Differential R & R w/DTE Diff Brace
All of these installations are to be performed at your own risk!!!!
DTE Brace Install Continued...
Bracket Installation on Differential Housing
1. Locate the resonance suppression counterweight on the left side of the differential and remove by loosening the two 13mm bolts.
2. On the passenger side, remove all of the 10mm gold bolts except for the two lower ones at the 6 o'clock position near the lower "ear" tab on the cover. Again, I bagged and labeled all of these bolts in case I need them in the future.
3. Install the passenger side differential bracket as shown using the supplied bolts in the kit making sure to use a supplied washer under the head of the bolt. Use blue Loc-Tite on these as well and torque to 20 ft./lbs.
4. Now go to the driver's side of the differential and remove ALL of the gold 10mm bolts. Install the driver's side upper differential bracket onto the cover as shown using the supplied bolts in the kit making sure to use a supplied washer under the head of the bolt as well as Loc-Tite. Torque to 20 ft./lbs.
5. Install the driver's side lower differential strut bracket onto the differential cover as shown and follow the same fastener installation and instructions outlined in Step 4.
6. Re-install the resonance suppression counterweight back onto the left side of the differential cover as shown and torque to 25 ft./lbs.
7. With the 11mm bolts supplied, install the differential bracket cross-rod (the shortest of the five) between the two main upper differential brackets. Make sure you put a washer under each bolt head and use Loc-Tite. Torque to 15 ft./lbs.
Step 15:
Put your differential back in by using your tranny jack or ATV jack. Jack up the drivetrain and remove the jack stand. Lower the drivetrain back down enough to reinstall differential. Raise up differential and ready it for installation. Place a thin bead of Copper silicon around the o-ring on that seals the transmission and the differential. Slide differential back onto the tranny and secure it. Raise drivetrain back up and replace the jack stand under the tranny. Make sure your drain and fill plugs are nice and snug and fill up differential. The differential will hold almost two bottles of gear oil. Put the slip additive in first. Now is also a good time to change your tranny fluid. It will hold four bottles of transmission fluid. I use Redline D4 ATF in my MN6.
Strut Rod Installation for DTE brace (skip to Step 16 if you are not installing brace)
1. Locate the four main strut rods in your kit. You'll notice that two are of equal length and the other two are not. The two that are equal in length are right and left, TOP strut rods, the net is shorter in length and is for the RIGHT side and the shortest strut rod is for the LEFT side.
2. Your kit has four left handed thread Hiem joints with matching jam nuts and four right handed thread Hiem joints with matching jam nuts. Install the appropriate jam nut onto the Hiem joint stud and screw them all the way on until the nut bottoms out on the stud as shown. Do this procedure for all eight Hiem joints and studs.
3. Each main strut rod has a right handed and a left handed thread machined into the ends of them for which you'll screw the appropriate Hiem joint stud into equally on both ends.
4. Located one upper, (long) main strut rod and the second to the shortest lower main strut rod for the passenger side and put these next to each other. Locate the other upper, (long) main strut rod and the shortest main strut rod for the driver's side and put these two together. The strut rods will look like this when the Hiem joints and jam nuts are installed properly.
5. For the driver's side, be sure the machined hexs in both the upper and lower main strut rods are facing towards the front of the tranny, while the machined hexs on the passenger side for both the upper and lower main strut rod face towards the rear of the transmission. This is for ease of adjustment after the kit has been fully installed.
6. Install each respective assembled main strut rod onto the bracket mounting blocks using the supplied bolts in the kit. Use Loc-Tite on the bolts and torque to 37 ft./lbs.
Strut Rod Pre-Load Adjustment
1. Adjust all four strut rods to a static ZERO-lash first by HAND until they are JUST snub, making sure they are PULLING THEMSELVES TOGETHER during your adjustment procedure.
2. The proper adjustment sequence is as follows: passenger, upper right, driver's upper left, driver's lower left, and passenger lower right.
3. After ZERO lash adjustment is complete, tighten each respective strut rod IN SEQUENCE 1 (one) full turn past ZERO-lash in ∏-turn tightening increments, in sequence until 1 (one) full turn is reached.
DO NOT adjust the pre-load rods tighter than 1 (one) full turn pas ZERO-lash or differential damage/gear whine WILL occur. Once ZERO-lash has been completed for each rod, DO NOT further adjust to ZERO-lash as you proceed through the adjustment sequence even though pre-load rod may "feel" loose before final tightening is completed. These steps are ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL!
4. Lock down each respective pre-load rod jam nut at each Hiem joint stud.
Follow this step for all four main strut rods in prescribed sequence and when you are complete, each respective pre-load strut rod should have tightened up smoothly and evenly.
Step 16:
Place the rear crossmember under the car and position it for installation. If you removed the cat back re-install it now. Raise the cradle up to install. Watch all of your brake lines and wires. Now is a good time to look at the pictures I told you to take earlier. Finish raising the cradle and secure it. Torque the 21mm nuts to 81 ft./lbs. Replace the 18mm differential to cradle nuts and torque to 37 ft./lbs. Replace the brake line clips and wire clips into their holes on the rear crossmember.
Step 17:
Replace and secure your induction hose to the throttle body. - 8mm clamp
Step 18:
Replace your tunnel shield. Be careful not to strip out any of the bolts if you use a drill to put the bolts back in, and yes, I did write this before I put them back in and did not strip any! Torque to 89 in./lbs.
Step 19:
Replace your h-pipe. If you are on the ground like I was doing this, place the h-pipe on top of you. Push up to the manifolds and thread the nuts on. Push up the middle to the bellhousing and thread those bolts in. Slide down to the spring bolts and thread those bolts in. After the h-pipe is up torque the h-pipe to manifold nuts. The bellhousing bolts and the spring bolts should be torqued to 37 ft./lbs. You can reuse your old cat back/h-pipe gaskets. I just spayed some Copper on mine and have no leaks.
Step 20:
Replace the oxygen sensor wire clips back onto the shields.
Step 21:
Replace the emergency brake bracket with the 15mm bolts and secure. Replace plug.
Step 22:
Replace rear shocks and torque to 22 ft./lbs.
Step 23:
Replace rear upper control arms and torque to 81 ft./lbs.
Step 24:
Replace calipers and torque to 23 ft./lbs.
Step 25:
Replace wheels and torque to 100 ft./lbs. Crack open a bottle of something good because you are done!!!! Congratulations!
BREAK IN IS REQUIRED FOR NEW GEARS. DO NOT START BURNING OUT IMMEDIATELY! YOU WILL NEED TO KEEP IT EASY. I KEPT MY CAR UNDER 3000 RPM FOR 400 MILES. YOU ONLY NEED 300 BUT I DID 400 JUST BECAUSE. AFTER YOUR 300 MILE BREAK IN YOU WILL NEED TO DRAIN AND REFILL YOUR DIFFERENTIAL.
Good Luck and Have Fun!!!!
