which are the best strut mounts that everyone is using with tokico hp's and pro-kit springs? i really dont want to be stuck using monroe with performance struts and springs.

i know there is oem solid mounts. what about the tein pillowball mounts, are those available yet? what other options are there?


'03 Sunfire 190k

The OEM's are great mounts, a lot of people on the org (myself included) stand by them. Plus, I think they are the only mount that will withstand the drop from the Pro-Kit, any stock style mount is going to wear out very quickly under any sort of drop, whether it be monroe, moog, etc.

For the quality, you can't beat the price of the OEM mounts. Win all the way around.

with the oem solid mounts, which setup would i select?
Coil Over B&G - obviously not
Non coil over aka stock or lowered springs
coil over-(koni,stock,tein)
air ride - obviously not

the nuts selection is for the strut rod nut right? guess im not going to need any

and what about camber or non camber? I picked up a set of alero aluminum control arms with new moog ball joints and will have prothane bushings in them.


'03 Sunfire 190k

You WILL need the top nuts for the strut mount. They have a rounded bottom which is absolutely needed to that the heim joint can rotate during steering.

i assumed the ones that come with the new tokico hp's would work fine but i guess not

do you know which setup i should select?

is this setup pretty popular? everybody like the ride? i deliver newspaper out of it so I am pretty aware of how the car rides. I drive the car solid for 2hrs up and down residential and businesses so i really hope this setup works out great!


'03 Sunfire 190k

I have been runnig the Monros with Tokico Hp Struts..I put 80 thousand Kilometers on them with no issues,,

And just installed my new Dspec Struts,And yet again Installed the monros again..My old ones were still in good shape but easier to install new parts with everthing apart..But just my two cents.

if i had brand new monros could you feel the difference compared to the oem solid mounts?


'03 Sunfire 190k

jason - what springs were you running? and how do you like hp's compared to stock?


'03 Sunfire 190k

Brandon Lammons wrote:if i had brand new monros could you feel the difference compared to the oem solid mounts?

Monroe's can't even begin to compare to OEM. They are just stock replacements, OEM's are built to take the extra stress caused by a lowered stance.

I had the Hps on a custom set of springs from canuk motorsports,they are 2 inch front with a 1.4 rear..I did it this way to support the extra weight of the system in the trunk,,So the car has a nice front rake to it..But I am happy with using the monros..

I love my tien super sports, for 1400 they're really not that much more than getting good drop springs with the proper drop struts and new mounts. And this way you also have solid rear mounts too.


1994 Saturn SL2 Home Coming Edition: backup car
2002 Chevy Cavalier LS Sport Coupe: In a Junk Yard
1995 Mazda Miata R-package Class=STR
Sponsored by: Kronos Performance

WPI Class of '12 Mechanical Engineering
WPI SAE Risk and Sustainability Management Officer

I love my camber plates and the rear pillow balls from OEM. Thanks Mark.

Seriously though, get the camber plates so that you have some say so in getting the best bang for the buck in dialing in your suspension.
I've got -2.0 degrees on the front and 1.5 in the back of camber and the ride is magical.
If you need any help with installation, I've got a nice how to.

Anyway, the ride can be described as solid unlike on the stock mounts which have alot of rubber in them.
The other benefit is that the front of the car will drop about a 1/4 of an inch while the back drops another 1/2 inch with the solid mounts.
This not only looks better with the ProKits near perfect drop but enhances the ride by being lower still.

It's a very comfortable ride with more give with the suspension than the stock mounts. With the rubber in the stock mounts they tend to have their own spring rate to them which can upset the frequency of the spring making for a mushy ride.
Solid mounts firm up the ride quite nicely and you'll say the 'magical' word too. lol

good luck man.



Misnblu.com
Newbie member since 1999
Thank you Dave and JBO!

I wouldn't mind seeing that write up! I'm sure though I could get by without it but very interested to see what you have to say.

Man you really got me thinkin! I almost can't justify blowin $300 on two strut mounts when new stockers are 50 a piece. How did you adjust the camber? I didn't see camber plates on OEM's website for the rear mounts


'03 Sunfire 190k

Man you really got me wantin to say the MAGICAL word! Don't know if I can justify blowin $300 on two strut mounts when new stockers are 50 a piece.

How did you adjust the rear camber? I didn't see on OEM's website anything about camber plates


'03 Sunfire 190k

Here's the write up on doing the camber plates and rear pillow ball mounts.
I'll give you more detailed information when I get off of work this evening. Gotta go to work.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Wednesday, July 14, 2010 2:04 AM

Misnblu.com
Newbie member since 1999
Thank you Dave and JBO!

pretty nice write up. are you using shims to set the rear camber?


'03 Sunfire 190k

oh and sorry for the double post. phone was acting up


'03 Sunfire 190k

Yup, using shims that are identical in thickness to ensure correct toe.
The camber really looks nice and aided in better turn in at speed. It's a little less twitchy than with the stock strut mounts.

On the rear OEM mounts, you'll have to cut the spring perch rubber down to make it fit. Use the outline of the metal to do your cutting lines and you're good. Also cut around the bolts so that you can get a socket in there from underneath.
I also had to drill our two of the holes on each rear mount to a larger size since the stock bolts didn't seem strong enough for me.
I used 3/8 size nuts/ bolts and it worked out perfectly and was still able to utilize my rear strut bar configuration with no problems.
The longer bolts worked great with this.



Good luck with it and hope it works out for you.



Misnblu.com
Newbie member since 1999
Thank you Dave and JBO!

the problem right now is that after just coming out of a turn and start to straighten up the front tire slightly jump to the opposite of the turn u came out of, but the weird part is the steering wheel doesnt really move! plus the pass strut is bent and so my toe is alittle too positive. crazy thing is two years ago in the snow while delivering papers i was drifting around with the ebrake and smashed the front driver wheel into a curb pretty hard and bent it all to hell really bad, the tire came all the way out past the top of the fender. but some how the passenger strut is bent! frontend is popping over speed bumps and parking lot turns

well here are my plans:
aluminum control arms with prothane bushings and moog ball joints
OEM upper strut mounts w/o camber plates
tokico hp struts
eibach pro-kit springs
poly lower engine mount
sway bar poly bushings and endlinks

that should completely remove any suspension play or steering slop there is in the frontend

so feel free to offer any advice or suggestions to my plans. thanks


'03 Sunfire 190k

oh and about the no camber plates is ill just slot the bolts holes in the strut tower


'03 Sunfire 190k

check out the alero aluminum control arms





'03 Sunfire 190k

what is the advantage of having a spherical bearing in the rear solid mounts?


'03 Sunfire 190k

Brandon Lammons wrote:what is the advantage of having a spherical bearing in the rear solid mounts?

No rubber to affect the ride and to hold the mount in place.
There's very little movement in the back but the bearing allows just enough movement to imitate the rubber that would usually do the same for the stock strut mounts.

You'll have a much better ride with the pillow balls though.



Misnblu.com
Newbie member since 1999
Thank you Dave and JBO!

Specifically what do you mean by pillow balls? Is that the solid mounts with the spherical bearing?

Just want to make sure were on the same page

I got the 24mm sway bar in! I can't believe how dinky and weak the 19mm is. Now I have to replace both front wheel bearings cause there is a lot of play and the driver side is making a loud grinding howl. It will the 4th wheel bearing for the driver side! They keep going bad cause I hit a curb 3yrs ago in snow and bent the steel wheel all to hell. So the strut is alittle more positive the the passenger side. The whole inside of my drive front tire bald and starting to show the wires


'03 Sunfire 190k

jesus man, you need to stop spending money on aftermarket parts for your suspension and get the damn thing fixed. Heck for how much it'll cost to get your frame straightened and and replace any of the other bend suspension parts it'd be cheaper to scrap this car and just buy another cavy.


1994 Saturn SL2 Home Coming Edition: backup car
2002 Chevy Cavalier LS Sport Coupe: In a Junk Yard
1995 Mazda Miata R-package Class=STR
Sponsored by: Kronos Performance

WPI Class of '12 Mechanical Engineering
WPI SAE Risk and Sustainability Management Officer