Should I replace my oem mounts?
 

I feel a bit of slack in the drivetrain and am wondering if it's the mounts or if it's just the old clutch. I'm planning on replacing my clutch soon, have ordered a new clutch last week. Thinking about ordering some fresh OEM mounts. Would also probably do a spark plug job at the same time too. Tell me if it's a good idea to change the mounts now or if that is unnecessary right now on my 2-yr, 50k mile BRZ.

why replace them with oem? if your gonna replace them, replace them with harder bushings.

Because that's not my goal. I want to return to how it was new, OEM. Or if its really necessary or not. Not sure how much life I can expect out of the factory mounts or if that's anything I should be concerned with at this stage.

50k miles isn't bad for OEM mounts nowadays.. those depending on driving conditions will deteriorating in about double that time, if that, depending on the design of the mount and stressed onto that part

Did you inspect the mounts? I've not heard of any failing yet.

Thanks all, I guess the drivetrain lash I feel is just stemming from the old clutch. Just needed some opinions on how these mounts should hold up.

May wait until the 100k mile mark to do them then.

I doubt your mounts could be bad in just a few years. I felt mine was kinda sloppy(first rear wheel drive though) but when I put in a one piece aluminum driveshaft it cleaned that right up. Very happy with how it feels now

A few notes...

The slop you feel is likely from the rear diffy carrier bushings. Whiteline sells inserts that can firm that up nicely.

On the one piece drive shaft, we've seen several cars both WRX/STi and BRZs that have had rear trans bearing issues from the 1 piece driveshafts since they put extra stress on that bearing in the tailshaft of the trans.

-Mike Paisan

http://www.pbase.com/paisan/image/153798190.jpg
Maintaining, Modifying and Educating TriState Enthusiasts since 2001.
Like us on Facebook! | E-mail: sales@azpinstalls.com | 725 Fairfield Ave | Kenilworth, NJ 07033 | 908.248.AZP1 (2971) |AIM: AZP Installs
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Does lifting the rear diff as some have done with a modified rear subframe help reduce that strain? Would stiffer bushings affect that strain?

I'm not sure that lifting it would help a lot. The issue lies in that the trans bearing was designed not as a weight bearing item because of the 2-piece nature of the OEM ones. So it doesn't fail immediately, but rather over time the extra strain slowly wears it down. Perhaps the failures are from folks who are drag racing them as well which obviously will put even more strain on them.

-Mike Paisan

http://www.pbase.com/paisan/image/153798190.jpg
Maintaining, Modifying and Educating TriState Enthusiasts since 2001.
Like us on Facebook! | E-mail: sales@azpinstalls.com | 725 Fairfield Ave | Kenilworth, NJ 07033 | 908.248.AZP1 (2971) |AIM: AZP Installs
"Race Tested, Enthusiast Approved!"

Well, that sucks.