Reliable strut mounts & bearings needed

[Peter B]

Hello,

I am looking for suggestions on strut mounts and bearings /bushings. This is for a 2008.5 MS3.

I just got a set of Bilstein B8 sport shocks and struts. I hope to install them in the next week or two. On the front of the car I need to replace the strut mounts and bearings as well. I have been doing my research and it seems like Moog and Raybestos are two of the better brands to go with. However, Moog and Raybestos are also out of stock everywhere I look. To make matters worse, no one, and I mean NO ONE, has any idea when they will be back in stock.

So my question is are there any other decent brands out there?

The other brands I have seen are

Dorman
Monroe
Mevotech
MTC
KYB (Mounts only)
Febi Bilstein (bearings only) – Not the same Bilstein that makes shocks as far as I can tell.

I have spent hours searching online to see what people think of these brands and I haven’t come up with any consensus on any of them. I have heard some people say to avoid Monroe, but a few people who sell it have told me they don’t see many problems.

I have also read that the OEM mounts and bearings are crap. Also my local stealer wants $$$ for them.

The socks and struts I am putting in are going to last for a long time. I don’t want to put bearings and mounts in that will crap out in 40,000 miles. I also don’t want to wait 6 months while moog or raybestos restock to put my shocks on. My back end is clunking pretty bad, and my right front stut has leaked most of its fluid.

Does anyone have any advice or experience with any of the above brands? Will any of these last?


Thanks in advance

-Pete

[hopsonn]

I just installed Bilstein B8 front struts with Monroe 906980 mounts. I went with Monroe because the Moog parts were out of stock at Rockauto, and the OEM parts seemed extremely overpriced.

The mounts come with the bearings and look and fit exactly like the OEM parts. The strut boot even fits the bottom of the bearing perfectly. The bearings feel smooth, and the rubber seems to be of a similar hardness to the OE, maybe even slightly stiffer.

I bought these "just in case" I needed them when I was installing my struts and at 76k miles, the OEM parts are intact, but obviously worn. Turning the OEM bearings unloaded, it felt like the bearings had some square balls in a few spots where the bearing would audibly click when turned. Nobody wants square balls.

[hopsonn]

Originally Posted by hopsonn I just installed Bilstein B8 front struts with Monroe 906980 mounts. I went with Monroe because the Moog parts were out of stock at Rockauto, and the OEM parts seemed extremely overpriced. The mounts come with the bearings and look and fit exactly like the OEM parts. The strut boot even fits the bottom of the bearing perfectly. The bearings feel smooth, and the rubber seems to be of a similar hardness to the OE, maybe even slightly stiffer. I bought these "just in case" I needed them when I was installing my struts and at 76k miles, the OEM parts are intact, but obviously worn. Turning the OEM bearings unloaded, it felt like the bearings had some square balls in a few spots where the bearing would audibly click when turned. Nobody wants square balls.

Just thought I would update. Monroe mounts are still good at 93k.

[Design]

IMO the OEM top hats are fine. The failure tends to happen when folks fail to tighten the top nut to the recommended torque specs. You can get them wholesale for $35 per side.

Folks tend to advocate reinforced strut bearings (aka bushings) whenever the geometry is modified. I myself encountered an occasional "pop" at full lock on the H&R coilvers (but never at OEM height). The issue never came back after swapping over to KW.

I know folks here have purchased both Monroe and Moog. Might benefit you to ask them how those sets have held up. GL.

[802MS3]

I went with the mevotech mounts/bearings for koni yellows with eibach springs. no problems, no noise. the roads suck horribly around me.

they were about $32 per side+$8 shipping from rockauto.

[cyber-ms3]

Dorman will fall apart in a couple of months. call local car parts stores. Many of them stock them up in their warehouses. It's what I did a few months ago. It might cost a little more total per side but that might be the only way.

[jtday]

Agree with poster above. Dorman is crap. I didn't need new bearings as the KWs use their own but I went with new Dorman rears and ended up needing to make a cotton gasket using a tshirt because of the cast mold rubbing against the body on one side. Either way, the stock mounts are a weak point and will wear out faster with the increased load of stiffer suspension. My vote goes to Monroe or OEM.

[Zdraveca]

monroe is also crap and i know a few other people that had issues with them. Replaced my monroes yesterday with mevotech, when i pulled out the right one the metal part that holds the strut fell apart

[cyber-ms3]

I'm pretty sure that the consensus is that either you get Moog or OEM. Otherwise your going to become a pro at removing struts
Either that or you'll hate your car.

[802MS3]

Mevotech mounts still holding up on koni yellows after a year and a half, 15000 mi roughly. They were paired with monroe's speed3 bumpstops and boots.

Also replaced the rear mounts with monroe strut mounts and boots earlier this summer, with the VW bumpstops on ebay. Still feels good to me.

[cyber-ms3]

I guess it'll depend on a number of factors. How bad the streets are, the stiffness of the suspension setup, the amount of mileage being put on under the harsher circumstances.

[EvoFire]

Don't get Moog top hats unless you like it when you front suspension sounds like its falling apart.

[lnumbp]

My right front Moog shit the bed after 1 year and 15k miles. My left front is still okay but makes a few awkward noises. I swapped for OEM and things are going great thus far.

[div2]

I went with all OEM parts when I installed my FSDs. No complaints.

[cyber-ms3]

Has anybody tried the corksport camber plates as an option for stronger upper mounts? It seems that the mounts themselves are failing faster than the bearings. Perhaps the weaker link of the two is the upper mount.

[cyber-ms3]

Hey guys, so finally after 1.5 yrs my Moog upper strut mounts are creaking and popping constantly on one side. Some of the roads that I travel on to work are somewhat bad and I drive very fast very often. These are the 3rd pair that I have gone through in the last 4 years. I set my shocks to the softest setting just to prolong the use and minimize the wear & tear on the mounts. I'm considering getting the CS camber plates just to not have to deal with this anymore but I'm hesitating because I think that all the abuse the mounts are taking are going to be transferred to the towers and possibly start to tear them apart which will cost much more than the repeated ~160 dollars every 2 years for the OEM ones.
I haven't tried the OEM mounts with my koni shocks yet. Just Dorman and Moog. NVH is near it's limit. After driving for an hour straight and the turn the car off my ears are totally relieved

What do you guys recommend/suggest? Should I go the CS route and put a thin layer of felt on top or try the OEM ones and risk blowing another $160 in 2 years?

[Cirruslydakota]

OEM, my moogs were trashed after 6,000 miles and I wasn't about to put the same garbage back on the car. The moog bearings seem to be ok, its the mounts that literally fall apart. My original OEM bearings are what went bad before so maybe make a combination of the two?

[EvoFire]

The moogs are garbage, get either Mazda OEM or Ford OEM top hats and bearings.

[cyber-ms3]

So the Corksport camber plates are overkill for my application and the OEM will easily handle the Koni yellows on their softest setting with medium bad roads?

[CorkSport Vincent]

I to suggest using the OEM bearings. I believe them to be the best unit available. Also do note our camber plates replace the top portion of the OEM strut mount. but you will still use the lower portion where the actual bearings are. The use of our plates simply gain you better articulation and adjustment setting you would not other wise have with an OEM set up.

[MSMS3]

I put in Moog bearings when I installed my Bilsteins. The Moogs both started making noise pretty soon. I swapped to the Dorman brand and they are doing just fine. It was all I could get quickly at the time, but they seem well-made and are holding up just fine on the shit that passes for the secondary paved roads around here. Bilsteins are stiff and will put more impact on those bearings.

I've always believed in Moog, but something ain't right with the ones they make for our cars, or at least not with Bilstein struts.

[cyber-ms3]

I think I'm going to go OEM all the way and see what happens. Dorman, I made them squeak within 4 months. Moog, 6,000 miles or 1.5 yrs and they sound like their falling apart. If OEM doesn't work then I'm going with metal top hats, OEM bearings and hoping my strut towers don't tear apart.

[Big sugaaakane1]

I just bought the koni yellow/h&r spring combo from edge. the Monroe tophat mentioned earler, does it come with the bearing or is the bearing separate??? or should I say fuck it and actually go oem?. (just not trying to break my wallet.)

[EvoFire]

Bearing is separate, go to Ford and ask for the bearing for a 2012 Focus, non ST, its like $10

[aviator79]

IDK how different the MS3 strut mounts are than MS6.
I found that my OEMs were clunking because they loose tolerances between the hole in the top hat where the bearing sits and diameter of the lip on the bearing that seats in the top hat hole along with same issue on spring perch which allowed lots of play and caused a clunking noise. At least I think that was the problem and the KYBs I bought were worse. Had to use silicone in them to fill the gap.

[cyber-ms3]

Originally Posted by aviator79 IDK how different the MS3 strut mounts are than MS6. I found that my OEMs were clunking because they loose tolerances between the hole in the top hat where the bearing sits and diameter of the lip on the bearing that seats in the top hat hole along with same issue on spring perch which allowed lots of play and caused a clunking noise. At least I think that was the problem and the KYBs I bought were worse. Had to use silicone in them to fill the gap.

From what I've heard, the MS6 top hats are metal. The MS3 are rubber. If I'm not mistaken the MS6 is also muti-link in the front. The MS3 is McPherson struts.

[EvoFire]

The MS6 is double wishbone in the front, completely different design from the Mac struts of the 3

[MazdaSteve3]

I found that Sachs offers a strut mount kit (both parts together) - found it at AutoBarn for $35 a kit. I asked where it was made and was told Italy, so I took a chance on it. I just received them today and it turns out that they are actually OEM parts! The bearing/bushing/whatever is SKF (made in France, same PN as OEM), and the mount/top hat is actually FoMoCo, just with the FoMoCo logos ground off. So, OEM parts for less than half the cost from a discount dealer website. $70 total for both sides, and AutoBarn has free shipping over $69. It took a week and a half to be delivered, but I wasn't in a rush.

I can't link to it directly, so you have to search by car year, make, etc all the way to the shocks and struts category. Sachs 802 576 is the one. I don't think the OEM parts are that great, but I'd prefer them over any other aftermarket brand.

[EvoFire]

Unfortunately, the OEM parts are the best you got unless you go full camber plates or coils in the front.