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Pro's & con's of solid engine mounts

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Old Dec 26, 2010 | 12:21 PM
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Default Pro's & con's of solid engine mounts

See that a sponsor "Motovative" has direct bolt in solid engine mounts. My stock urethane mounts s are about ready for replacement. Am considering solid mounts. What are the differences?
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Old Dec 26, 2010 | 05:01 PM
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one absorbs vibration, the other will transfer it...throughout the car. personally, not a fan of solid mounts. hard to justify the gain (none, imo) for the effort required to install them. if i had to because of 'wear' then i'd still replace with factory. my .02
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Old Dec 26, 2010 | 05:33 PM
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running solid mounts and love 'em

built solids but with a poly insert that the bolt goes through (like a shackle for leaf springs). it absorbs some of the vibes (can't feel any anyway) and fairly easy to make cheap.

sorry no pics of them. did stay with a poly for the trans mount though. I just tore up too many poly mounts and got sick of it.
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Old Dec 26, 2010 | 08:29 PM
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Obviously I'm biased, but some of the benefits are far better power/torque transfer, more clearance around exhaust components / turbo setups (never melt a mount again), weight savings, ect.

It all comes down to what the car is being used for and what your goals are.
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Old Dec 26, 2010 | 08:41 PM
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factory mounts suck, they are designed to flex and absorb vibration. A happy medium may be a mount with a harder compound.
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Old Dec 26, 2010 | 09:16 PM
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Aftermarket poly mounts are supposed to be that happy medium. I hate my stock mounts it was a mistake to not do them when I had the chance.
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Old Dec 26, 2010 | 09:20 PM
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With my build i am stuck between both, will prob do a poly.
Motovative, looks like you make a nice piece!
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Old Dec 26, 2010 | 09:52 PM
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Im doing solids since i am lowered i would like some help with the clearance. Also putting it on a diet i hate touching speed bumps.
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Old Dec 26, 2010 | 10:34 PM
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Does solids effect knock sensors?
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Old Dec 26, 2010 | 10:58 PM
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I ran Prothanes for a long time. They are hard. They vibrate a lot, and the exhaust clears great. I loved them. Running Spohns now and they are great too except the engine sits up about an inch higher I shoulda kept the Prothanes.
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Old Dec 27, 2010 | 06:40 AM
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Just sent a set of these off to GM High Tech Performance, so keep an eye out for these in their upcoming build!
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Old Dec 27, 2010 | 07:26 AM
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Originally Posted by sabersaw30
Does solids effect knock sensors?
yep.

there is a way to have your cake and eat it too. back in my turbo buick days, sensors would pick up 'false knock' due to vibration. you can still transfer power and eliminate flex by other means while using the factory mounts. its not hard, a few bux in material to secure the motor using a cable and a couple U-bolt clamps ties it down just fine.

as far as clearance gains and turbo heat applications...can't help there. that's an application specific purpose that warrants the hard mount.
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Old Dec 27, 2010 | 08:46 AM
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Originally Posted by LS1-450
See that a sponsor "Motovative" has direct bolt in solid engine mounts. My stock urethane mounts s are about ready for replacement. Am considering solid mounts. What are the differences?
solid mounts with a big engine will rock the car at lights fyi (could be a plus or minus depending)
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Old Dec 27, 2010 | 06:30 PM
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I use solids....
once you start to pick the front wheels up off the ground, you need to start thinking about really securing the engine in a more solid way...
personally I'm a fan of using an engine plate and a mid plate, but I dont want to do that level of work on my car at the moment

there really are no downsides to using a Solid tubular pedestal style mount...other than the initial install..
but if you buy the Spohn Tubular K-member its a piece of cake to put them in at the same time. its actually eassiest to treat it like you are doing a motor swap out the bottom and then you have space to work on it.

when I put my foot to the floor I no longer feel or see the flex in the transmission transferred through my shifter.
some people say they experience a vibration at certain rpm's...but you shouldnt feel anything if you have properly installed them... usually the vibration is because theres one bolt/nut loose somewhere or just not tight enough....
I've personally never felt a vibration at any rpm with solid mounts on any of my vehicles.
though sitting at a stop light at idle, you can feel the entire car shake...LOL


a buddy of mine who owns a performance shop even said he could tell the difference in feel on the dyno as we were tuning(he was the foot, I was the laptop..LOL)
he said it pulled smoother and felt more solid(go figure)

in the case of the spohn k-member and pedestal mounts, your engine does raise up anywhere from 1/2" to an full 1" depending on your existing motor mounts and how worn out they are.
I had to use some washers to space up my strut tower brace because it no longer cleared my intake. My new setup has other stuff in the way so I had to loose the strut tower brace completely anyways...no big deal.


Solid Mounts are one of the best investments I have made for engine stability other than a Plate setup.
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Old Dec 27, 2010 | 06:40 PM
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Thanks for the comments. The LSX engine is not in a stock K-frame. Although, it does use stock mounting dimensions. Will probably go with either the u-bolt/cable stabilizing idea or the Motovative w/ home made poly sleeve-insert method mentioned. It's not an issue for me to modify for either arrangement. Appreciate it.
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Old Feb 12, 2011 | 11:27 PM
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On the Motovative website Im looking and these solid mounts aren't there?
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Old Feb 13, 2011 | 08:14 AM
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Sorry guys, Im a one man show and Im a little slow with the website updates.

The mounts are currently on sale for 89.99 shipped and we have a bunch in stock. You can PM me for ordering
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Old Feb 13, 2011 | 10:41 AM
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isnt it true if you use SMM that you should go with a poly trans mount also? and going SMM will keep you y pipe from banging on the floor board?
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Old Feb 13, 2011 | 05:02 PM
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Yes its true, if you run solid mounts and a solid trans mount you will break either the trans or engine. The first set of mounts I put in the car were solid, I did not like them, they transferred every noise in the engine, right into the car, I Dont car what these guys say, thats exactly what they did. Another huge downfall is if you have to do any kind of tranny work, you can not just lower the trans by removing the cross member, You have to loosen the stinikin solid mounts too. I swapped to the poly engine mounts and love them, I will never run anything else.
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Old Feb 13, 2011 | 07:01 PM
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Well, I ended up buying some liquid polyurethane & molding it to the existing mounts to stiffen them up. Also added it to the read IRS brace. My car is is a conversion w/ IRS. We will see, in the Spring, how it effects everything. As to effecting knock sensors, the sensitivity of the sensor can be dampened if you have tuning software.
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