BILLET ALUMINUM SPHERICAL DOGBONE MOUNT

The 034Motorsport Billet Spherical Dogbone Mount is the new standard in performance and durability. This dogbone mount was engineered with performance in mind, manufactured from billet aluminum and stainless steel, and features a genuine Aurora Spherical Bearing to maintain proper articulation and reduce NVH transfer. The Billet Spherical Dogbone Mount is machined and assembled in-house, designed to eliminate the slop associated with the factory mount, and will better withstand the forces generated by hard launches.

The result is a locked-down drivetrain, crisper shifting, and virtually no wheel hop. The Motorsport Dogbone Mount will cause some increase in noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) inside of the cabin.

STREET DENSITY DOGBONE MOUNT PUCK PAIR

034Motorsport's Street Density Dogbone Mount pair for MkVII Volkswagen and 8V/8S Audi models is manufactured from high-durometer rubber for increased performance and durability. The Density Line Dogbone Mount Pair is manufactured from 65-durometer rubber instead of the factory part's 55 durometer - and features a steel thread insert in the upper mount for increased resistance to stripping threads.

This upgrade is compatible with our full line of MQB drivetrain upgrades, and offers decreased drivetrain movement, crisper shifting, and reduced wheel hop, with minimal noticeable increase in noise, vibration, or harshness (NVH) inside of the cabin. (Please Note: NVH changes may be more noticeable in vehicles equipped with DSG or Tiptronic transmissions and/or if your factory engine/transmission mounts are worn or failed. We recommend giving the mounts at least 250 miles to break-in after installation.)

High-Durometer Rubber vs. Polyurethane:

Density Line Mounts are manufactured from high-durometer rubber instead of polyurethane for a number of reasons. While vulcanized rubber mounts are more expensive to prototype due to increased manufacturing complexity and high initial tooling costs, rubber is inherently better than polyurethane as a damping medium for mounts and bushings.

Rubber can deal with stress under both tension and compression, while polyurethane mounts rely on the damping medium to be effective only under compression. Rubber is also excellent in shear, where polyurethane is ineffective, making it ideal for control arm bushings that apply a shear force to the bushing during articulation.

Rubber does not pack and wear like polyurethane, resulting in a long-lasting part with consistent performance and comfort.

BILLET ALUMINUM LOWER DOGBONE MOUNT INSERT

This precision-machined billet aluminum insert is designed to fill the large voids in the factory dogbone mount, and limit transmission and engine movement without sacrificing ride quality or introducing any perceivable additional noise, vibration, or harshness into the cabin. By filling the void in the factory mount, this insert eliminates the associated slop and ensures that you're experiencing crisper shifts and a more direct, connected driving experience.

Engineered to work in unison with the factory rubber mount, this insert was designed using CAD software and thoroughly tested and refined to provide noticeable slop reduction without introducing excessive noise or vibration into the cabin, which is common with lesser designs. Unlike polyurethane insert options on the market, this billet aluminum part will not pack and wear over time, and guarantees long-lasting performance.

BILLET ALUMINUM UPPER DOGBONE MOUNT INSERT

The 034Motorsport MQB Upper Dogbone Mount Insert (patent pending) is required for any MQB platform MkVII VW Golf/GTI/R, MkVII VW GLI, 8V/8V.5 Audi A3/S3/RS3 & MkIII Audi TT/TTS/TTRS using an aftermarket dogbone mount and dogbone mount insert. Aggressive driving that causes violent drivetrain movement, such as burn-outs that induce wheel-hop, will cause the upper and lower dogbone mounts to exert a bending moment on the dogbone mount arm, causing it to bend, and in some cases fail. When this failure occurs, the bottom of the engine is unconstrained and the engine will cause damage to other components in the engine bay. The 034Motorsport MQB Upper Dogbone Mount Insert eliminates these bending forces, allowing the dogbone mount to perform as designed during these violent events.

An aftermarket billet spherical dogbone mount combined with a dogbone mount insert dramatically improves the feel and responsiveness of the drivetrain during spirited driving. However, this combination of modifications, coupled with the design constraints of the MQB dogbone mount pucks, have revealed a scenario that applies forces to the dogbone mount arm that it was not designed for.

The lower dogbone mount insert limits compliance of the lower dogbone mount puck by filling large voids in the puck. During normal and spirited driving, this reduction in compliance results in more direct transitional response of the drivetrain to accelerative and decelerative forces. The driver feels more direct throttle response through the drivetrain without introducing a significant amount of NVH.

However, violent drivetrain shocks, such as burn-out induced wheel-hop, introduce additional forces that can cause damage to the billet spherical dogbone mount arm. In these violent events, the lower puck motion is limited by the dogbone insert, but the upper puck in unconstrained and is free to move forward.

This means that the entire puck assembly rotates forward at an angle towards the front of the car. Because the dogbone mount arm is clamped into the puck assembly, the rotation of the puck assembly generates a bending moment applied to the dogbone mount arm that it was not designed for.

Our testing has shown that regardless of arm design and the material used, the arm cannot be made strong enough to withstand this bending moment. We tested arms manufactured using 6061 aluminum, 7075 aluminum, and stainless steel. The results were all very similar. The dogbone mount arm showed signs of bending with just two burn-out induced wheel-hop events. Complete failure of the dogbone arm occurred in as few as four wheel-hop events. We have high confidence that other brands spherical dogbone mounts will have similar failures.

This testing revealed the cause of the bending, and our engineering team developed the 034Motorsport Billet Upper Dogbone Mount Insert to solve the issue. This insert slips into the front void of the upper dogbone mount puck, limiting the upper puck's forward motion to match the lower puck's limited forward motion with the lower insert installed. The result is an upper and lower insert package that eliminates the rotation inside the puck assembly during extreme drivetrain shocks, and keeps the forces acting on the dogbone arm in the direction the arm was designed for. Subsequent testing showed no signs of bending or stress in the dogbone mount arm with both the upper and lower dogbone mount inserts installed. Watch the demonstration video below to see how the dogbone mount pucks move with just the lower insert, and the upper and lower insert combined.