UPDATE: Energy Suspension mount = my vibration prob. can also cause DS to rub

[fiveoho]

i have had a huge headache with a drivetrain vibration problem for almost a year now. so many things can effect and cause vibration, which i have found out. 50 - 75% of my problems were due to a Energy Suspension transmission mount. a few of you had suggested in previous posts that this could be a problem and i also thought it could be as well but it is UNBELIEVEABLE how bad a poly mount will transfer noise and vibration.

here a some of my eariler posts, all related to this problem:

http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=730971

http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=730862

http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=730212

http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=693691

http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=692009

http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=691160


not only did the poly mount cause extreme vibration, the mount is taller than a factory rubber trans mount ( and of course, has no give ) CAUSING THE DRIVESHAFT TO SET HIGHER UP THUS CHANGING THE ANGLE AND THE BOTTOM OF MY CAR WAS BEING SCRAPED IN MORE THAN ONE AREA BY THE DRIVESHAFT. it also rubbed away 1/2 of the rubber sleeves covering my e-brake cables and also contacted the metal piece holding those cables. it also had been hitting the body right behind the shifter hole. there are scoring marks all around my DS. my pinion seal was leaking (seal has less than 8,000 miles) and my tailshaft seal was leaking . since the mount caused the trans to set higher, which caused the DS to set higher , it makes me wonder if those angle changes caused my leaks or contributed to them.

i kept my factory trans mount and swapped the energy suspension one back out for the factory rubber. before i took a test drive, i painted all the contact points that the DS were hitting with black paint. drove the car around a while, came back and put it back on the lift. there were NO marks on any of the places i painted black.

the car not only drives smoother, it just feels better. the vibration that i have had very recently when letting off the throttle at 60mph+ speeds have dramatically improved. The feeling of loose slack has also improved. i still feel there is a rearend issue as i can still feel some vibs when letting off at those speeds but other vibrations i had have went away ( which were prob caused by the DS rubbing the body ).

other thoughts and findings: before, with the DS bolted up car in neutral and e brake off and the car sitting on a 2 post lift.....the DS could be twisted either way with about a full inch of play. with the DS disconnected from the rearend and twisting the DS, i still feel alot of play which makes me think the trans is part of the problem. if that be the case, any vibration or slack in the trans im sure could be tranferred thru the DS to the rearend while driving making the driver think its the rear? with the DS still disconnected from the rearend, i can twist the rearend with VERY little play. does not take much movement at all before the wheels start to turn. considerably less play than when the DS is connected to the rear and the trans. however, i can still hear clunking in the rear when doing so. this still concerns me, should it?

when replacing a trans mount, i strongly suggest using a factory replacement. im under the impression the poly mount will work better hand in hand with poly motor mounts but i still would not trust it.

 

[gcomfx.com]

I went with the poly motor mounts (better than jumping all the way to solids) but I kept the stock tranny mount on the AODE for the main reason you speak of.

 

[SVT32VDOHC]

My rear end shop said changing the pinion angle a little will not hurt anything. And I trust them as I do a lot of business with them, personally, and through business deals.

 

[fiveoho]

My rear end shop said changing the pinion angle a little will not hurt anything. And I trust them as I do a lot of business with them, personally, and through business deals.

that shop may very well be right but i still have my concerns.

this mount has given me alot of headache. on a side note, i used their isolators and two weeks after installing them, one completely blew out. energy suspension

 

[SVT32VDOHC]

that shop may very well be right but i still have my concerns.

this mount has given me alot of headache. on a side note, i used their isolators and two weeks after installing them, one completely blew out. energy suspension

I agree. I would be concerned as well. The guy actually told me 5* isn't a concern. 5* is nothing, so that mount could have thrown you off a lot more than that. I have heard bad things about their motor and their trans mounts. Most motor mounts I heard are lowering peoples engines.

 

[fiveoho]

I agree. I would be concerned as well. The guy actually told me 5* isn't a concern. 5* is nothing, so that mount could have thrown you off a lot more than that. I have heard bad things about their motor and their trans mounts. Most motor mounts I heard are lowering peoples engines.

obviously you are smarter than me because you took note of the bad rumors, i on the other hand took it as hear-say.

 

[5spd GT]

Hi Jeremy,

I am happy to see that you made some great progress on trying to find a solution You have taken initiative and you are well on your way to potentially solving the issue.

I do not see enough pinion angle to effect the pinion cover seal, but it could have contributed to the tailshaft seal, or just made it slightly worse. They are pretty common for leaking anyways.

Quick question because my memory faded, but did you notice the vibration or clunking after the rear-end swap?

I am trying to recall if "play" in the driveshaft in the transmission is normal

Of course a clunking noise usually is not get in the automotive world, but I would not worry about it just yet. I believe your attention to detail and troubleshooting is going to net you a solution and hopefully soon.

Good Luck and I will be keeping up with your problems. I wish I could help more...

 

[fiveoho]

Hi Jeremy,

I am happy to see that you made some great progress on trying to find a solution You have taken initiative and you are well on your way to potentially solving the issue.

I do not see enough pinion angle to effect the pinion cover seal, but it could have contributed to the tailshaft seal, or just made it slightly worse. They are pretty common for leaking anyways.

Quick question because my memory faded, but did you notice the vibration or clunking after the rear-end swap?

I am trying to recall if "play" in the driveshaft in the transmission is normal

Of course a clunking noise usually is not get in the automotive world, but I would not worry about it just yet. I believe your attention to detail and troubleshooting is going to net you a solution and hopefully soon.

Good Luck and I will be keeping up with your problems. I wish I could help more...

thanks buddy. definetly have found a good portion of the problem but still have some issues remaining. thanks for chiming in with your thoughts.

and to answer your question, initially after the gears were installed, there was not clunking or vibs that i noticed. however it seems it was a progressive problem, noticing it a few months ago and slowly getting worse

 

[Chythar]

Very interesting. I'm sorry to hear you had trouble with a poly mount. All poly mounts will transfer more vibration than a stock rubber one, that's just how they work. I've had experience with a Prothane poly mount on an AODE, and I have no rubbing issues. Of course, my suspension is different than yours; my springs lower my 'Stang about 1 - 1 1/2 inches, and I have aftermarket upper & lower rear control arms. All that has a factor in the driveshaft alignment.

I did do some sort of a fix to keep my e-brake cable from rubbing my driveshaft some years ago; if you lower your car you'll end up running into this issue eventually. I don't remember the exact fix, does anyone know?

As far as the overall vibration goes, It's my opinion that you have several sources of vibration going on in your car. Installing the softer rubber mount is simply insulating you from the issue, not solving it.

 

[fiveoho]

As far as the overall vibration goes, It's my opinion that you have several sources of vibration going on in your car. Installing the softer rubber mount is simply insulating you from the issue, not solving it.

this i know. but with the DS hitting the body in 2/3 different spots im sure contributed quite a bit. with the oem rubber in place, no more scrapes