How do I know if the bearing in the strut mount is bad? Is there a way to tell without taking it out? About how long does it take to change the front struts? About how long does it take to change the strut mounts? Is there any noticeable improvement in handling when you switch from stock strut mounts to either Spohn or Hotpart products?

if you take off the dust cap, and look at the insides of the mount, you can see if its busted, usually the center is torn out.

The hotpart ones give you far more adjust-ability that spohns. I like them.

the stock mounts have, i believe, a rubber mount, lots of flex and movement.
the others have rigid mount spherical bearings, no flex, less slop

The part is 20 years old or so. Replacement time, IMO. Changing the struts is a straightforward matter--there're only three bolts per side and if you do the mounts at the same time add three more per side. Took me thirty minutes, I'd guess, to swap the mounts in with the struts in place. The whole business, struts and mounts, could easily be done in a morning even if you stop for a bowel movement. I have the Spohn version. Frankly, I don't drive the car hard enough to say how much it helps, especially since I installed an Edelbrock 3-pt. STB at the same time. Can't hurt; no doubt helps for those who drive more aggressively than I do.

JamesC

It made more confident in the car knowing that the mounts were new. The old ones had alot more slop than I realized. Lets you feel more connected to the car/road. I don't know if actually helps handling in a quantitative way, but improved confidence and road feel in the car is always a good thing.
The struts just really good...hahah.
I think it took my friend and I about two hours for everything. But, we don't really work that fast. Without decent jacks things slow down as well.

I popped off the dust cap and couldn't see any rubber. All I saw was a giant nut holding the strut in place (I can take a picture if you would like).

Is all the adjustability even necessary? I autocross the car but do I really need that much adjustability?

If you're going to purchase new anyway, why not have it?

Aside from adjustabilty, you're ridding yourself of rubber (and its deflection), making steering a bit more precise. Or you could simply chalk the whole business up to overkill, which for many members, including me, it probably is.

JamesC

While I don't consider the aftermarket mounts neccessary for the weekend car or even mild auto-crossing, I do consider it pretty nuts to get a part that has less adjustability (if you ever want to play with it), more slop in the steering/cornering stability, and a shorter lifetime. Just the way I see it and that's why after replacing the stock pieces with after markets and needing new ones again in a year and half I got the hotparts.

i'd like to see a spohn piece in 20 years after being in a daily driven car. really i would.

to say stock has a shorter lifetime at this point is just untrue.

these aftermarket pieces are made to improve the car for a specific application and they do very well at that.

if your not a "racecar driver" you would probably wan't the stock. they lasted 20 years didn't they.?.

I was basing it on the fact I needed OEM replacements in one year after replacing my originals. Maybe I should have written stock replacements. I don't acutally know if they were the originals, because a previous owner could have replaced them before I got the car. While I don't know that the Spohn's or HotParts will out last the stock pieces, and I know the Hotparts I have outlasted the ones I got from Advance Auto haha.
I'm not a "racecar driver". My car is my daily driver. I just like eliminating as much slop in my steering as I can and purchasing high quality parts for my car.

i just ordered some KYB strut mounts yesterday. my right mount has a two inch tear in the rubber. seeing how old the few original parts remaining are, i won't doubt it'll tighten up. can't wait.

I may be looking into these for the future. Are these legal in STS for AutoX?

don't know for sure, but the picture they look stock. bearing looks alot more heavy duty inside, but with the dust caps installed no one would notice.

Racing geek - I had the same question. How do I know they are shot? I took off the dust covers and everything looked fine.
However, I bought some stock replacments since I was doing the front end. I took the old one off and rotated the bearing only to hear grinding and the rotation was not smooth. Then I rotated the new bearings in the new strut mounts and it was a smooth with no grinding. So I knew I didn't waste my cash and these needed to replaced.
I replaced mine in about 1/2 hour. This is just the strut mounts. Simple and the improvement was worth it. The steering does feel more responsive.

Any strut mount other than an exact stock replacement piece (can be bought through Spohn or probably Moog or Napa or something) would bump you out of the STOCK class and into STS or anything above it.