The 034Motorsport Billet Spherical Dogbone Mount Performance Pack with Dogbone Pucks for the Audi 8V A3/S3, 8S TT/TTS, and Volkswagen MkVII Golf/GTI/R include all of the 034Motorsport performance products associated with the dogbone mount in one comprehensive and convenient package. This kit includes the Billet Spherical Dogbone Mount, Upper Dogbone Mount Insert, Lower Dogbone Mount Insert, Dogbone Mount Pucks, and all new hardware. 

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 to eliminate the factory mount's slop. It 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 increased noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) inside the cabin.

STREET DENSITY DOGBONE MOUNT PUCK PAIR

034Motorsport's Street Density Dogbone Mount pair for MkVII Volkswagen and 8V/8S Audi models are 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 inserted in the upper mount for increased resistance to stripping threads.

This upgrade is compatible with our full line of MQB drivetrain upgrades. It offers decreased drivetrain movement, crisper shifting, and reduced wheel hop, with minimal noticeable increase in noise, vibration, or harshness (NVH) inside 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 several reasons. While vulcanized rubber mounts are more expensive to prototype due to the 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

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, common with lesser designs. Unlike polyurethane insert options, this billet aluminum part will not pack and wear over time and guarantees long-lasting performance.

BILLET ALUMINUM UPPER DOGBONE MOUNT INSERT

An aftermarket billet spherical dogbone mount combined with a dogbone mount insert dramatically improves the drivetrain's feel and responsiveness during spirited driving. However, this combination of modifications, coupled with the MQB dogbone mount pucks' design constraints, has 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 a more direct transitional response of the drivetrain to accelerative and decelerative forces. The driver feels a 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 dogbone insert limits the lower puck motion, but the upper puck is unconstrained and free to move forward.

This means that the entire puck assembly rotates forward at an angle toward 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 are confident 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 limited forward motion of the lower puck 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 the upper and lower dogbone mount insert 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.