Ah. You installed the brace while still using the OEM main diff bushing. OK.

I'm not an engineer, but I don't see how the brace could hasten the bushing failure. If anything, it would delay it.

GL with the JB Weld fix. FWIW, my main OEM bushing was totally fine when I upgraded to Whiteline. The only reason I had my old mechanic do that work was because the diff was off the car for something else.

If you go to a shop, figure $100 in parts, and 3-4 hours of time on the lift. All that for a mod you probably won't even notice because of your diff brace. Yeah... JB Weld is the way to go.

 

That's my thought. Motorvate DIY's seems to have held up pretty well when he did his 1 yr. review. If my car was a 6MT, I'd do a legit upgrade but as you mentioned, I can't really see a noticeable difference since the brace is already in place and the 7AT doesn't reap as much of a benefit; at least at my cars' power level.

Honestly, I probably wouldn't have known it let out if I didn't crawl under to replace the mid pipe to Y pipe gasket.

 

Anyone have instructions on how to install the diff brace on the Z1 cover, such as what size ratchets I need and torque specs, etc? Wondering if I can do this in my garage with a jack.

 

This should help you.

 

My OEM style diff brace needed some... creative massaging with a cutting wheel to clear a new exhaust. There is now 70% of one brace rather than two.

 

Just read through all 13 pages of this, a lot of good info to read.

Question for coupe owners running the Bell diff brace and/or Z1 finned cover- Has anyone installed either with an HKS Hi-power CBE? Curious about fitment since it looks really close eyeballing it. Z1 said they don’t see enough HKS exhausts to confirm fitment with the Z1 finned cover and Bell brace. I’ll give Bell a call Monday to see if he can confirm also, but curious if anyone here has installed one with an HKS exhaust.

Edit- Went ahead and got one (for finned covers) so I'll edit this post again once I confirm fitment with the HKS hi power cat-back. Haven't had time to test fit it but will try tonight.

 

Commenting on an older thread, this happened to me also - installed the Bell differential brace in August 2021, after <4000 miles the pinion seal (front) started seeping, and the lower part of the differential bushing started to bulge and crack. I don't know if the diff brace hastened to failures. Love the brace, costing 600.00 to replace seals and new Z1 bushings. It was due anyway, have 114K on my daily

 

I would love to know if this ended up fitting or rubbing, or fit but had to shave the brace ect. Please and thank you.

 

Wow, sorry for missing this. I actually ended up selling my Bell Raceworks diff brace and got the newer Z1 solid brace that has the jack point. I will say it looked like the Bell diff brace (finned cover version) would fit with the HKS exhaust without rubbing, with room to spare. I haven’t gotten around to installing the Z1 rear diff brace yet since I’m rebuilding my rear diff soon and will put the cover and brace on then. Actually considering the FDF rear diff brace also even though I have the Z1 brace ready to be installed…I like how it mounts in 2x spots, and sits on the outside of the subframe and uses 2x bolts to attach the bottom of the diff cover, but I’m not sure if I like how it attaches to the toe bolts. I can’t say I’ve seen another car with a diff brace connected to the subframe that way. But FDF seems to make top notch products so I doubt they would release something that would cause problems. I just feel like that may cause issues for people using toe bolts, but I’m no engineer. Used with a lockout toe kit i wouldn’t think it would be a problem though.

 

No worries, i appreciate all the insight. I have the bell raceworks one on, ill see what how it goes when eventually do the hks exhaust. That new fdf one seems interesting (i wasn't even aware that one existed tbh) ,as well as the new z1 one with the jacking point.

 

Fun fact - the picture above is actually an HKS hi-power lol. It requires that much material removal.

I've since sold the car so don't have any more pictures than that.

 

So out of curiosity - the various braces hard-mount the rear of the diff to the frame, correct? No flex other than what is in the metal? How does it react to shocks (large bumps, dropping the clutch, sudden sand/gravel?

It would seem to me you could achieve the same thing (but not depending on just 1 point of contact with delrin or solid aluminum diff mounts, although NVH would be a bitch. I'd also assume that the braces increase NVH too but since most of us have aftermarket exhausts, (WHAAAAT? I SAID MORE NOISE?)

I'm just trying to understand the mechanical advantage here.

 

It mounts the differential to the rear subframe which is attached to the chassis via bushings. I replaced the factory rear differential bushings first and did not notice much of a difference. The differential brace really firmed things up in a good way. I did not really notice any additional NVH, but I did notice a much more immediate power delivery, especially coming out of corners on track. Much more responsive in a good way that made it easier to steer the rear end with the throttle. It did an excellent job of removing a lot of slop in the drive line. I would recommend the rear differential brace over rear differential bushings because it makes a bigger improvement in feel and is much easier to install than those bushings.

 

So that's interesting, my HKS Hi-power coupe exhaust has a different midpipe/muffler design by the differential. I've seen pictures before so maybe they changed the design over the years...There was much more room than that and seemed like it had at least an inch of room to spare when I held it up real quick. It looks like yours had a resonator section after the midpipe? Mine only has a straight section of tubing after it bolts to the midpipe, until it bends and reaches the muffler cans. My car is covered in storage but when I take it to the shop finally in a week or so I'll get pictures and measure the clearance with an HKS Hi-Power.

 

This is what mine looks like. Found these pictures from an earlier install.