Was looking for top mounts on ebay, and I usually buy from tierod69 as his stuff is always top quality, however I noticed his front top mounts had gone up in price, from around £14 to £20. So I thought I'd try out some £9 ones I found, save myself a few squid. I fitted them last week and since I've had a knocking sound from the front, the gap between the top mount plate and the body was well over a finger big and the general feel of the mount was cheap, rubbery and flimsy. On sunday I took both sides apart, to make sure I had fitted it correctly (I had) and so I put it back together and it still had a big gap on the top plate, however the knocking was gone. The car didn't feel right either.
These pictures show what I'm saying.
The weight of the car was pushing the mount upwards as you can see.
Anyway I did the right thing and bought some top mounts from tierod69. They arrived today, and as always with him they felt solid, the rubber was still rubber as with the other top mount, but I'm certain these have metal reinforcement on the inside as it's much more solid and a tad heavier. They felt and looked great, not to mention the difference in the bearings. The cheap ones had a thin metal part where the threaded nut clamps down, the febi ones had a much thicker metal which avoids exactly what had happened to the cheap bearings, the weight of the car causes them to bend and deform.
Went outside to fit them (badass style by the roadside) and an hour and a half later I had 2 new top mounts and bearings and I had also adjusted the ride heigh front and rear.
This is the difference.
compared to
Much more like the previous times I had bought top mounts off tierod69.
Upon inspection of the cheap nasty top mounts, I found this....
That's 1 week of use! I'm so glad I spent £20 on the good ones, otherwise a month down teh line I'd be changing them again and spending yet another £50 on wheel alignment!
Bottom line is....Buy cheap, buy twice. Do it once, do it right.
