Upper Strut Mount Q
 

Sigh... I've found yet another front suspension piece that needs replacing. This forum is horrible :) I didn't even know they were service pieces, my car has GOT to have the originals still on it.

Question is, which brand to get? Moog is significantly more expensive than everyone else. Are they that much better (like they are with the idler arm) or am I just paying for the name in this case?

I show listings for Gabriel ($88 ea), Monroe ($66 ea), and Moog $99 ea). Any votes which are the best bang for the buck?

i just want to move you up to the top cus i'd like to know too. I was pretty broke when i needed one, so i went to the boneyard.
It was quite a bitch to get that top nut off on a car thats just been sitting forever

Bump. Certainly someone else has to have replaced these by now :D.

I've replaced mine with KYB mounts, cost me $75 bucks. KYB has a good rep, I've used there shocks and struts and was pleased but the mounts I'm not, they don't seem to fit right. If or when I replace them I think I will go with Moog, I didn't know they made mounts. I think in some cases your paying for the name suck as the KYB's I have everyone else wanted like 100 bucks for them but I found one store that sold them cheap, you just have to shop around. By the way where did you see the Moog mounts?

They were at carparts.com (owned by jcwhitney now, i believe). They take forever to get you your stuff but if you know that going in they're not too bad to deal with. Just don't buy anything from them that you're in a hurry to get.

I replaced mine with caster/camber adjusters.
These add travel to lowered vehicles and give you way more adjustment capability than the stock upper mounts. Best of all they use spherical steel bearings instead of rubber.
Bought them from Ground Control Racing.
http://www.ground-control.com/
$225 for the pair.
-Rich-

The grond control ones look pretty nice. For only $25 more than Moog replacement, I don't see how you could go wrong with them. Any special issues I need to know about?

You have to re-use the outer sheetmetal stamping.
You have to drill out the spot-welds that hold them together. After they're seperated, pry out the rubber piece and bolt the new mount onto the upper stamping.I welded mine back together, but I don't think you really have to. I had to trim the bottom piece a little to clear the strut when it compresses.
My car's lowered quite a bit, but after installing these and putting short poly bumpstops on (3/4") I picked up a buch of travel that I lost when I cut the springs.
-Rich-

Well, talk about prophetic!

I decided to try and figure out what was making that horrible racket in my front end last night. After a while, we deduced it was coming from the driver's wheel. I figured it wasn't the NEW balljoint, or NEW tie rod ends, so on a whim I popped the plastic cover off the top of the strut mount.

Yup, you guessed it, the DS upper strut mount is BROKEN. :doh: The top of the strut will spin when you're turning the wheel. Turns out the metal "cup" the nut sits in broken free of the bushing shell. :mad:

The other one's worn to hell too. You can see the bushing deflecting. Hell, just tightening the nut back up, it deflected 1/2". I think I've finally solved the mystery of why my tires wear so bad on the outside edges... :doh:

I have a set of the ground control ones on order. I looked at the Hunter Motorsports ones, but he'll never get them done in time to do me any good, and I didn't want a stock replacement.

your not refering to the bearing inside the mount are you? The shaft of the strut is suppose to rotate freely in the mount.

Yup, inside the bearing. The large nut that you tighten the top of the strut down seats to the top of the bearing--it has sort of a "pocket" there. The pocket on one side "sheared" off, such that the nut is only tightened against a loose piece of metal. The other side is not like that.

When you're parked and you rotate the wheel, the nut "spins" on the driver's side but not on the passenger's side. In fact, if you take an open end wrench to the large nut, you can freely spin the shaft w/out tightening or loosening the nut. Again the other side isn't like that. I was under the impression the shaft inside the bearing wasn't supposed to turn--rather, the lower part of the strut should turn around the upper shaft.

Well, either way you slice it, the left side is obviously broken, because I can see where the metal pocket broke.

I still don't understand what you mean by what's rotating. But if half of the bushing has been sheared off like you say then that sounds like your problem. good luck with your replacements

Maybe I'll take a picture tonight :)

I ordered some twice (the right number) and the holes didn't match up.
Here is the number of ones that did work, 901923, 901924.

that nut should spin. it's the strut that is spinning. I have brand new GM mounts cause I run F-stock in auto-x.

Well, supposed to spin or not, like I said the left side is clearly broken, you can see where the pocket the nut sits in sheared off.

What exactly was this horrible racket? I think my struts are blown, but I was getting a hollow "thud" noise from the driver's side front if I went over some small bumps. Now, I'm getting thuds from both sides. I don't feel anything thru the steering wheel, there's just a noise that sounds like something loose in the engine compartment- but it's all tight. The struts were replaced over 100,000 miles ago, so I think they've exceeded the "lifetime" idea of "lifetime warranty". I'm sure I could bring 'em back but I might as well switch brands :D

But it was suggested to me that the upper bearing might be shot. I was planning on redoing the whole front suspension this summer, and maybe I should spring for these mounts, too. Ever take a pic of the busted one? Just wondering if the noise you heard is the same one I hear.

I had a "clunk" in my front end when steering at a stop, until I replaced mine as well.It was driving me nuts, because I couldn't find it and everybody that looked at it was as confused as I was. Kept telling me,just keep driving it, sooner or later it'll get worse, then it should be easy to find.
It could very well be the upper strut mounts.
Mine looked fine, but after removing them, it was obvious that the bearings were shot.
-Rich-

My horrible racket was clunking, accompanied by groaning/thudding noises.

You know, that sounds more like a haunting than a broken part... :D

I'll have to try turning the wheels next time I'm stopped. Reason I'm not sure the upper mount is bad, is this: I totalled my car a few years ago, and the passenger side strut tower was mashed. So when they welded my parts car's frame onto my car, I used the parts car's upper mount. The parts car had considerably less miles than my car, so that mount is technically "newer", mile-wise. Now, both sides are giving me that slight clunk, so I'm thinking it's gotta be struts. But.... I'd hate to redo the whole suspension and leave out the upper mounts. Hm.

Oh and thanks for the noise description, Hawk... my car isn't being haunted :) right now, luckily.