Solid/Police Subframe Bushings
  The SHO engine sits in a subframe assembly that is bolted to the unit body frame and cushioned using rubber subframe bushings. These bushings are a wear item, and a recent alternative material to polyurethane or stock rubber is solid aluminum. 

Sources

 The bushings are available from Doug Lewis at FPS or Mike Courtney at 612-934-0931.

The upside

 The purpose of the solid bushings is to eliminate movement of the subframe relative to the rest of the chassis. Theoretically, this has several significant benefits: 
  • Better initial turn-in because the side-to-side movement of the subframe is eliminated. 
  • Shift feel (5-speed) is improved because the rod shifter has an easier time finding the gate if the transaxle isn't moving around quite so much. The equalizer rod from the transaxle case to the shift linkage takes care of some of the movement, but it's not perfect. You might not notice this improvement without reinforced front and rear engine mounts, which limit drivetrain movement. 

The downside and risks

 No major downsides are currently known; here are the expected downsides: 
  • Small increase in road, tire, and driveline noise/vibrations transmitted into the cabin. Remember that the rubber motor mounts still serve to insulate motor vibrations. 
  • A very small increase in ride harshness. 
  • In high salt environments, the Taurus chassis has a rust problem in the areas where the subframe attaches to the body. If these areas are weak, and you put on solid bushings, something might break. 
  • Effect on frontal crash performance of the chassis is unknown. 
I asked the owners of these bushings if there was any problem with squeaks from the metal-on-metal contact surfaces. They have all indicated that there is no problem in this department. 

Installation

 Thanks to Gary Morrell. 
  1. Get new subframe-to-body bolts. Don't ignore this. The old bolts are likely to be rusted inside the old isolators. You can get bolts at the dealer as part of an isolator service kit, E6PZ-5A364-A. Each kit has 2 bolts and 2 shouldered washers that you won't need. If you prefer, go to an industrial hardware supply (not your local hardware store! Counterfeit bolts that are weaker than their rated strength are common) and get M12 X 1.5 by 100 mm long, grade 10.9 bolts. Also get steel washers to go under each bolt head; when the bolts are torqued, the hardened bolt heads will gall into the softer aluminum mount and make it difficult to set the torque. I ground the shoulders off the washers from the Ford kit and used those. Some lock washers aren't a bad idea either. You should be getting the impression that these are relatively important fasteners. It's not good when they fall out or break. Use good bolts. 
  2. Set the parking brake, chock a rear wheel just to be safe, jack the car and support it with jack stands at the rocker panel seam notches just behind the front tires. 
  3. Start at the rear isolators, replacing them one-at-a-time. Use a jack to support the corner of the subframe that you're working on so it doesn't drop unexpectedly. Back out the large bolt and that corner of the subframe will drop a bit, then you can remove the four 10mm nuts that secure the lower part of the old mount to the subframe. Put the aluminum ring between the subframe and body and slide the lower aluminum piece up thru the subframe and ring. Start the new bolt and washer, wrench it up snug, then back it out about 2 turns, you'll need some looseness so the subframe will drop to replace the other 3 corners. 
  4. Repeat the previous step for the remaining three isolators, then snug up all four bolts. Now get your torque wrench and set the bolts at 70 to 80 ft-lbs. 
  5. Off the jack stands. 

Owner impressions

 Thanks to Don Mallinson. 

This week I finally got around to installing the solid subframe bushings that I bought from Doug Lewis last year. Here are my initial impressions after about 100 miles of driving with them. 

Benefits

  • Turn in is RIGHT NOW! turn the wheel and the car responds like a sports car instead of the sedan it is. Took the car through several off/on ramps at 9/10 and it seemed to be planted pretty well. 
  • Shift feel is improved.
  • The tendency of my car (and I think most SHO's and FWD cars) to occillate when you get on or off the gas has decreased a slight amount. Someone was asking if the solid bushings would stop this, and the answer is no, just improve it slightly. 

Detriments

  • Harshness has increased noticably (note I have stock suspension except Koni inserts set on the softest position for highway driving and Yokohama AVS Intermediate 225-50-16 tires on 7" wide rims.)
  • Bump steer has also increased noticably.
  • Vibration from motor through floorboard is up.
I am not sure if I will leave them on or not. the harshness is such that it takes away some of the joy of the car which for me has been it's smooth power flow. 

MAINTENANCE NOTE! 

Just in case we have gotten complacent, let's not forget about the subframe bolt corrosion problem. It has been dry around my area for over a week and when I took the subframe bolts out, I got a trickle of rusty water down my arms on all four! The design of the SHO subframe bushings is such that they hold water like a cup around the bolts. The water splashes to the top of the subframe and gets into the bushings from above, and then just stays there. My bolts were replaced less than two years ago and already had some corrosion. How do we solve it? I dont know, except I would recommend you take those bolts all the way out, one at a time and let the water out, and maybe spray some clean water in to flush out any chemicals. If you have time, let them dry and try spraying some rust preventative up there. On my car the metal around the bushings looked OK, but surface rust had started. I sprayed down the area with Amsoil undercoat (thin easy to spray...new product...plug...plug :) and then installed the new bushings. Again, inspect this area often and put new bolts in if the old ones display major rust. Cheap preventative maintainance.
Dane Basch also has these installed on his SHO and has done this report (with pictures) on them.

Police Subframe Bushings

 If you don't want to sacrifice ride smoothness for increased handling/feel, but want something better than the stock rubber bushings, the Police subframe bushings have been used by several list members.  The front bushings have 4 studs w/nuts that bolt it to the sub frame. The rear ones have two pieces. Top and bottom. The Police bushings are painted blue and only come in the front bushing style. The front style can fit on the rear if 4 small holes are drilled the the rear sub frame "ears" on each side.  Just test fit a front style bushing in the rear hole and mark where the studs land.

The main part is Ford Part # FODZ5400155A (need 4).  You'll also need 4 of the SHO/Police reinforced washers (Part #E9DZ-5400145-B) that go on top of the sub frame between the sub frame and the body mounting points.  These have a small cutout in the rubber for the four studs poking up from below.  If you have any rust on the sub frame bolts at all, you should consider replacing those as well.  The nuts DO NOT come with the bushing. You need Part #N620480-S100.