Apparently both the upper and lower gearbox bushes on my 360 have split. Should I replace or is it one of those things that I can leave it? Is there an upgraded version available? What will happen if it breaks? Thanks Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hello Sy, The handling will be unpredictable and kind of crappy. The car will feel a little bit sea sick at progressive speeds and can cause unexpected yaw movement in all directions as the weight of the gearbox and engine can literally move around by the amount of slop induced by how bad they have gotten and the direction of travel. A popular upgrade is the 430 Scuderia upper bush as it's better designed to yet still more compliant than the earlier attempts and it sharpens up handling nicely. Or you can fit the 360 Challenge race car bush but it's l harder, hence why most people go with 430 Scuderia version for a nice compromise of improved handling and good road compliance. If your gearbox bushes are shot their is a very good chance you need to engine mounts too. Once you have got this bad that both upper and lower are shot it's literally ripping/tearing the remaining life from engine mount bushes too as the whole assembly can move around much more so it's a consequential knock on effect. I would therefore replace engine mounts too, and again they are often upgraded with either Challenge Stradale, 430 Scuderia ones or Challenge car ones. The net effect of fresh bushes is a the engine is much better held in place (not like a loose tooth!) So the performance will be better too as you won't get phantom "knock" from bumpy road detection in the ignition ECUs thinking there is detonation. Finally I would also check the airbox rubber bushes (not expensive but quite a few of them) which suspend the box over the engine cradle. If the engine has been moving around at lot for a while they will likely be toast too. So benefits: Improved handling Improved performance Leave it as is? I wouldn't! If it gets much worse then the bush could literally rip out entirely and pop the air filter to airflow meters off during driving. You'll be left stranded and require towing...
Thanks Trev. What about the the lower bush? Scud version or standard 360? Engine mounts were changed last year I think. By the way, I still have that 360 document you sent to me years ago.
I fitted this one Sy.....part number 237531 (430 Challenge / Scuderia / 16M part) and you might also need the spacer washers depending on how old your car is (pre assembly number 40522) ....although from memory it’s a 2003 so should be ok? The lower support doesn’t really take a lot of load and I left that one alone as it looked ok. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
