Excellent post. I have an MDX and now a Pilot. So far I don't think I have the vibration issue but you never know. Interesting that the MDX has it and the Pilot does not - strange.

Let us know if it influences the ride quality at all.

 

Here are part numbers I got from Acura of delray!

I found this in 2002-2004 MDX, rear cross-beam

25. 50360-S3V-000 SUB-STAY, $15.02 ea.

26. 50366-S3V-003 NUT, FLANGE (12MM) $1.30 ea.

27. 90186-SDA-A00 BOLT, FLANGE (12X33)$.90 ea

28. 90168-S3V-000 BOLT, SPECIAL (14X125)
$ 6.54 ea.

This is the price I got from delray acura in florida!

I hope these will help you and either members, who has problem with the vibration on the rear suspension of their PILOT. I do too have vibration on my 2003 PILOT, EX. at 65 mph.



here a photo of the cross beam of the MDX...

 

PILOT-cross beam chasis

here a photo of a 2003 PILOT

 

Re: Here are part numbers I got from Acura of delray!

I found this in 2002-2004 MDX, rear cross-beam

25. 50360-S3V-000 SUB-STAY, $15.02 ea.

26. 50366-S3V-003 NUT, FLANGE (12MM) $1.30 ea.

27. 90186-SDA-A00 BOLT, FLANGE (12X33)$.90 ea

28. 90168-S3V-000 BOLT, SPECIAL (14X125)
$ 6.54 ea.

I hope these will helps you and either members, who has problem with the vibration on the rear suspension of their PILOT. I do too have vibration on my 2003 PILOT, EX. at 65 mph.



here a photo of the cross beam of the MDX...

Thanks for posting the factory part diagrams!
Wow, I'm getting robbed, price-wise. Good to know there are other cheaper sources if this turns out to be a useful mod. If not, I'm only out a few bucks

You don't happen to have the part numbers for the Honda diagram, do you? I'm interested in the part number for the bushing (#4) for both the Acura and the Honda. I'm hoping they are the same, but if not that may be yet another interesting path...

 

rubber bushing

50230-S3V-A01 insulator A, Sub-frame mounting (lower).. Check -out hondapartsdeals.com in RI.

this is a part number of acura,MDX. Its is the same number as the PILOT. I just check...


Let me know the install and the outcome of the vibration of your PILOT..

 

Here's a part number comparison of the front and rear subframes. Bolded items are unique/different. Note that the subframes themselves are unique to the MDX which means that my brace might not even bolt up (which is why I only purchased one ).

I'd love to know what the differences are between the MDX and Pilot versions of the front subframe stiffener and dynamic dampers.

 

keep us updated! :4:

 

I don't have the pre-drilled holes.

 

Here's a pic of an 03 MDX.

 

Great pics, thanks. Interesting that the 03 doesn't have the pre-threaded holes.
I'll post more info on Wed hopefully, after the parts arrive.

 

2003 PILOT

This is not good! I have an 03 PILOT, EX. I just checked it. It doesn't have a predrilled holes with welded nuts in the sub-frame or underbody frame. I cant put that bracing bracket. Damn it! OPSS!:3: :3:

 

Re: 2003 PILOT

This is not good! I have an 03 PILOT, EX. I just checked it. It doesn't have a predrilled holes with welded nuts in the sub-frame or underbody frame. I cant put that bracing bracket. Damn it! OPSS!:3: :3:

I think its part of the screw. Its called the Early Adopter Screw.

Interesting though, that the 03 didn't have it, but the 04 or 05 has it. It looks like Honda experimented with the idea of the brace on the Pilot, but decided not to put it into production.

Either it didn't work; or it did, and there were political reasons not to implement.

 

Well, considering you're paying about $5k less than an MDX, any component that they can save a couple of dollars on and not install means more profit. If the Pilot suffers from a little more body flex than the MDX, so be it. You get what you pay for...

It is very possible that the lower portion of the unibody is the same for the two vehicles. It may save costs on production to simply make all the floorpans the same rather than maintain two different production stages for the floorpan for each model. It's not unusual for a production change to be made like this. On an assembly line, any efficiency that saves time and money (and time = money) will be pursued.

An example I'm familiar with is early VW Bug (and by early, I mean late '60s) Semiautos didn't have the clutch cable tube installed, as a rule, but by the end of the production run, they didn't bother to differentiate the pans and thus the '73s nearly always had a clutch tube welded in place, just like its manual counterpart. It didn't pay to have the production lines make some pans different from others.

 

How about the 02 MDX!

Does the 02 MDX have that bracket at all? Coz I got my 03 PILOT on July 2002... Maybe honda engineer is just determining this additional bracket to minimize the vibration issue on the rear cross beam, that was added and put to production for the 04-05 PILOT and 03-04 MDX.. Just a thought!

 

It is very possible that the lower portion of the unibody is the same for the two vehicles.

That's what I thought. But then look at the stampings on the beams. They're look very different.

If the body/frame are different, that suggests that they share very little production time, even at the beginning.

 

I've got an '05 Pilot EX with the 70mph vibration issues. This actually looks promising!! Man I hope the parts fit and I hope it fixes this freakin problem.

Just picked up the parts for one side at the dealer. I'll test-fit tonight to determine whether to order the other side. Net: I should know "fit" tonight, but won't know whether it actually makes a difference till likely this weekend (when I have both sides installed).

I can't imagine it doesn't serve some useful purpose if Acura went to the trouble of installing it on the MDX..., and Honda appeared to position themselves to use it on the Pilot post-04?

 

Just picked up the parts for one side at the dealer. I'll test-fit tonight to determine whether to order the other side. Net: I should know "fit" tonight, but won't know whether it actually makes a difference till likely this weekend (when I have both sides installed).

I can't imagine it doesn't serve some useful purpose if Acura went to the trouble of installing it on the MDX..., and Honda appeared to position themselves to use it on the Pilot post-04?

This was an AWESOME idea, thanks so much for experimenting and fingering this out. If the Braces Fit, you must RetroFit! Couldn't hurt...

 

This looks like a great idea and I am looking forward to seeing the results. I am in the middle of purchasing an 06 and am stressed out about the possibility of getting one with the vibration problem.
Is it a fact that MDX owners do not report the vibration problem? if so, I would put my money on the subframe stabilizer. Good luck

 

This looks like a great idea and I am looking forward to seeing the results. I am in the middle of purchasing an 06 and am stressed out about the possibility of getting one with the vibration problem.
Is it a fact that MDX owners do not report the vibration problem? if so, I would put my money on the subframe stabilizer. Good luck

There are instances of vibration problems on MDX.org, but IMO they appear to be easier to fix on the MDX -- they don't appear to be quite as bloody sensitive as the Pilots...

 

Are the spring rates and shocks the same on the MDX?

 

Are the spring rates and shocks the same on the MDX?

Part numbers are different for both springs and shocks, and yes I'm thinking about it (a ways off in the future ).

 

Are the spring rates and shocks the same on the MDX?

No, The MDX is tuned stiffer than the Pilot.

 

It would be kinda funny if this fix also induced the infamous MDX 70 mph Drone...............j/k, the drone culprit was a muffler hanger.

 

Just picked up the parts for one side at the dealer. I'll test-fit tonight to determine whether to order the other side. Net: I should know "fit" tonight, but won't know whether it actually makes a difference till likely this weekend (when I have both sides installed).

I can't imagine it doesn't serve some useful purpose if Acura went to the trouble of installing it on the MDX..., and Honda appeared to position themselves to use it on the Pilot post-04?

Hola stiles_s,

Thanks for trying this out for all of us.

I took a look at my '06 and it does have the threaded holes. So, it appears that it's ready to have this attached if it'll help.

I checked out my '06 service manual and it shows that the subframe mounting bolt should be torqued to 69 ft lbs. But, do you know what the other end of the brace should be torqued to?

And, I think your parts list included a new subframe mounting bolt. They recommend replacing that it's been removed.

Thanks again!
Larry.

 

I just noticed that part of this procedure involves removing 2 of the bolts attaching the subframe to the unibody. Do proceed with caution here that you don't introduce a misalignment into your rear end. Its less likely if you're doing one bolt at a time, but I would consider getting an alignment done/checked after doing this. I could just be overcautious here.

I'm not sure this bracing is designed to remove some sort of vibration at speed- I think the implication of this happening to some cars and not others is not as a result of the lack of this bracing, but that there's some sort of issue during assembly on a selection of these vehicles. I think this bracing is designed to provide extra stiffening by lessening body roll. I don't see the harm in this experiment, but I'm usually pessimistic about experiments...