Banzai Diff brace
 

Since installing the banzia diff brace my diff is making alot of noise, sounds like diff bearing noise. There was no noise before. Is this normal? Like to hear from anyone who has this or simular braces,

Thanks

I don't hear any noise from the diff but I hear a slight pop coming from the transmission. It's like a notch sound when I shift to the next gear. I'm hoping it's just because there's no movement or flex in the drive train now. My shifter moves more with engine revs like everything is tight now except the motor and trans end of the drive train or because the drive train isn't aligned properly now. What does diff bearing noise sound like? When Chris installed my brace, he had to jack up the front of the diff to get it to fit. He said it was sagging where to diff goes to the drive shaft. I'm sort of concerned the drive shaft is now at a different angle into the transmission putting a downward pressure to the transmission. My shifter shouldn't be moving more. He said the shifter would move less with the brace installed. I'll see him in a couple of weeks or so, so we'll see what he says. He will probably have an answer for both of us when he reads this.

I have this installed in my car and it only transmit some noise when i start the engine or when i push it really hard. I guess this is normal as some vibration is absorbed directly in the chassis.

Normal. The noise will become a welcome friend as you travel the biways. Take it away in 6 months and you will go into withdrawl.


Ps - add a transmission brace now.


Later

Just a reminder, a diff brace is not a remedy for worn out components. Bad bushings, bearings, cracked PPF, broken motor mounts, just to name a few are all items that can go undetected until you start modifying your car by stiffening up the driveline. The diff brace installation itself will not cause any noise or vibration, but it may cause another worn component to show itself. It certainly will not cause the bearing failure.

The brace also brings the diff and PPF into allignment not out so nothing to worry about red95FD. Additional shifter movement after installation is an impossibility, if we remove it the shifter will move more. The movement is most likely due to your motor mounts even though your car has very low miles. I will look at them when we are changing the clutch.

I love mine. I raise my rev limiter last year after i installed in and between 7k and 9.5k it shakes a little bit but i have solid bushings my engine moutns are 95 duro so that could be pretty much any part of the system

I think your right Chris, it's got to be the motor mounts. The engines shakes way too much at start up.

thanks for the reply guys, Yes I also have the notch sound now too. I know I do have worn out diff bushes and the car was tramping like crazy. Its almost completely gone.

I did have to use a crow bar to push the diff about 2mm to the left so all the bolts would line up.

I can live with the noise, I was just worried that the noise may be from it being aligned differently

All these braces are nuts if you ask me, I have Garfinkles ETB and urethane motor mounts and I'm good, car shifts perfectly, no vibration...I'd replace all the bushings in the car before slapping another band aid on it

An ETB (engine torque brace) is the biggest band aid. A diff brace actually serves a purpose. It has a function even with all new bushings, it stops the nose of the differential from climbing, reducing wheel hop. The ETB is a waste of money if you have a diff brace and a set of poly motor mounts there is no engine or drivetrain movement.

this is simple stuff.

your need the Banzai Diff Brace

and

you need EITHER upgraded engine mounts (Banzai offers a nice set)

OR

an engine torque brace (Garfinkle makes a good ETB).

i personally prefer the ETB to solidish mounts due to lower NVH.

hc

side question: can the Banzai Diff Brace be used on an automatic FD?

Yes, installation is exactly the same

I currently have an engine torque brace. Do I need to remove it if I get the the Banzai diff brace? When I got the brace, there was nothing wrong, I just wanted to keep the engine from moving.

thewird

Since one is in the engine bay (in the front of the car) and the other is mounted under the differential (in the rear of the car), I cannot see how one would create any conflict with the other.

i broke two ppf and one diff due to tire hop.i just bought the banzai diff brace.bolted up with no problem.and no tire tire hop at all at the track yet(6 runs)thanks banzai for a great product.

What'd you run this friday Phil?

Guys that are having to jack the car this way and that to get the brace to align probably all have shot OEM diff mounts.

I'm betting the OE diff mounts suck to begin with. I don't really know, I have 12K mi. on the car. Will time wear these out? I would guess yes but I don't know. The Banzai brace does stop wheel hop though.

If Howard says it's good, you're in :) then again, I don't use the car for drag type launches so I've never had a problem

Are these Garfinkle ETB still for sale and does it work on RHD cars?

I think that both the ETB and the diff Brace serve a useful purpose on a modified 7 even if it is not drag raced.

The ETB will keep you from breaking the drivers side engine mount. If you have a 7 that has been driven like Mazda intended then the aluminum drivers side engine mount is either broken or has been replaced. It was redesigned to work like the passengers side (steel with a bolt on rubber mount) and should be replaced and then you should put an ETB on to keep it from breaking again.

The diff mounts are liquid filled and just a little wheel hop will tear the passengers side mount open. So like the engine mounts replace and put a diff brace on to keep it from breaking again.

If you install solid or poly mounts (both engine and diff) I don't think you need either brace but I'm sure that they don't hurt anything other than increased noise and vibration transmitted to the cabin.

diff brace
 

That brace is fooking cool,gonna order one,do i get a club disscount,BANZAI

my car is low mileage and tight like new however i installed mine today and it has created some vibration from 5.5k-8k rpms under hard full throttle acceleration. the car had zero noises prior, the shifting has always been clean and crisp like new (i dont think i ahve ever missed a gear), the engine purrs beautifully. the cabin was as quiet as my wife's lexus (despite the exhaust obviously)when the windows are up. Absolutely zero rattles anywhere. the car is in like new condition, literally. so i doubt any bushings anywhere are shot as there are zero symptons. i only bought the part cause i havent bought a thing for my fd in 3 yrs and there is nothing left to install. i didnt notice any performance gain only the vibration. i think these and other braces are bandids and if nothing is wrong you dont need em. Maybe this particular brace would help wheel hop but i have yet to test that.

i also had to dremmal out the holes as it didnt fight without some modification. i think i may remove it.

i recall reading some posts that the vibration goes away....i am not sure how that could happen but can anyone confirm that?????

From supplied instructions.

7. If the side-arms of the brace do not meet the body mounting locations on the chassis, then your PPF is out of adjustment. Please refer to page J-59 of the Factory Service Manual. You will need to loosen the nuts at the transmission end of the PPF to make the necessary adjustment.