Should you change out the stock motor mounts if you are installing headers?

 

Absolutely. On most, if not all long tube headers the stock engine mounts can allow enough movement that one of the primary tubes can come into contact with the steering shaft and interfere with steering.
I got Prothane polyurethane mounts from Summit Racing for a good price.
The Prothane mounts also help you get more power to the ground by eliminating excessive engine movement. You will also find that the shifter works better (assuming you have a manual) with these mounts because they elimnate the binding in the shifter caused when the engine / trans moves at WOT during a shift.
For the little bit of increase vibration you get from these mounts all the other benifits are well worth it!

 

I should have said shorty headers but there still would probably be a big benefit for the reasons that you mentioned.

 

Exactly. Even though you will have no clearence issues with shorty headers the other benefits are well worth it. I did my engine mounts and headers at the same time and it was easy. I still had the stock shifter at that time and it worked a LOT better with those mounts. Never missed a 2 - 3 shift after that. I still upgraded to the MGW shifter though but the need to do so was not so urgent with the upgraded mounts. They will make any shifter work better not to mention being able to get more power to the ground.

 

I didn't replace my motor mounts when I got my AR L/Ts added, and haven't had any problems. Also, I have no plans for any forced induction. No vibration or noise. I can always add these later.

 

So it seems that the interfence problem may not exist with all brands of headers then. I have ARH LT's also and it really didn't look to me that there would have been an interference problem but I swapped the mounts anyway. I still wanted the other benifits of smoother shifter operation and more power to the ground.

 

Rich, I've been thinking about changing my motor mounts to see if this would alleviate some my steering shaft interface with my Shorties on hard cornering.

 

This sounds scary. What kind of interference do you have Scott? I mean does it hang up the steering action or what?
Scott

 

Scott, its just minor!.. No inhibiting of the steering action!..You can feel a slight rub! Ford racing suggests denting the header at point of contact but I really don't feel like beating a dent in my header...

 

I installed JBA longtubes and ran the car for about 6 months with no issues from the stock mounts.(11lbs boost) I have since installed Prothane mounts just for the hell of it. Even with the Steeda shifter I still had a crapload of shifting problems which have been completely cured by replacing the Triax with an MGW shifter.

Does anybody know where I can purchase a urethane tranny mount? I've been wanting to replace that even though it's shifting fine. I've heard the tranny torques enough to break the aluminum at the bell housing in some cases.

 

Hey Scott squared.....

I got the FRPP shorties and haven't noticed any rubbing around corners, etc. Maybe when I was moving the engine and mounts around during the install, I got lucky???

 

Is there any difference other than the color of the red and black Prothane bullet motor mounts? I see that BMR has the black ones for $119.00 and that seems like a good price.

 

That could be the case Tom! although after looking at your post of your headers, I think the Steeda's I have are made a little diffrently.....

 

No difference at all. Just the color.

 

I heard that the Red was a softer compound than the black but have not been able to confirm or deny that claim.

I heard it on another forum.

Richard

 

I heard the opposite. Don't know for sure though, just what I read.

 

We have had no problems with them. We ran JBA LT's with Chalon's car at first and I am still running StainlessWorks LT's on my car, stock mounts.
Derek