wrench and two sockets involved.

On a side note- your transmission will sit about a half inch too low, so you will need to use washers or nuts or something to prop it up. It would be best to use a big chunk of metal, but washers and bolts will do fine until you can make a stronger alternative. Once again, you'll see what I mean when you go to install it.

Finally, your car will be loud on the inside now. Don't worry, nothing is wrong- the vibration and noise are normal.

[ellik]

gotcha.... thanks alot guys.

[Turbo V6 Camaro]

umm thats for the energy sup. brand ellik and i have the prothane brand, any diff ?

[ellik]

i dont think its going to be much different. essentially they are the same thing, just different manuf. i just needed the process, as ive never done one before. Ill let you know this after this weekend..... its supposed to be in the 40's so I'm doing my headers as well.... which means i'll be running open headers for a couple weeks till I get my exhaust in. [img]graemlins/naughty.gif[/img]

[Turbo V6 Camaro]

you'll love it, the open headers [img]graemlins/naughty.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/naughty.gif[/img]

[ellik]

as long as I dont get ticketed since I have to drive into the city every day for work. :(

[ellik]

Ive put the Prothane tranny mount in. bolted directly to the tranny, stud in center hole and I have about a 1/2" gap between the bottom of the mount and the crossmember. Right now I have a pair of washers, lock washer and nut filling up that space, then the crossmember, and then another lockwasher and nut below the crossmember holding it all together. not sure that I like it. What does everyone think about this?

[Ian]

hmm. why was there a gap there? when i did my ES mount, the tranny sat right on the crossmember and bolted up fine.

i wouldnt do what you did, i would see why the tranny isnt resting on teh crossmember. if you look at the tranny mount, it is flat where it meets with the crossmember. this is to prevent any rocking of the trans mount on the crossmember. by proping it up on washers and a nut, you are removing that surface contact, and allowing for rocking during higher torque applications.

If worst comes to worst, and you HAVE to prop it up like this, use something bigger to fill the gap. something with a nice flat surface. A machined piece of metal would work great (rectangular in shape), but might be costly. use your imagination, but id put something more supportive in there.

[ellik]

If you see Riles write-up above, he said there would be about a 1/2" gap as well. You are right, I am thinking about getting a steel or aluminum block 3/8" in thickness and the dimension of the mount cut with holes to line up to sandwhich between the mount and the tranny and get some longer bolts...... just didnt have access to anything like that late last night. Riles, if you read this, what did you do.... or anyone, how did you fix this?

[ellik]

Ian, you didnt lower the tranny from its stock position so that the mount sat on the cross-member, did you? You can see how the Prothane mount is shorter than the stocker. Any more input?