My dad's R50 was in the shop last week for the P/S recall and the technician also inspected the vehicle. He found a number of issues and I have some questions about these:

- leaking front right shock
- torn motor mounts (upper and lower)
- torn front strut mounts

I've yet to corroborate his findings, but being that this car has 181k on the clock, I'm inclined to trust him.

My dad values comfort and longevity much more than performance at this point. He also hates spending money when it's unnecessary to do so. Here is what I've thought to purchase as replacements:

- TSW upper and OEM lower motor mounts. I figure the TSW mount won't go bad again, since it's urethane. I've read is doesn't transmit a lot of vibration either; can anyone chime in on this? Also, are motor mounts even necessary? I've read that they contribute to premature clutch failure if they go bad, is this true?
- Bilstein B4 struts, axle pair. I've heard these are great.
- OEM strut mounts. I would rather get Lomfoerder, which I think is OEM already and much cheaper, but apparently they aren't sold for our R50's model year, 2002. Are these necessary to replace as well? Will they just allow the shocks to travel more without compressing or what's the deal here? OEM is $120 apiece, so my dad really doesn't want to buy them.

Thanks!

 

Don't do TSW if your dad is interested in comfort - they absolutely transmit tons of vibration info the cabin. Vibratechnics is the forum favorite - I have the TSW and it's bearable but I've grate better about the vibra unit. They are necessary as mounts keep the engine stable - he should probably change the other upper (connected to the firewall) and lower at the same time - it's pretty cheap and very little effort.

Strut tower cracking is a common issue and would be very dangerous if it failed completely. 2002 has some model year unique suspension bits so I'm not surprised to hear an aftermarket isn't available

 

As for the motor mounts you can get some off Ebay for pretty cheap and if you want a little more stiffness you can polyurethane fill them yourself.. The Strut tower mounts are pretty easy to change as well.. 5 or 6 bolts and its out..

 

If your dad wants comfort, stick to OEM. Engine mounts HERE. You got 181 miles out of them, so I'd stick with those. The Bilstein Touring Class struts/shocks are a great OEM replacement. They will give him a much improved ride comfort/feel with even a little bit of a performance gain. They're also very hard to beat as they're economically priced. We have them HERE. Strut/shock mounts, Lemforder which is a great choice and are the OEM supplier replacement. They do make them for your R50. We sell them, fronts HERE and rears HERE. You should most certainly replace these (I would), front and rear, while you're in there for the job. Especially at 181k and if they haven't been replaced before.

 

Thanks for your thoughts guys! I will stick to OEM for mounts then. The Bilstein Touring Class is the B4, correct? How difficult are the motor mounts and rear strut mounts to replace? I will be doing all this work myself. I'm not even sure how to gain access to the rear strut mounts.

I also just re-read the repair order and I realized the tech said both the UPPER mounts needed to be replaced. He didn't actually mention lower. Should I also do the lower to be safe? Another $90...

 

Our tech article says it should take the average DIY'er 3 hours for the engine and transmission mounts and it's difficulty is about 2/5. For the rear shock and mount only, it should be about 4 hours and ranked 3/5. Check our tech articles. They'll be very helpful when you tackle these projects on your fathers R50. Also, I did overlook, but the Lemforder mounts may not work due to your build date of your '02 R50. That is true. If your build date is from '03/02+ they will work, if it's build date is through 2/02 it wont. I can check via your vin number if you're unsure. I believe this if for the fronts only though and the rear Lemforder will work just fine. If you have questions just let me know.

 

His build date is June 2002. The part number on realoem matches the Lemforder I think. The tech didn't mention transmission mounts, I wasn't planning on replacing those.

 

They will work. Build date of 03/02+, his being 06/02, will work. Those that it wont work for are less than or equal to a build date of 02/02. So, if you don't do the transmission mount it will take less time. Figure 22 through 35 covers that mount.

 

Having done it a few times now I could do front and rears in about 2.5 hours - rear is truly a joke - like 3 bolts and one nut on top of the shock body...I could do each side in about 20 minutes not including jacking up the car. You Should rent the spring compressor from autozone or wherever...in a bind you could have someone push down while you use the wrench but I value my vision - getting smacked in the face by flying parts is not worth it.

 

I assume you're talking about the strut mounts. You're saying the rear mounts are 3 bolts? That's the same as the front. Did you not have to take the rear seats or trim panels out to access the mounts?

 

No - there are only two bolts holding the mount to the body. Accessed from the bottom - to remove the shock though there is a bolt at the bottom a big one that goes into the suspension http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarti...eplacement.htm

The mount is not the same style as the front at all

 

It definitely isn't! I've experienced a close encounter once. At a buddies shop the guys in the back would go to unscrew the top bolt and yell "fire in the hole" and it would spring apart.

 

Wow, that's even easier than the front.

I'm going to post this in my dad's "build" thread as well, but I inspected some of the areas the tech said needed attention while I replaced the valve cover gasket yesterday. As far as I can tell, there is no leaking from any of the shocks on the car. The engine mounts look fine. There is some microtearing in the front mount on top, so it may be that it is sagging a bit, but there's no way to accurately tell when the bracket still resting on it. The rear one looked perfectly fine.

Mentioned that stuff to my dad and he decided not to do shocks or engine mounts.

 

Good thing you checked it over. Weird the guy would say things are leaking and torn when they aren't. Anyways, you have all the right info now at least for when it comes time to get these items done.

 

Careful with the engine mount - the early models 2002 and 2003 don't necessarily leak fluid - they crack see my photo. You could not see that from the top with it installed. It crumbled in my hands. The engine mounts wear - I kind of go with the ounce worth of prevention rule on things like this - engine slopping around isn't really good for the drivetrain.