I'd do what Powerhound recommended, stock OE + the OE radial thrust bearings. OE Stock is made to work best with your stock OE Strut components as far as height and mounting. The stock have a cushion design built in to cut down on noise and excessive road shock. The higher performance ball type have no lateral movement, will make the strut action and steering a bit more precise (at speed) with excessive noise, shock and vibration very possible and probable as a down side. OE is good, comfortable and safe, quiet and handles well for as fast and aggressive as you can go on public roadways.

Make it easy, use OE, don't mess with success. Also, note, if you disturb the top mount position, unbolt and exchange them, you will certainly have to recheck your alignment. The slotted holes determine front camber. If you have experience, you can use a square and some measuring tools to reference a before, provided you have had a recent alignment, then set your camber the same. I roughed my alignment in the driveway after installing my coilovers and 2" lowering and got it close enough to run forever. The before notes on the pro alignment showed that.

 

Yes, gonna mark alignment positions prior to removal so as to remain same. Also, I was considering the EVO top mounts because the set available is actually cheaper than OEM mounts.

Is there any reason using the EVOs against otherwise stock components is I'll advised?? I am on bilstein MO30 w lowering springs.
Thx for input!

 

those EVO mounts look straight, IE GT2/GT3 upright fitment vs the 4WD "canted" style upper mounts. Do you need adapters to run these with AWD stock uprights and suspension?

 

not as far is i've learned, but exactly my concern. all adverts incl seller description indicates they are for the 996 "awd" but then the EVO part number specifies the same part number for both. 996 2wd and 996 awd, which of course would have to be wb c4s/turbo. so, do you or anyone know if the oem mounts 996 are in fact interchangeable 2wd vs awd?? i would find that odd, but i don't know. all that matters is that the evo's fit my oem setup. if i ended an adapter i'm going right back to part oem #100!

i sure would hate to purchase them to find what you suggest. i feel no need to do the gt2/3 uprights and properly "finish" the front end given i am perfectly happy with what the car does as it is. eliminating the extra front diff weight should be enough until my mo30s are toast. then updating all makes a lot more sense. as the mo 30's are fine.

 

The Evoms uppers won't work, they are for rwd cars. All the solid bushing / monoball stuff is a waste for the street especially on a 100K+mile car where the rest of the rubber bushing everywhere are likely questionable. If you monoball only certain parts, you will transfer the rest of the load to the remaining rubber bushings which will accelerate their demise that much quicker. Do the wholes suspension ($$$) or stick with OEM. No matter what, you WILL need to do an alignment. Just saying...

 

thanks for that and it makes a world of sense. all or nothing,.. but then, i was hoping it might be an upgrade similarly to semi solid motor mounts vs oems. a world of difference and i never felt i needed solid rear subs in the rear! the car does, as you say drive on "streets". i'm gonna pass on the evos then.. but why ( if you know? ) does it SAY they are a "direct replacement fit" for oem top mounts on an AWD ( tt?)?

btw.. this car had had several upgrades over the years as it has made many regular trips to willow springs etc, so it has been around the block many times, but it hasn't been without constant maintenance. e.g. it wasn't fitted with mo30's originally and anything ever needing replacing has been. although i don't know the provenance of this car beyond its previous two owners, but i do know neither of them sloughed off on maintenance. nor do i

but i really appreciate the education! think i'll just get the oem's. thx

 

ya, you guys are all correct ( again ) my bud says those are rwd or gt3 only. so oem it is.

 

It says that because they clearly don't know what they're talking about. The AWD mounts are angled back to account for the goofy AWD front upright geometry. The RWD mounts are straight. They are not interchangeable. I'm not sure if EVO makes both versions. They may have enough articulation in the monoball to account for the awd slant but I doubt it. To do it properly, you need the monoball secured in the upper mount at an angle. JRZ, Mode, and Tarett all make two separate versions...

 

hah! got it, and am understanding the difference in angle/slant from tt to gt3. so too many variables for my half goofy front end thx john. my buddy thats gonna switch em out said same thing. the evo's listed are for straight up gt2/3 uprights. not seemingly as advertised.

it's a relief when expert opinions concur. thx

 

looks like i'll be going with your suggestion of #11 bearing plate along with either the tarrett mounts or oem part# m100 if the tarrett isn't plug and play for my oem struts.

do the tarret mono's depicted below work with oem suspension interchangeably w/out uprights being different? that's what i need to know. or as pwdrhound has said.. is that mixing/matching badly since all isn't mono.. just thinking aloud.

add: ok, after consulting here and with my parts guru known here ..who double checked with ira re compatibility ( my setup front diff intact but still rwd ) i'm going with the tarrets up front and new bearings and that will give me some added neg camber but shouldn't provide any other downside ( though yeah, noiser perhaps ) other than the fact that these camber plates are designed for an awd setup not straight uprights so they will not work for me to remove the front diff at some later date..although it is just sitting as dead weight with the car running rwd ) but i can live with that, particularly if i gain some added camber and don't unduly further mess up my front geometry. or this is how i understand it all. parts ordered, we shall see.

thx all.

 

according to Ira at Tarett, those pictured are made to work with OEM struts. But as pwdrhound said, they will increase your ride height in the front a bit.

Being on KW V3 and at maximum front ride height, I kinda wish I had them now. I went OEM and I'm only 25" from floor to fender at maximum KW allowable ride height in front.

 

Height wise the the Tarrets will be close to OEM but higher than other options like JRZ or Evo mounts which allow you to run a lower ride height without taking away from the stock travel. This is particularly important if you try to run coils with limited travel like PSS10s low. Tarett stuff is good...

 

all i know is i gout the tarret's and ira said that ride height given my h&r's springs wouldn't change but that i would have the ability to adjust neg camber -1 up front which might work well for me. but time will tell. i had hoped to get them on last weekend, so by next weekend i will know. if my ride height is even 1/4" higher, i won't be pleased with that.

 

Mark,
I would also look into installing GT3 LCA's which give you the option of increasing camber by widening the front track. That's the best way to go. With the high mileage on your car, I bet the factory rubber bushings are toast. Ira sells those with his monoball ends and adjustable solid thrust bushings.

 

i will do those, at some point, yes thanks. also, most all major suspension components have been switched out on my car. very little that wears out has not already been replaced prior to my having it. i have as you can imagine, been extremely diligent when it comes to upgrades or replacing items, as needed, some on a whim. lca's and also some stuff in the rear is next.