Best strut mounts??

[spazzz]

K guys, I replaced my front Monroe strut mounts with some Duralast(I know not the best) to solve the groaning.

So anyway I'm thinking my slow mph clunking from rear might be the POS Monroe strut mounts.
I have replaced everything else(cept forward lateral links). The Monroes are about 3 years old(30,000miles) with FE3s and SSCs.

I stood in the trunk and bounced but cant replicate it,tightened every bolt to super hero torque, took wheels off, tugged, pulled and smacked with a rubber mallet, still nothing.

I have reread every google search thread 3-4 times. Seems to be one of those things that isn't easy to pinpoint.

Maybe it was always there, maybe it wasn't but it is sure rattling my cage. I will try to live with the lumber wagon noises until a different car materializes.
I wish the ass end would just fall off so I could see what the cause was.
Perhaps the camber of the rear causes excessive wear?

Back to the point. I want to get some new rear mounts regardless if it the cause or not. After the front resolution, my conclusion is Monroe is a dollar store mount.

The price point on RockAuto is fairly dramatic from cheap as hell to dollars.

Anyone tried the KYBs, Delcos or some other 50ish$ mount.

[gtpwannabe]

I'm also curious about this... I am pretty sure if you bought the Monroe strut mounts then you still need to buy upper and lower spring isolators and bump stops??? Anyone have experience in redoing the strut suspension components? I found more in this article.. http://www.getoverkilled.ca/wbodytech.html

[spazzz]

I'm also curious about this... I am pretty sure if you bought the Monroe strut mounts then you still need to buy upper and lower spring isolators and bump stops??? Anyone have experience in redoing the strut suspension components? I found more in this article.. http://www.getoverkilled.ca/wbodytech.html

Yeah, all that business was bought new. It might have been Moog stuff.

If my 15 year old son didn't want it so bad, I swear I would do a Death-proof/Kurt Russell move on it. Not into a car.
More of a slide into pole or tree.

[rickisrad]

The KYB suck as well. Ive had 2 fail on me. Do NOT use Mevotech either!!!!!!!! Believe it or not i have had the best luck with Monroe mounts. Your best bet would be Delco.

[spazzz]

Thanks for the input Rick.
I have read KYBs are a no go.

Was thinking Sachs when spring comes. I just wish I could isolate the noises from the rear.
I have been under it too many times, pushing, smackin and tapping with a rubber mallet.
I would think the slow mph thunks would be mounts or struts.

[rickisrad]

I know you have been chasing this issue. I do not recall what all you have done. Have you replaced the stabilizer bar bushings and checked to make sure the exhaust is not hitting anywhere. This will sound weird but kick the tires very hard (don't break a toe) I have seen the rear e-brake lines rattle near the caliper. Sometimes if you tighten the adjustment this will fix the problem.

[spazzz]

So okay I just got these Moog universals with OEM boot.
The boot is nice and soft rubber unlike the cheap plastic $hit Monroes.

The kicker is they attach from the top. Should be fun. I got the OEM style down with the bolts falling into place.
I went to the hardware store and bought some 40mm,10x1.5s to mount from the bottom and act as guides so I can crawl in the trunk or backseat and start a bolt.

And like usual one of the boxes didnt have the three bolts in it. I picked those up from the ACE.
I think I figured it was the Monroe btches when I was bouncing in the trunk and reached over to the mounts.
I could feel a tap as in something wasn't snug. All the bolts are retightened overtightened double checked, so it's the mounts.

At least for starters. I'll post back after this weekend.

If anybody has used this universal style mount and would like to say use loctite, put a washer under those damn bolts, use a lock washer or sell that P.O.S., feel free.



Oh yeah I got these from CARID since Rock Auto was being dumb with the credit card. They ended up price matching and getting them here in 2 days.
I sent them that picture because they wanted to see everything from the order after I told them one set of bolts was missing.

Then they gave me a $25 gift card for my inconvenience. So I bought some Mothers Reflections leather care....love that smell

[spazzz]

Well that did the trick.

As an added bonus the rubber bellows are nice.

These are definitely a 2 man job. I could only use one 40mm as a guide, spring was in the way to back it out. My son started the other 2 from the top as I maneuvered it into place.
I had a led light in the trunk so I could spy the holes. What a freakin hassle.
Blue loctite on bolts

Next time I would spring for the conventional studded mounts, no more universal top bolts. Maybe the ACDelco 901-052 & 901-053.

Then again hopefully these last longer than 1 1/2 years.

[rickisrad]

I'm glad you finally found the issue!!

[spazzz]

Well this was a cluster fck.

The mount issue was One of the problems.
The noise came back and seemed to get worse. Less noise when it was a bit warmer. the difference between 15 and 35 degrees I guess.
I ended up ordering Bilsteins for the rear. It pissed me off since the FE3s were only 2 years old. I installed them in 4/15.
I kinda had noticed the rear seemed to be lower. I couldn't get 1 finger straight between the fender and tire.

Anyway I ordered some AC DElco mounts this time. 901-053 & 901-052. Good stuff.

I had to modify the Moog OEM style dust boot bump stop. I had to cut it so it would go around the Bilstein strut rod and hold the rubber in the metal boot cap.
I tried ordering the Bilstein boots but nobody had them even though they were selling them.

I put them in yesterday without air tools. I didn't want to deal with the noise and I did have everything apart 2 weeks ago.
The only slow part was trimming the bump stop until they fit.

Now the clunk is completely gone. The FE3s were mush, absolute garbage, compared to the Bilsteins when checking the rod pressure.

The car sits higher now with 04 SSCs, Guess I got some rake.
In spring I'll take a pic to compare to the sig pic