Strut top mount replacement?

[ChrisD]

New to the S2 forum, but very impressed with the knowledge of you guys! This site seems a whole lot better than the quattro owners forum, in the amount of topics here and the general layout!
My car is a 1991, Tornado Red, 20v rr quattro, with 84k miles.
My question - what is the best indication that top mounts need to be replaced?
(Just for the record - almost became the proud owner of a 1994 S2 avant, which I went to view in Spain last June, but it's now in a police pound!).

[S2 Ant]

Hi, Welcome to the forum!!!

From general consenus QRSport seem to be the place to go for top mounts.

www.qrsport.com is there web address i believe, im not 100% sure they do there fancy topmounts for the RR or not tho?

[Jamo]

I thought the top mounts were universal for the two?

http://www.qrsport.com/

[PeterS]

Chris:

The B3 and B4 audi 80/90/Coupe Quattro and the S2s use essentially the same style front suspension as the previous generation audi 80/Urq. There were improvements over the years ( changes from a stamped lower control arm to a cast one, changes from a one piece to two piece strut design,some of the cars had 4 bolt vs 5 bolt hubs, etc)

At one time, an upgrade for the newer cars was to install "urq blue" upper mounts which were considered to be heavier duty than the stock "greens".

There are other options now - you can move to a solid upper mount, ala QRS, or stay wit h the stock style mount If you decide to stay stock, I recommend the Meyle mounts. http://www.meyle.com/html/uploads/te...t_14.04_en.pdf

Mance Etheridge ( 1pissedoff90) in the Audiworld 80/90 foums did some testing before deciding to create his own solid mounts and essentially confirmed that the Meyle were the better of the stock style mounts offered.

I believe that the RR has one piece struts, so installing new mounts will mean removing separating the ball joint from the strut housing, removing the brake caliper, tie rod, etc, removing the 22m nut that secures the strut housing on top of the strut tower, and pulling the entire assembly out of the car. Then you will have to use a spring compressor to compress the spring, and a slotted socket to removed the slotted retainer bushing from the strut to remove your existing mounts. Installation is reverse of removal

Feel free to ask away, I just recently replaced the koni yellow/stock front springs on my Coupe with Bilstein Sports and **** Shine Racing (SRS) 250# front springs and the Meyle mounts. Eli at SRS warned me that even with the Meyle mounts I should not expect much more than a year from the mounts due to the greater stress from the stiffer springs


-Peter

[PeterS]

Duh - and to anwer your question, if you are driving over road irregularities and hear the distinct "clunk" from the front, it can be an sign that the mounts have failed. -typically that rubber doesn't fail, the bearing inside collapses....

[ChrisD]

Thanks Peter,
I was aiming more towards what driving/feedback characteristics may point to worn/damaged top mounts.
I have already bought the mounts, green ones, from quattro corner whilst buying a couple of other bits.
Just for info - I have found the special nut tool on a website: justoffbasetools.co.uk (or com) for just a fiver.
I thought maybe I should change the wishbone bushes too while I've got the strut removed. I know the bushes are approx £12ea for the 20v so I am checking prices for wishbones, which hopefully come with housed bushes.

Thanks again

[elijahallens2]

I have the solid (Mance Mounts) mounts on my car and they have been great so far. They are not cheap but are made to last the life of the car so its worth it to me. You can get them from here: http://www.euro-audi-parts.com/Eurobitsmance.html

Elijah

[Jamo]

I have the solid (Mance Mounts) mounts on my car and they have been great so far. They are not cheap but are made to last the life of the car so its worth it to me. You can get them from here: http://www.euro-audi-parts.com/Eurobitsmance.html

Elijah

Dont like anything that includes a drill bit!

Those sway bar links look the ****! and are half the price of the Quattrosport ones.

Now if ever there was a group buy :mischeif:

[PeteRR]

My car is a 1991, Tornado Red, 20v rr quattro, with 84k miles.

Ooh, another one!.

We're taking over folks!

[Mikes2]

You can also tell if they are worn based on the height in the engine bay. As the bearing wears, the outer cover will lift up. I've seen them as much as 15mm above the strut tower.

[ChrisD]

Thanks for that mike. I have checked the heights, in the engine bay, and they are quite high. Do you know, if the mounts were brand new, how high they would sit - if at all?
Just as a comparison, I checked my girlfriend's 1998 Audi 80 cab and they were high too. This may be the reason why her recently bought car is so noisy over bumps. The wishbone bushes were replaced just prior to us buying vehicle.
Back to my quattro - it was on the last mot test, with vehicle on the ramp and wheels in the air, that the tester noticed the play in the top of the struts. The car, however, drives fine and is not particularly noisy on rough roads.
Cheers.

[imsatim]

top mounts

hi,chris we are testing our top mounts at the moment {qrsport} on a quattro owners series 2 coupe quattro fitted with a 3b 20valver.they are extended and inc a strut brace.s2,s have a bar already there.we have good feedback mainly in the improved handling better steering responce and by way of their construction once the geometry is set better tyre wear,if you want advice speak to alistair on this forum who advises and distributes them.....................tim

[Mikes2]

New mounts usually sit about 2-3mm up.

[HPmuirt]

Dont like anything that includes a drill bit!

Yeah, sounds scary Anyone know what the drill bit is for

Cheers n

Si

[elijahallens2]

Yeah, sounds scary Anyone know what the drill bit is for

Cheers n

Si

You get a guide that you hold up in the tower and drill four holes for the allen bolts that go through to hold the solid strut mounts. Its actually very easy and so far they are working great, there is a little more road noise with them though. In this picture you can see on the mounts where the four allen bots go in after drilling.

Elijah