what is the purpose of aftermarket strut mounts like j and m..... i have a strut tower brace..wonderbar....new front struts..moog 5662 front springs.... someone said that these will have little effect if i dont change out my stock mounts... is that true.... will my handling improve with the j and m mounts..... are they a bolt on deal or do you have to do custom adjusting...... thanks in advance...

 

I have a STB, wonderbar, Tokico struts, and the same front springs (my car sits pretty high tho).. I have the J+M mounts on my car and they allowed me to get a much better alignment out of the car (more positive caster and negative camber). They also have a spherical bearing instead of a rubber one.. That guy probably means the strut tower brace is useless without these mounts because the struts towers flex through the rubber parts of the stock mounts even if you have a STB, but if you have mounts like J+M or SPOHN then the STB will actually be put to use and stop the towers from flexing.

 

Here's what Dean (Vetruck), our suspensionist, says:

"How good are your strut mounts and what type do you have?
You need good solid aftermarket strut mount first before you will aid in any perfomance gain from a STB. Good solid strut mounts are a far better bang for the buck in performance handling. Without them, the STB is basicallly useless."

BTW, I'm running the Spohn version, but if I had to buy again, I'd go with J&M, whose design, I think, eliminates possible alignment problems. Bolt-on.

JamesC

 

the stock mount is rubber, and it deflects a bit, thats extra slop that lessens the effect of the aftermarket STB. You should consider getting the aftermarket mounts with a solid bushing.

 

the j&m one... is that a bolt on deal.. people say those are the best.. i dont want to have to adjust anything but taking the car to get aligned......