Write-Up: Subframe/Cradle Mount Insulators & Bushings

Write-up is here: https://rivperformance.editboard.com/t8662p30-write-up-cradle-mount-insulators-bushings#128747

im not really sure what they are called, but the last time my car was up on a lift i noticed the orange rubber bushings on the rear part of the sub frame/ engine cradle are dry rotted and falling apart.
parts # 8 and 4 i believe.


are these extremely difficult to replace? the dealership has them for $8 each and i think there are 4 in the rear of the cradle and 2 in front. what are they for? will it hurt anything if i dont replace them?
TIA
Matthew

I think these are more of a body mount and should be fairly easy to replace. I think once you try to replace that one piece you will see that the washers and bolts will need to be replaced as well. Before you get into it, I would check to see if the dealership has a complete kit or how much all components would cost if needed replaced.

I wouldnt think they would use rubber to center the cradle bolt holes,if so then the cradle would float,which cant happen... probably ther for vibrations.....the bolts should be fine unless they come out hard or something... shouldnt be hard to replace as long as you can drop the cradle just enought to slip the new ones in..an loctite an torque to spec..

As I rolled under the car working on undressing the motor to be pulled, I noticed that the rear inner cradle mount bushings were basically just hanging there totally seperated from mount hardware. The outer ones looked and felt sturdy. What's up with those inners? Where can I get them?

I have a several new ones available, otherwise the buick dealership. Good luck pressing them out. Mine originals looked new so I just put GTP washers in place of the Riviera washers. Shallower so it tightened mine up and solved the problem. Sounds like you need replacements though...

can you get any pictures

you can get those from the dealer or from an ac delco shop. good luck on the second one though, you have to either work in a repair shop or know someone that does to get it straight from ac delco. funny thing is if the dealer doesn't have it, they normally call ac delco parts house to get it.

I recently replaced all my subframe bushings as I had one or two that were bad.

Hit up the dealer for the drawings. Expect it to be confusing. But here's a little helpful tip. Position 1 is the forward most position, then two in the inner rear and position 3 is the rear outter.

I found a hammer and chisel or air chisel helped get the old metal ring out fo the subframe and a little caliper grease helped them slide together for reinstall.

BillBoost37 wrote:

I found a hammer and chisel or air chisel helped get the old metal ring out fo the subframe and a little caliper grease helped them slide together for reinstall.

Save the chiseling and stuff, is it pretty easy and self explainitory to change them? Do you have to lift the subframe away from the frame and stuff like that?

here is the dealer pic :
https://rivperformance.editboard.com/series-ii-engine-transmission-f4/cradle-mount-bushings-t1897.htm?highlight=bushings

Codith, if you buy Eric's bushings and dont use them all, let me know

Shoot guys.. I was underneath my car today installing my new O2 sensor when i look over to this dangling bushing by my cradle.. the metal washer thing is completely gone.. where do i get a new bushing and washer!!! Help ASAP please.. pics soon

ed morad might have a parts cradle around the shop.

is it just one of the rear cradle bushings that is missing the bolt? if so you are probably ok to drive on it for a little while, there are 4 in the rear holding it up.
my next question is how did this happen?? are the bolts rusted? i know when i had my subframe down last week those bolts were torqued down with like 200ft-lb.

Your right they shouldn't just fall out. Any one I've ever done or saw other people do required a shit load of torque to break them loose.
It's very odd that you would be missing one.
I believe the bushings, washers and bolts may still be available from GM, if Ed Morad doesn't have them. But I would think he does.

Rickw wrote:

Your right they shouldn't just fall out. Any one I've ever done or saw other people do required a shit load of torque to break them loose.
It's very odd that you would be missing one.
I believe the bushings, washers and bolts may still be available from GM, if Ed Morad doesn't have them. But I would think he does.

The bolt is still there BUT!!! the bushing just fell off.. along with the little metal piece... its really rusted too

The bushings seem to disentegrate as the age, but I would think you'd have a bad clunk if it's totally shot.

I'd say Morad's or dealership.

deekster_caddy wrote:

The bushings seem to disentegrate as the age, but I would think you'd have a bad clunk if it's totally shot.

I'd say Morad's or dealership.

YA i hear lots of clunks from my suspension!!!! lol







but trust me.. its broke.. i have the bushing in my hand. without even touching the bolt

Haven't been around in a while. I've missed being able to hang out here! I had to get an inspection the other day and found one of four Mounts for the carriage is pretty trashed. Has anyone found replacements for these? Is it a Dealer item only? Thanks!

Carriage? Not sure what you are refering to.

I think he's referring to the front cradle mounts.
You can always use hockey pucks and just drill the hole in the center.
But I wouldn't do just one, i'd do all 4 of them.

From what I remember the last time this topic came up the originals were still available from GM.
Need to find out the GM part number and try www.monsterpartsonline.com for a discount on GM parts or if they are cheap enough get one from your local dealer.
Try the local dealer parts dept and ask about them and get a P/N and price, then go to monsterparts and see what they get.

The originals are still available (there are 6 -or twelve if you count the top and bottem mounts seperately). I just got off the phone with Codith/turtleman and we discussed putting in OEM ones and hockey pucks. I think both of us would like to know if anyone has run the hockey pucks with any luck. Mine were in good shape but I used the shallower GTP bottom washers to tighten them up a bit. Maybe Codith can do a writeup when he does his OEM's??

I think i remember seeing robotennis write that he replaced his with hockey pucks.
Can't be sure if he did the front cradle or just the rear.

I think it was just the rear- maybe, if that. To do the fronts, you would need to machine the hockey pucks to sit in the cradle otherwise they would just shift around moving the entire suspension, engine, trans, etc.... Machine the top mounts to look like a mushroom and hollow out the bottom in a doughnut shape to fit arount the "stem" of the mushroom. The OEMs have metal sleaves through the middle so I think without it would wreck the hockey pucks very quickly...

all i did was drill holes through the pucks. so far so good. the pucks have no movement at the front that i can feel. ive gone under the car and i can see that they have not moved at all.

robotennis61 wrote:

all i did was drill holes through the pucks. so far so good. the pucks have no movement at the front that i can feel. ive gone under the car and i can see that they have not moved at all.

So, for clarification, you did replace the rears and the front cradle with hockey pucks. Correct.?

just the fronts. the rears cant be done with pucks.