I'm just wondering what everyone's experience has been like living with the Prothane motor mounts, now that they've been out for a few years? Did you have a lot of new vibrations? Did you get used to them? Did they drive you crazy to the point you put stock mounts back in?


I think my stock mounts are gone. When I go over dips or large bumps in the road, I can see the shifter **** move and it has the kind of slow sway that makes me think the whole engine/trans combo is moving too much. I also get a clunk from the front end when hitting potholes or rough pavement, even at parking lot speeds--and I've exonerated the suspension from being the cause. Sometimes I get a clutch judder at low rpm, and the Ford factory manual points out engine mounts as a possible cause.

Plus when I poke the engine mount, the outer skin just deflects like there's no fluid left in the mount (I can distinctly feel the inner bushing). I can't find any info on it, but I think the stock mount is supposed to feel like a water balloon because of how its filled with oil.

 

Forgot to finish:

I'm trying to decide if I should go Prothane or stock. NVH is a concern since the combination of all my suspension pieces (front control arms, HD strut mounts, LCA's UCA, sway bars, steeda sport springs, ok lets just say everything there is to bolt on) has brought the NVH to a level that I don't want to increase any more for a daily driver.

 

I have been running the Prothanes since the winter of 2007/2008 on a very heavily modified Stang. I still think they are great and have no issues with them. The NHV increase is hardly noticable. And your correct the stock mounts are called hydramounts because the are fluid filled.

 

I've been running Prothanes for about 4 years now and I hardly noticed any difference. A lot more room for the headers I'm running though.

I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

 

Right, I know they're hydra bushings, but I want to know what they should act like with fluid in them since I think mine are empty.

I'm hearing all sorts of mixed opinions on prothane: it's better, it's worse. Some say Prothane barely added NVH; some said they were so bad they were changed back to stock. I wonder how much is from a difference in what people prefer and how much is from a difference in the cars. Not just the mods because it could be the perfect combination that makes it a hell of a lot worse; but also mechanical differences in what kind of shape the powertrain or chassis is.

 

I decided to order the Steeda mounts, they should be in Thursday. Hopefully I can get this done this weekend. I'll post my impressions then

 

Good choice......you will be happy.

 

I just installed torque solutions billet mounts on my DD. These are identical to the prothanes, except 85 durometer instead of 75.

Initial impressions are that there's slightly more vibration at idle, but the improved connection with the car is well worth it. The clutch telegraphs better and goes into gear easily. Haven't given it a good test to see if it fixes the 2>3 shift under load yet, or how much NVH there is on the highway.

Feeling the torque in the car at high RPMs is awesome.

And just look at the crappy factory units they replace

 

Yeah my mounts aren't looking too pretty either (not sure what that grease streak is coming out of the top there...)


I found that urethane shifter bushings helped IMMENSELY with the 2>3 shift. And they only cost me $23. I'm looking forward to seeing what these Steeda mounts feel like

 

D'oh the TS mounts lift my engine enough for the intake manifold to touch the steeda strut tower brace. I'll try some washers and see if I can get it to fit without hitting the hood.

 

That sucks. The intake is hitting the bottom side of my CS6 hood which is one of the reasons I went for the Steeda mounts, since they're height adjustable. Not quite sure how much I should drop the engine. it goes in increments of 1/4" to up to 3/4" lower than stock. I'm not quite sure of the advantage of dropping the engine by 3/4" other than the clearance under the hood. I can't imagine the center of gravity would really improve that much. Disadvantage: oil pan 3/4" closer to the ground.

I could always start with 1/4" and move it down more if it still doesn't clear, but that would be a pain in the *** to basically redo the installation to take one of the spacers out on each space

 

Well, got the Steeda mounts installed and the results are in! As far as NVH goes: there isn't any more noise, there isn't any more harshness, but there definitely IS more vibration. Significantly I'm noticing it at idle and much more as I'm taking off from a stop--in the friction zone of the clutch. I usually like to keep the engine really low (~1000 RPM) when I'm moving off from a stop and thats where I'm feeling the most vibration. If I keep it over 1500 RPM as I'm phasing the clutch in, then its as smooth as stock.

Once I'm moving, it feels just as smooth and quiet as stock except it feels like I have a DIRECT line to the engine and its application of power. I definitely had a dumb *** grin the first time I hit the gas

Other observables: there's less noise when I go over bumps -- because I lowered the engine half an inch and its not hitting the underside of the hood anymore! Yeah that's kinda unique to my situation.

So overall, I'd rate the experience as a 7/10. The powertrain feels a lot snappier and its perfectly fine once you're moving. But the extra vibration at low speed, that's a factor. I think I can get used to it though.

 

I lowered mine 3/4 of an inch no problem your results might be different.

 

Yeah I think the biggest issue to watch out for is the clearance from the left header to the steering shaft. I think I have enough that I could've gone 3/4"

 

You will get used to the extra vibration. There is no modification from stock that doesn't have it's pro's and con's. That is just what modifing is all about. If you don't like the results...........don't do it. It is really that simple. You are spot on with your feelings about your results.

 

Does lowering the engine change the pinion angle at all? I would think it would make the tail end of the trans go up a tad??

 

Makes it easier to align properly.

 

I was able to get the Steeda brace to clear the intake manifold with some washers. The hood closes fine, but I'll keep an eye on it for any rubbing.

 

Yeah it probably does slightly. Not sure how much of a difference it would make. The pivot point is the transmission mount -- a couple inches forward of the pinion. The engine/trans was lowered 1/2 an inch I'm guessing about 4 feet in front of the pivot. That's about 0.5 degrees. If the nose goes down 0.5 deg, the tail goes up 0.5. I don't know how far the engine and transmission mounts actually are from each other so my number is definitely off, but should be a ballpark.

 

I've had my Prothane red's in for almost four years now... they're worth every penny! I installed them with the long tubes, it gave me a little more clearance.

Get'em!