Transmission Mount Stiffener/Positive Shitf Kit Combo Review

[Dustin]

I recently purchased a transmission mount stiffener and positive shift kit bushing to help with the "clunky" gear changes that we all who own manuals know. There are 2 companies that I know of that make the transmission mount stiffener. Perrin, although they call it a transmission mount support, and ForcedFab LLC. The Perrin does cost a bit more but it is anodized black which makes for a more "finished" look. The ForcedFab piece is more function than form being raw aluminum, but is a very well machined piece that still looks good as well. A few different companies manufacture the positive shift kit bushing but the only one I can think of off the top of my head is Whiteline, which is the one I went with.

I chose the ForcedFab piece for 2 reasons. One being cost. It was being offered for $24.99 shipped. I couldn't pass it up at that price. The second reason being that neither the ForcedFab nor the Perrin piece is made to fit the Whiteline bushing. So you either have to modify one or the other. I was not a fan of the idea of taking a knife to the bushing and hacking away at it. No matter how steady my hand is, it would not be a perfect piece. So that left me with modifying the transmission mount stiffener. I would have hated having to machine down the Perrin piece and have part of it anodized and part of it not. Granted no one would ever see it but I would know it was there.

Here is the original ForcedFab piece. Again, a very well machined piece. All edges are chamfered. A good countersink before the threads start, Good debur work. All in all, very nice.




Here is it modified by my brother to fit the Whiteline bushing.







The only thing I would recommend to anyone buying this part would be to get a bolt about 10mm longer. There are quite a few threads remaining after bolting everything together. I have spoken to @ForcedFab_Jon and I believe he is taking into consideration providing a longer bolt with his kit. I'm not sure how the Perrin kit is. Maybe someone else could chime in on that.




I just took the car for the initial drive with the FF/WL combo. Before startup I noticed how much smoother 1st to 2nd was just by playing with the shifter. On startup you could tell that there was more vibration, but to me it was good. Gave the car more rumble. Personally I like it. Again this review is for the FF/WL combo. Before, with just the WL bushing, I could tell a difference, but only a marginal one. I can't comment on how the FF piece is by itself but there are plenty of reviews on that. With the two together, shifting is significantly improved. Shifting to every gear is much easier. You don't get the clunky feel as you did before. Everyone who owns a manual knows the 1st to 2nd upshift or 3rd to 2nd downshift is a little rough. It is barely noticeable now.

However the trade off to me is the noise. From 1st through 3rd, you will hear a whining noise that does increase in pitch as you rev higher. It is not terrible. It is a bit alarming at first. You'll think oh crap, what did I do wrong? Nothing. You are essentially making a solid mount almost. There is still a little play, but not much. There will be that noise transfer that is normally baffled by the factory soft rubber mount.

Overall, I am happy with the combo. It is a great bang for the buck mod. It will take a bit of getting used to for the whining noise, but in no time I'm sure it will become just another part of the driving experience of this car. In fact after driving for two days I hardly pay attention to it anymore. Just like most people are used to the 2nd gear crunch without this mod, you will be used to the smooth shifting with the extra rumble and whine with the combo.

[ForcedFab_Jon]

Dustin, thank you for the review! I am glad you are happy with the results! We are also going to machine a few of these down and offer it as an option for people who want to use the urethane bushings. That batch will likely be ready next week at some point. Ill add it as an option to on the website as soon as i have some milled down.

The new batch will have the longer bolts, we were about out of the current bolts and I went ahead and ordered longer ones to use in the parts from here on out. These longer bolts will give a couple more MM of thread engagement. The current ones will are still ok, but if anyone has worries and would like a replacement bolt just PM me and ill mail one out. In the unlikely event of a failure due to the shorter bolt I will also replace the whole part no questions asked. We have no problem making it right for our customers.

Thanks again!
Jon

Jon

[mswhong]

Question to the OP, and to anyone in the community who could shed light on this topic - are there any transmission mount bushings that mate to the WL bushing without having to make mods to either piece?

[Dustin]

Not that I have found. At least until ForcedFab delvelops theirs. But any local machine shop could do this in no time. From setup time to finished part took less than 30 minutes.

[EvilBeaverFace]

Originally Posted by mswhong

Question to the OP, and to anyone in the community who could shed light on this topic - are there any transmission mount bushings that mate to the WL bushing without having to make mods to either piece?

@ForcedFab_Jon said in the other thread they were developing an insert.

Originally Posted by ForcedFab_Jon

The Machinist fairy stopped by last night after I left the shop and dropped off a small hold me over batch! So we have plenty of these instock ready to ship out!

Ps I am working on a mold design for a ForcedFab urethane insert bushing that will work with or without our stiffeners!

Jon
IMG

[mswhong]

Hmm.. okay.

Given that I live 30 minutes from their HQ, I'll pop by or call them to see if they are in progress of making a support mount for their shift kit.

[LeeMaster]

Originally Posted by Dustin

However the trade off to me is the noise. From 1st through 3rd, you will hear a whining noise that does increase in pitch as you rev higher. It is not terrible. It is a bit alarming at first. You'll think oh crap, what did I do wrong? Nothing. You are essentially making a solid mount almost. There is still a little play, but not much. There will be that noise transfer that is normally baffled by the factory soft rubber mount.

Oh good, I just installed my ForcedFab tranny stiffener and when I took it out for a test drive I heard that whine when I gunned 1st gear. It's less noticeable in 2nd though and 3rd I couldnt hear it at all. Glad it's nothing that I did wrong haha

[Sportsguy83]

I found the combo of FFJ/insert REALLY annoying. After reading your review, I believe it is because I also have engine mounts.

I got the whine but also a big increase in vibration. I removed the insert and kept the FFJ piece and I'm extremely happy with the results. Shifts are stupidly easy, the added vibration is minimal and a little bit of whine in first and deceleration, nothing to pay attention too.

Thanks @ForcedFab_Jon

[Dustin]

Here's a crappy cell phone video I took. I was trying to show the smooth shifts but also let you hear the whine. And if you look at the shifter after getting to 6th gear, you'll see some of the vibration transfer. It wasn't letting me upload to youtube for whatever reason. Just click on the picture.

[ForcedFab_Jon]

Well guys the machinist is starting on the new version of the stiffener this weekend or monday. I should have them back Monday night or Tuesday night. We also went over some of the details for the molds we are having machined so that we will be making our own insert bushings as well as other bushings for the car.

Thank you all for your support! It has been nice to have this much customer interaction and input it makes developing parts funner and easier to sell when we can make changes or improvements and get things fine tuned with the help of a large group rather then a small handful of local customers.

Thank you

Jon @ ForcedFab

[448hpsti]

Great review and great part, the t bolt. It's not for every one, I prefer the WL alone, and didn't care for the nvh whine etc associated with t bolt with or without the WL insert, with or without aftermarket mounts.

It bugged me most on sustained triple digit jaunts but that's my thing. It's nice imaginably for autox build I suspect.

It's not cause of engine mounts cause I tried it on both our cars, one has perrin other is factory, and that one will keep stock mounts, I have my old set that came off at 4000 miles as backup for her car like my old brakes old exhaust parts, etc. that car has very few mods but is sc, has tires and will get a res exhaust, some koni and coils for touring and that's it. It may get a WL insert, and its got the rear shift bushing.

It's a fun part for sure tho, you gotta try it to see if you like it. On built cars with loud pipes, you prolly not even notice the nvh and will benefit the greatly improved shifts, which the insert doesn't match. The inserts come into play after a little play. This t bolt takes that play out, good for certain builds surely.

[EvilBeaverFace]

Originally Posted by ForcedFab_Jon

Well guys the machinist is starting on the new version of the stiffener this weekend or monday. I should have them back Monday night or Tuesday night. We also went over some of the details for the molds we are having machined so that we will be making our own insert bushings as well as other bushings for the car.

Thank you all for your support! It has been nice to have this much customer interaction and input it makes developing parts funner and easier to sell when we can make changes or improvements and get things fine tuned with the help of a large group rather then a small handful of local customers.

Thank you

Jon @ ForcedFab

New version?!

What are you guys changing with it? At a guess its to accommodate the insert bushing? If not: will the insert work with the old version?

[Dustin]

Now that I've driven with it for a couple of weeks, I figured I would give a final thught on the combo. I barely notice anymore the extra NVH from the bushing and stiffener. Either it has lessened after being worn in a little or I'm just used to it now. There still is a little whine while accelerating but again, I hardly notice it. As far as shifting goes, I remember always babying it into gear and still not liking how rough the shifts were. Now I shift with complacency. Everything is smooth, I'm not worrying or babying it anymore. I plan on changing the fluid here in the near future. Other members have said that just doing that helps a lot, not that I think it needs it, but eh, why not? As I said before, I believe this is a great bang for the buck mod. It's under $100 and improves shifting feel drastically.

[Jake_86]

Originally Posted by Dustin

I recently purchased a transmission mount stiffener and positive shift kit bushing to help with the "clunky" gear changes that we all who own manuals know. There are 2 companies that I know of that make the transmission mount stiffener. Perrin, although they call it a transmission mount support, and ForcedFab LLC. The Perrin does cost a bit more but it is anodized black which makes for a more "finished" look. The ForcedFab piece is more function than form being raw aluminum, but is a very well machined piece that still looks good as well. A few different companies manufacture the positive shift kit bushing but the only one I can think of off the top of my head is Whiteline, which is the one I went with.

I chose the ForcedFab piece for 2 reasons. One being cost. It was being offered for $24.99 shipped. I couldn't pass it up at that price. The second reason being that neither the ForcedFab nor the Perrin piece is made to fit the Whiteline bushing. So you either have to modify one or the other. I was not a fan of the idea of taking a knife to the bushing and hacking away at it. No matter how steady my hand is, it would not be a perfect piece. So that left me with modifying the transmission mount stiffener. I would have hated having to machine down the Perrin piece and have part of it anodized and part of it not. Granted no one would ever see it but I would know it was there.

Here is the original ForcedFab piece. Again, a very well machined piece. All edges are chamfered. A good countersink before the threads start, Good debur work. All in all, very nice.




Here is it modified by my brother to fit the Whiteline bushing.







The only thing I would recommend to anyone buying this part would be to get a bolt about 10mm longer. There are quite a few threads remaining after bolting everything together. I have spoken to @ForcedFab_Jon and I believe he is taking into consideration providing a longer bolt with his kit. I'm not sure how the Perrin kit is. Maybe someone else could chime in on that.




I just took the car for the initial drive with the FF/WL combo. Before startup I noticed how much smoother 1st to 2nd was just by playing with the shifter. On startup you could tell that there was more vibration, but to me it was good. Gave the car more rumble. Personally I like it. Again this review is for the FF/WL combo. Before, with just the WL bushing, I could tell a difference, but only a marginal one. I can't comment on how the FF piece is by itself but there are plenty of reviews on that. With the two together, shifting is significantly improved. Shifting to every gear is much easier. You don't get the clunky feel as you did before. Everyone who owns a manual knows the 1st to 2nd upshift or 3rd to 2nd downshift is a little rough. It is barely noticeable now.

However the trade off to me is the noise. From 1st through 3rd, you will hear a whining noise that does increase in pitch as you rev higher. It is not terrible. It is a bit alarming at first. You'll think oh crap, what did I do wrong? Nothing. You are essentially making a solid mount almost. There is still a little play, but not much. There will be that noise transfer that is normally baffled by the factory soft rubber mount.

Overall, I am happy with the combo. It is a great bang for the buck mod. It will take a bit of getting used to for the whining noise, but in no time I'm sure it will become just another part of the driving experience of this car. In fact after driving for two days I hardly pay attention to it anymore. Just like most people are used to the 2nd gear crunch without this mod, you will be used to the smooth shifting with the extra rumble and whine with the combo.

Hey Dustin, I know this is an extremely old thread but looks like you are still active so figured I'd ask as I have a similar setup. Torque solutions insert and supertek t block.
I don't mind the whine for most of the gears but the 6th gear whine when under 50mph is really loud. Was wondering if you had the same issue. I installed both my parts at the same time so I was wondering if the whine was still there with just your whiteline insert? I read some of the other posts on here and seems like it's most the t block that adds it the worst but could easily be the other way around? Hahaha. Thanks haha