After installing my 034 Motorsport shifter cable bushings and seeing such a dramatic improvement from a such an easy mod, I was excited to keep the momentum going and ordered up their Dogbone Mount Insert. For just $42, there wasn’t anything to complain about with the price…and after a few weeks of driving with it installed, it’s a great addition and compliment to the shifter bushings. While I felt a more noticeable impact from the shifter cable bushings in terms of removing slop from shifting, I suspect that is largely due to the order I installed them in and not because one is inherently “better” than the other. The biggest area I’ve noticed improvements with this mod is when I have a sloppy or slow shift technique (it happens, even to the most experienced manual drivers). The dogbone mount insert lessens how jerky/unsmooth all shifts are, especially when the driver technique is particularly sloppy or inattentive (look, a squirrel!). Coupled with the shifter bushings, shifts feel really solid, without ever being overly stiff or unforgiving. Ultimately if you’re going to do one of these mods (shifter cable bushings or dogbone mount insert) you might as well do both; not only does this get you over the $50 mark for free shipping, but if you’re trying to reduce slop then you might as well tackle both weak points and not just one or the other.
Install was super easy following 034’s install guide. All you need is a 21mm socket wrench, floor jack & jack stands, and some torx bits to remove the rear belly pan. Ideally you should also have a torque wrench handy to make sure the bolt is tightened to 100 Nm, but if not, tighten it as far as you can get it, and then a little more; 100 Nm is just slightly more than you’d tighten your wheels. Truth be told it takes more time to jack the car up and remove this belly pan than it does to install the actual mount itself, but the whole project should be doable in well under an hour even if you work slow. Above you can see the before shot, and then the insert slides right inside of the existing rubber like below, then install the bolt and you’re all set. The insert simply fills the void in the rubber to allow less movement.
Once installed just put the belly pan back on, lower off jackstands, and go for a drive! You should notice less transmission movement and crisper shifts, along with a little more bling in your undercarriage (like truck nuts, only better). Better yet is that there is no downsides to this part – no increase in vibration or harshness, and billet aluminum means it should last a very long time. In hard launches and shifts you maybe have a slightly higher chance of breaking the dogbone arm, since that part is prone to breaking anyway…if/when mine does, 034 makes an upgraded arm that will be installed!
