Worn top strut mounts

[dan_b]

I saw a comment on my MOT report form (MOT was passed last week) that said my "top strut mounts worn".

Is this a major pain (in wallet or ****)?
The car has K&N springs/Koni dampers, would that make a difference?

I must admit I'd not noticed any problems with the car's ride or handling - what symptoms would worn strut mounts show?

Thanks

[Martynf]

The parts are cheap enough at about £17.95 each for the stronger blue top mounts. The shocks + springs make no difference really to the top mounts. Fitting them is not too sad if you have things like spring compressors handy, if not, I reckon a garage would charge about 2-3 hours to fit them. Probably best to get the tracking / geometry checked afterwards also, so this could end up at a couple hundred ££ ish. Symptoms are normally knocking or a sloppy front end feeling.

Martyn

[Greg_S]

A quick an easy way to do these on the front is to get car on ramp with front wheel off and up in air. compress the spring whilst on the car then you can undo the top mount and fit the new bluey into place and tighten the whole assembly back up once its it.

The wheels shouldn't need re aligning unless they are already out, could be worth getting it checked once its done to see if they are aligned.

Greg

[dan_b]

I don't notice any noises/knocking from front suspension, and steering-wise to me it feels like it's on rails (well as much as the Servotronic twitch-o-steering gives me feedback - must take that relay out as instructed elsewhere), so I must admit that I'm a little surprised to see them saying they're worn.

The previous owner replaced the strut mounts about 4 years ago it would seem, but says nothing about whether they're uprated or not.

[S2central.net]

If the top mounts are 4yrs old then they should be ******ed unless the car has sat idle all that time.

Make sure and get the uprated BLUE ones as per Martyns note - very little extra on stock green ones but are much stiffer so give more precise steering and durability.

Paul

[s2driveruk]

my passenger side front is on a blue and has lasted approx 18 months before knocking again.

I know of someone who is talking to dialynx about an eccentric top mount which will allow for camber changes - has a much more robust bearing (replaceable) too!

Will keep you posted...he is creating some samples which I hope to get a couple of.

Cheers,

David

[Crawford_S2]

[i]

I know of someone who is talking to dialynx about an eccentric top mount which will allow for camber changes - has a much more robust bearing (replaceable) [/B]

These are great, you can adjust camber like you say, can give mental turn in, but they are really ment for track use. Day to day they are too solid and you develope mad squeaks and rattles from behind dash etc. :wacked:

If thats your bag go for it but i ruined a golf once putting all the suspension gizmos i could to it, it drove like a german touring car but my dentist made me sell it cos it made him too busy replacing all my fillings

Crawford

[dan_b]

Only last 18 months? Bloody hell, what are they made of, playdough?!

[s2driveruk]

Dan - you'd have thought so but actually I think its the crap surrey and hampshire roads and the number of sunken drains on my way to work which makes the car thump and crash.!!!

David

P.S. Top reply crawford - know what you mean but these top mounts are rubbish on an (my) s2 and i'd love to know how many this car has been through in its life.

[raymor]

I just changed my top mounts a few weeks ago, but when rechecking the torque settings after they had settled I was alarmed to see that the stop shell was sitting about 5mm above the turret ?

I removed both struts to check in case I had assembled incorrectly, but no... everything was ok. One of the removed top mounts was fairly recent judging by the look of the green paint on it, so I compared them.

On examining the blue and the green side by side. The green mounting felt firmer. I could move the top lip of the blue mount by about 3mm where as I could just only move the green one. I reassembled one side with the old green mount and sure enough the gap decreased to about 2 mm.

I need to get the alignment done, but don't want to until the stop shell fits flush, as I imagine it should. Should the front wheels clear the ground completely in my 'pipe and slippers' wagon, it would cause the stop shell to clatter against the turret.

Anyone seen this before ? Something simple I hope.

Raymond

[Chasman]

My RS2 is booked in for H&R springs and Konis on 3rd Feb 2004. My top mounts are worn so I need something that gives my good precision but with sensible life in B-road use. There is no conclusion here. Is it bet to go for tha standard bushes, green ones, blue ones, PowerFlex, Dynalynx?

[Mikes2]

I had blue top mounts on my previous S2 and they lasted about 6 months. When the struts were removed, the rubber part of the mount stayed on the car but the bearing part came off with the strut.

Not too impressed, so have fitted standard green ones this time to my new car. Time will tell how good they are

You can usually tell when they are worn because they start to rise up . 5mm up after install is fairly normal. I replaced a set on friends car and the cap was about 20mm above the turret.