Best strut mounts?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Feb 10, 2015
Messages
374
Location
Greece
After replacing my car's front strut mounts (Mitsubishi Lancer 1.5L, model of 2010) with KYBs, one of which has started to fail only after about 12000 miles, I wonder which manufacturers produce top quality aftermarket strut mounts.

Currently I'm between Monroe and NTN-SNR.

Any opinions about the quality of their strut mounts or maybe any other suggestions?

Thanks!
 
It's failing or simply loosened up?

KYB's are highly decent and should last a while. Monroes should be avoided. Best bet would be OEM.
 
Originally Posted by Bottom_Feeder
It's failing or simply loosened up?

KYB's are highly decent and should last a while. Monroes should be avoided. Best bet would be OEM.


Well, the piston of the shock absorber jumps when turning the steering wheel. Also the mount is noisy when driving over small bumps. It crossed my mind to tighten the bolts. Can it be something that simple? I hope so.

Anyway, I was not impressed with their quality. The bearing didn't fit tightly in the mount and the mechanic used the old bearings to avoid creating a noisy set up. I also have to mention that by Googling I have found many negative posts about KYB strut mounts in different forums.
 
Originally Posted by Char Baby
OE


Sure, but they are definitely overpriced. I exclusively use aftermarket parts and that's my first bad experience.
 
Originally Posted by inquirer
Originally Posted by Char Baby
OE


Sure, but they are definitely overpriced. I exclusively use aftermarket parts and that's my first bad experience.

The situation with aftermarket seems to get worse by the month. I would strongly caution against taking that position.
 
Monroe is probably the top seller so that's why you get people who say to avoid them because statistically you're going to get a range of people who will have problems with them and the most popular one is going to have the most negative comments. KYB is also up there and same with the negatives. I've had ok results with Monroe myself. Usually best in general is OEM.
 
Originally Posted by The Critic
Originally Posted by inquirer
Originally Posted by Char Baby
OE


Sure, but they are definitely overpriced. I exclusively use aftermarket parts and that's my first bad experience.

The situation with aftermarket seems to get worse by the month. I would strongly caution against taking that position.


It depends. At the same price as OE brake pads or shock absorbers, you can buy upgrade parts.for example, brake pads that are intended for high temperatures or shock absorbers intended for sports driving like Bilstein B6.
 
Originally Posted by maxdustington
Powerflex. They make a noticeable difference in grip while cornering and you will never have to replace them again.


I don't think they have any products listed for the 1.5 Lancer or am I wrong?
 
I bet your top mount bolts aren't tight. When I install struts, I find that after driving for the first time, I often need to tighten things up.
 
Do believe Sachs is OEM on American built Toyota,seems like the route to go if you cannot get OEM at a reasonable price.
 
Most are made in china. So its a crap shoot at best.

What I have done that seems to work well is take them apart and put better grease in them. The ones I have opened had very little grease and it did not look that good as well. Cleaned the bearings and pack them well with a good grease. Marine grease works well due to its wash out resistance.
Some are sealed so those are a bigger gamble.
 
Not sure what to suggest in your case but the last couple sets of KYB shocks and struts I bought were a complete disappointment. Blew their guts out rather quickly. Sure, they are warrantied - send the dead ones back to them, they will inspect it, and let you know. While you wait for their answer, your car is up on jack stands going nowhere.

Years ago, KYB was my 'go to'. Not anymore.
 
Originally Posted by inquirer
Originally Posted by The Critic
Originally Posted by inquirer
Originally Posted by Char Baby
OE


Sure, but they are definitely overpriced. I exclusively use aftermarket parts and that's my first bad experience.

The situation with aftermarket seems to get worse by the month. I would strongly caution against taking that position.


It depends. At the same price as OE brake pads or shock absorbers, you can buy upgrade parts.for example, brake pads that are intended for high temperatures or shock absorbers intended for sports driving like Bilstein B6.

High temperature friendly brake pads are generally terrible when cold. When driving around town or on the highway, good performance at cold temps is critical.

Very very few mainstream cars have Bilstein B6 struts available for their application. It is generally limited to high-performance cars or high(er) performance German Cars. Most of the time, aftermarket is in reference to white-box branded parts or junky Monroe/KYB.
 
Originally Posted by maintenanceMan
I bet your top mount bolts aren't tight. When I install struts, I find that after driving for the first time, I often need to tighten things up.

Unfortunately, it seems all bolts are tight. What jumps around (a little bit) is the strut's rod. The same number of threads are visible on both rods, so I guess that similar torque has been applied to both struts.
Anyway, the problem started after 12,000 miles, many of which included spirited driving on curvy mountain roads, so I guess if the bolt had got loose it would have happened earlier.
The mount's rubber externally seems in almost perfect condition, but I'm not sure if that means it's the same on the other side which I can't inspect without removing the strut.


By the way, the mechanic had used the old bearing, because the one included with the KYB mount was not fitting in tightly. I wonder if the play can be a result of a failed bearing and not the mount itself.

Originally Posted by GZRider
Do believe Sachs is OEM on American built Toyota,seems like the route to go if you cannot get OEM at a reasonable price.

I find Sachs and Lemförder in almost double the price compared to other aftermarket brands. I'm not sure if the quality is much better than the other brands though, but my impression is that the generally produce quality parts, like TRW which all are part of ZF group. Anyway, KYB mounts are also OEM for some car brands and also Monroe for other brands, but that's not a guarantee that aftermarket parts will be of the same quality. Definitely, I'm disappointed with the KYB mounts. The bearing they included in the box was lose, it didn't fit properly and that's unacceptable for me. Also I read bad reviews in 2 different Toyota forums for the KYBs so I don't think I will use them again.


Originally Posted by Jimzz
Most are made in china. So its a crap shoot at best.
What I have done that seems to work well is take them apart and put better grease in them. The ones I have opened had very little grease and it did not look that good as well. Cleaned the bearings and pack them well with a good grease. Marine grease works well due to its wash out resistance.
Some are sealed so those are a bigger gamble.


If you read my reply to maintenanceMan the mechanic used the old beraing which were the OEM, because the one's included with the KYB mounts were loose. That makes me wonder if the problem is with the old bearing and not the mount itself.
The KYB struts and rear shock absorbers I purchased were made in Japan, but the mounts were made in India, as far as I can remember. But that's something normal I guess. I changed an outer tie rod with a Lemförder and it was made in Korea, not in Germany, so as I said that's something that tends to become standard. The thing is if the company enforces strict quality controls to overseas factories. If the answer is yes then I would think that there wouldn't be any difference regarding their quality.


Originally Posted by DukeOfFrontenac
Not sure what to suggest in your case but the last couple sets of KYB shocks and struts I bought were a complete disappointment. Blew their guts out rather quickly. Sure, they are warrantied - send the dead ones back to them, they will inspect it, and let you know. While you wait for their answer, your car is up on jack stands going nowhere.

Years ago, KYB was my 'go to'. Not anymore.

Well, I now have KYB struts and shocks isntalled on my car and everything seems good so far. I'm not impressed with their mounts though which were made in India. Their struts and shocks were made in Japan, if that has any significance.


Originally Posted by Dave9
I'm seeing a Sachs part # for that so that is what I'd get if available in Greece.

Yes, they produce strut mounts for my Lancer. I don't know if anyone imports them to Greece, but I can order them from abroad. No problem with that. See my answer to GZRider about them.


Originally Posted by The Critic
High temperature friendly brake pads are generally terrible when cold. When driving around town or on the highway, good performance at cold temps is critical.

Very very few mainstream cars have Bilstein B6 struts available for their application. It is generally limited to high-performance cars or high(er) performance German Cars. Most of the time, aftermarket is in reference to white-box branded parts or junky Monroe/KYB.


EBC Yellostuff and Ferodo DS2500 have a high friction coefficient even in cold temperatures. Manufacturers always give a warning for pads that don't have a good bite when cold, saying that they are only intended for track use. The downside with this pads is that are dusty and have a shorter lifespan than pads that are intended for normal use.
About B6 struts you are wrong. They are available for almost every European car. I had a Ford, 75 horsepower, and the yellow Bilsteins were available for it. I just checked the Mercedes A-Class A 160 with 10p hp horsepower, same as my Lancer, and they offer a coilover adjustable strut for it.
 
Originally Posted by Wolf359
Monroe is probably the top seller so that's why you get people who say to avoid them because statistically you're going to get a range of people who will have problems with them and the most popular one is going to have the most negative comments. KYB is also up there and same with the negatives. I've had ok results with Monroe myself. Usually best in general is OEM.

That's maybe a valid explanation, though I found more people complaining about KYBs than Monroes. Ideally we should see failure rates, instead of raw numbers.
 
Originally Posted by DukeOfFrontenac
Not sure what to suggest in your case but the last couple sets of KYB shocks and struts I bought were a complete disappointment. Blew their guts out rather quickly. Sure, they are warrantied - send the dead ones back to them, they will inspect it, and let you know. While you wait for their answer, your car is up on jack stands going nowhere.

Years ago, KYB was my 'go to'. Not anymore.



Do you remember where they were made? I know KYB has a US plant now. So not sure if its a Japanese or US issue, or both.
I have seen a lot of complaints about KYB recently. Mostly their all in one struts, mounts going bad. But some about struts leaking out as well.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top