Last week I got the Avid torque mounts to replace my stock torque mounts that had poly inserts(BTW-got them from Rob at http://www.jdmcars.com/-great price and a good dude to deal with).With the ES inserts in both torque mounts and rear mount,I could still see 1/4"-1/2" of movement of the shift lever when stabbing or cutting the throttle.I felt that it contributed to me missing the 4th or 5th gear to 3rd gear downshift several times on track,so I was curious to see if the Avid mounts would help.

I expected some increase in vibration with these over the inserts,but I had no idea!The fenders,bumper,hood and lights all rattle at idle.My CD player skips,and my three year old son was crying from the noise while driving!I tried twice to loosen and retighten all mounts in the Helm's recommended sequence to relieve and preload pressure on the torque mounts that may have been contributing to this.Nothing helped.

I was almost to the point of removing and selling them,but the difference they made in the feel of the car really was noticeable.The shifter feels as direct as any RWD,linkage-less transmission I've driven.I really didn't want to give up that feeling by pussing out and taking off the mounts.This is my daily driver with 450lbF/500lbR springs,stiff shocks,no sound deadening,loud exhaust,etc...I'm willing to compromise comfort for performance,but these things were too much!

I did some searching on here,and saw quite a few people comment on the outrageous vibration and noise.

I decided today to try one more thing before I put them up for sale.I figured that if you had maybe 1/16" of play in the torque mounts,that'd allow enough movement to absorb regular engine vibration,but that play would take up instantly as soon as the engine torques under load.

The bushings are a tight fit that required a light duty press to remove them from the housings.The bushing measured right at 1.80x".



I took off material a little at a time and continued to test fit it back into the housing.After removing approximately 0.07",the bushing was now an easy slip for into the housing.I really didn't think this would be enough,but I figured I should try it before removing any more material-no reason to remove more than necessary.I figured that about 1/16" of play within the mount would be needed,but I wanted to work my way up to that....I turned the other side down to the same amount,and reinstalled them on the car.I used a bench grinder and very crudely removed the material.Far from perfect,but good enough.Ideally,a lathe could be used.



The difference is amazing.At idle,there's no more vibration than with the ES inserts.There is no difference in noticeable play at the shifter or feel than before I modded the mounts.Everything feels just as tight,there's just not the added noise and vibration.I was concerned that if i had to turn these down to the point that there was play within the housing that I'd eventually crack the urethane,since the steel sleeve would be slamming the urethane against the housing every time the engine torqued.I don't think that will be a problem though,since they're still a slight pressure fit.

Hopefully this'll help out some of the people who are having a hard time living with these mounts in their street cars.

Chris


Modified by TeamNextGenChris at 1:56 AM 1/9/2008