If you read reviews, the LoPro mount from UCF is notorious for vibes at idle. @Jamison C and I were looking at the options and his concern was also the vibes, so hopefully this helps him and some guys out.
One of my goals is smoothness for my ‘04 build, along with higher clearance and ease of entry/exit (aka not too much lift), so I ordered the mount and skid.
Bolted it up and sure enough, it buzzed. The first thing I did was loosen the skid plate a little bit and I noticed it went away immediately and that told me that something was transferring the engine vibrations-
So I got to really really looking all over it and It wasn’t just one issue there were a number of things that were keeping this innovative mount design from doing its job with no drama.
The Lo Pro transmission mount itself is basically nothing more than a hinge- And when you think about how a door closes and stays close to the frame, that same concept is being transferred to your vehicle. The challenge is it gets everything so close that there’s little margin of error- and multiple points of metal to metal contact you need to dial out.
Following are some pictures and some things that I found that solve this -
This is how tight it is - The 4 primary 15mm bracket bolts can contact the skid. Also if you look really close you can see the four 5/16” bolts that mount through the skid plate into the lower part of the transmission mount go through the upper part as designed (there are larger holes in the upper 1/2) - but they are so long they contact the bracket above as well. A shorter bolt is needed. Keep in mind transmissions move when in use.
Above shows the bolt indentation- This is direct contact that bypasses the rubber isolation completely.
Above you can see the 15 mm bolts and you’ll notice that two of them can easily touch the lower part of the hinge that is isolated from the upper part by rubber- So not only are the bolts touching the skid plate but they’re touching the lower part of the hinge so you’ve got engine vibration and transmission vibration transferring to the skid and over to the frame at multiple points. The lateral flex in the bushing does not help any here either.
I created a little bit more of an hourglass effect
to clear the bolts. Not pretty but effective.
To address the lateral hinge slop- I added a washer to compress the bushing- it actually would move so much it also allowed the 15 mm bolts to contact the lower 1/2 bypassing the isolation - This tightened the lateral movement considerably but it seems a 14mm bolt may be a better fit inside the bushings’ steel sleeve. Looking into that.
Next I went ahead and mounted the new mount back on the transmission and added some 1/8 inch thick rubber isolation washers between it and the primary bracket-look close- this is just more isolation. This thing needs all the help it can get.
Now notice the 4 mount bolts - These are so long they come in contact with the bottom of the transmission mount bracket- shorter ones go in with washers, and then smaller 1/8” thick rubber washers at the skid to further isolate vibes.
While the skid was off I went head and did the Savvy cable - just for the record, do not put a Rubi in 4lo and drive with the front tires on dolly’s in the garage, pointed at your dirt bikes. Just don’t.
The skid has to be clearanced at these 4 points so the brackets studs and 15 mm nuts don’t contact the skid-
Next the skid mounts with these 1/8” larger rubber isolaters-
My front skid is on and now I’m down to mounting the pumps and final bolt up.
Will update this later in the week.
Right now UCF is a good source for quality, high clearance skids and other parts, and they can often ship the next day. The LO PRO
Mount is going to transfer vibes if you don’t sweat the details. I found out quick it won’t just by playing with it - and did these steps to insure I get the isolation needed once it is all final assembled.
If you buy it and just bolt it up, based on the tight tolerances, odds are you are going to get some pretty good vibes.
AndyG
One of my goals is smoothness for my ‘04 build, along with higher clearance and ease of entry/exit (aka not too much lift), so I ordered the mount and skid.
Bolted it up and sure enough, it buzzed. The first thing I did was loosen the skid plate a little bit and I noticed it went away immediately and that told me that something was transferring the engine vibrations-
So I got to really really looking all over it and It wasn’t just one issue there were a number of things that were keeping this innovative mount design from doing its job with no drama.
The Lo Pro transmission mount itself is basically nothing more than a hinge- And when you think about how a door closes and stays close to the frame, that same concept is being transferred to your vehicle. The challenge is it gets everything so close that there’s little margin of error- and multiple points of metal to metal contact you need to dial out.
Following are some pictures and some things that I found that solve this -
This is how tight it is - The 4 primary 15mm bracket bolts can contact the skid. Also if you look really close you can see the four 5/16” bolts that mount through the skid plate into the lower part of the transmission mount go through the upper part as designed (there are larger holes in the upper 1/2) - but they are so long they contact the bracket above as well. A shorter bolt is needed. Keep in mind transmissions move when in use.
Above shows the bolt indentation- This is direct contact that bypasses the rubber isolation completely.
Above you can see the 15 mm bolts and you’ll notice that two of them can easily touch the lower part of the hinge that is isolated from the upper part by rubber- So not only are the bolts touching the skid plate but they’re touching the lower part of the hinge so you’ve got engine vibration and transmission vibration transferring to the skid and over to the frame at multiple points. The lateral flex in the bushing does not help any here either.
I created a little bit more of an hourglass effect
to clear the bolts. Not pretty but effective.
To address the lateral hinge slop- I added a washer to compress the bushing- it actually would move so much it also allowed the 15 mm bolts to contact the lower 1/2 bypassing the isolation - This tightened the lateral movement considerably but it seems a 14mm bolt may be a better fit inside the bushings’ steel sleeve. Looking into that.
Next I went ahead and mounted the new mount back on the transmission and added some 1/8 inch thick rubber isolation washers between it and the primary bracket-look close- this is just more isolation. This thing needs all the help it can get.
Now notice the 4 mount bolts - These are so long they come in contact with the bottom of the transmission mount bracket- shorter ones go in with washers, and then smaller 1/8” thick rubber washers at the skid to further isolate vibes.
While the skid was off I went head and did the Savvy cable - just for the record, do not put a Rubi in 4lo and drive with the front tires on dolly’s in the garage, pointed at your dirt bikes. Just don’t.
The skid has to be clearanced at these 4 points so the brackets studs and 15 mm nuts don’t contact the skid-
Next the skid mounts with these 1/8” larger rubber isolaters-
My front skid is on and now I’m down to mounting the pumps and final bolt up.
Will update this later in the week.
Right now UCF is a good source for quality, high clearance skids and other parts, and they can often ship the next day. The LO PRO
Mount is going to transfer vibes if you don’t sweat the details. I found out quick it won’t just by playing with it - and did these steps to insure I get the isolation needed once it is all final assembled.
If you buy it and just bolt it up, based on the tight tolerances, odds are you are going to get some pretty good vibes.
AndyG
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