Vlad's rides thread

[vlad01]

Yep, these are the fluid ones, the specs say they are and I confirmed that part is working good as I can hear the decoupling valve clatter when I shake the engine by hand. But for the hydraulics to do their job, the rubber still needs to move. I chose these mounts based on the same ones that went through two cars, something like 17 years of age and easily 200k of use, very very hard use and they are still good now. The rubber of this cheap brand far outlasted the genuine ones I bought new in 2014 and most definitely all of the Mckay ones as we all know they have been shite for what seems forever now.

This pair also appears to have quality rubber by the feel and smell. You can tell cheap rubber a mile away and these do not have that dead giveaway of cheap perishing rubber. But that's not to say the properties are correctly engineered for the task. Interestingly, natural rubber does have an aging/curing aspect in service, as with tyres and heat is a big part of that. That is why some race tyre suppliers can pre-age/pre-cure your tyres in an autoclave or kiln of sorts, so you get the right properties and performance out of the box on your track car.

To me, it indeed feels like the rubber is quite stiff when it's cold, the hand rocking of the engine makes it feel like it has something close to the Mace unbreakable mounts, but after it gets heat, the rubber softens to what feels like normal OEM factory mounts. So maybe with some use and heat cycles it will improve. If not, I'll just get the expensive Kelpro ones. It's not too hard to change them once you know the routine.

And FYI, you can activate the decoupling valves inside when rocking in both cold and hot, just harder to get any movement when it's cold, so I am confident the internals are all working fine. Usually if the hydraulics fail, the mounts continue to wobble like jelly after you stop rocking the engine, for a good couple of oscillations.