Quality OEM type motor mount replacements?

Who makes a good one?
I think I've decided my Brown Dogs, while being very well made, transmit too much vibration for me.
I don't want to put garbage in to replace them, though. Even with a warranty, it takes time to change them.
So who makes a decent replacement?

2 weeks ago, I was trying to track down a bearing grinding-type noise coming from my
front right side of my '93 XJ during acceleration. That's when I noticed how very near
the mechanical fan blade tips were to the fan shroud. Then I stood about 8' away from
the front of my car and I noticed how the engine was leaning to the right side very
slightly. I decided to change the motor mounts.

I read somewhere that the Brown Dog mounts were great for off-road but induced a lot
of vibration for a daily driver. I also read that the mounts at NAPA were very close to
an OEM item and so I went there to check them out.

When I was at the NAPA counter I looked over the packaging and I glared at, and pointed
out, to my now familiar counter-person the label had "Made In Korea" printed on it.
"Hey, what kind of stuff are you selling here nowadays?" He laughed and said to trust
him that it was a good item.

The old left motor mount fell apart and crumbled in my hands when I removed it. The
old right side motor mount was nothing more than a rubber blob.

The new NAPA mounts look like, and installed, just like an OEM part. No glitches.

I started up the car and drove it around town to run some errands. The grinding
noise disappeared (...YES!) and the car seems to feel more tighter on acceleration.
I also noticed that the floor under my feet now vibrates during idle (something I had never felt before) and that there were all sorts of new buzzes and noises coming from various loose plastic dash panels and the glove box door.

I've since corrected all of those additional noises - but I can't help but to think what
I might be going through if I had gone with one of those stronger steel motor mounts.

I'm giving the NAPA mounts a "thumbs up".

Dragonslayer said:

I'm giving the NAPA mounts a "thumbs up".

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I'm glad you like the NAPA mounts (i manage a NAPA store in socal) but I hate to break it to you... just about all parts store mounts are made by a company called Anchor Mounts Inc. the ones we sell are no different than the ones at Autozone or Orielys that are Anchor brand, the difference is NAPA reboxes everything they sell and slaps their own part number and a napa logo on the box.

I have had good results as well with the Anchor mounts though, so if you're looking for a stock mount they are a good choice. there is nothing really you can do to make the drivers side mount last however, the heat from the exhaust plus the rotational torque from the engine are pretty much the death warrant for the drivers side mount.

I put the Anchor mounts on two of my Jeeps and both have good results. The only noted difference was one of the four mounts was made in China instead of Korea and had shiny rubber like they painted over it.

Anchor's mounts are made all over the place, i've seen them from india, indonesia, korea, malasia, china, ...never US though :dunno:

yossarian19 said:

Who makes a good one?
I think I've decided my Brown Dogs, while being very well made, transmit too much vibration for me.
I don't want to put garbage in to replace them, though. Even with a warranty, it takes time to change them.
So who makes a decent replacement?

Click to expand...

How much shipped to 77024? Are yours rubber or poly?

I've got the BD rubber mounts with well under 15K miles on them. When I get around to replacing with Anchor mounts, they'll pop up on Sierra Chapter for sale / wanted forum.

yossarian19 said:

Who makes a good one?
I think I've decided my Brown Dogs, while being very well made, transmit too much vibration for me.

Click to expand...

I'm not too far behind you feeling the BD rubber mounts are too noisy for a DD. On the other hand, I sure love the connected feeling they give and you are sure to notice any new noises the engine is making.

After spending a bit of time trying to quiet them down, including adding soundproofing, re-aligning the mounts, adjusting the thru-bolt tightness and installing a flex coupling in the exhaust.
I'm not sure what else can be done other than putting the stock-type mounts back in.
So, how often does a good motor mount fail while off-roading? I have both stock and Napa motor mounts and they do look very similar.

A little off topic but I would love to learn from y'all.

How hard is it to change out motor mounts? I've done it on other cars but never an XJ and it looks a little tight down there. After crawling under my '90 XJ (200K miles) I found that the mounts were original and they look like they have fully collapsed so I would like to replace them.

Any guidance on the easiest way to do this? How much time do I need to budget and what are the pitfalls to avoid?

thx

It's dead easy. Get yourself a 2' 3/8 extension so you can snake the socket up to the small bolts from underneath. 19mm combination wrench & a fine tooth ratchet make the thru bolts no problem.
Trickiest part is using a jack and making sure the engine doesn't move too far to get the new one lined up, but even that is really no problem if you've wrenched on other vehicles some.

I thought they were 18mm? I know I used that on my 91 and my 96.

The annoying part is that the passenger side one, the bolt is threaded through from the side that results in it interfering with the alternator so it won't come all the way out. At least on a 91, with the old style oil filter adapter vertical.

Sockets for the bolts on the frame side are either 13 or 15mm, I can't remember.

It is a one or two beer project, I just put a piece of 2x4 under the oil pan, jacked it up by that, replaced one side (put the through bolt in, then lower it down onto the frame side loosely, get the bolts started, then lower it completely) then jacked it up again and replaced the other side.

frame side top and bottom are 15mm, the bolt head and nut are both 18mm.

Well that may explain why the ratchet seemed to be getting less done per swing.
I get funny habits from working on Yotas and Volvos... Jeep is actually my 3rd language

Odd question but had a thought. The driver side as you guys say is prone to premature failure because of the torque and heat from the exhaust. What if you did passenger side oem motor mount and a brown dog driver side mount? Would that help quiet the vibes while keeping the driver side from early death?

That's exactly what I did.
When I first did my brown dog mounts a few years ago, I gave it a week or so to get used to them. Just couldn't handle the "buzzy-ness" though in a daily driver. So I took the passenger side out and put in a new dealership mount on that side.
It was the perfect combination. I've done that on the mj too, perfectly happy with it.

Demonoid369 said:

Odd question but had a thought. The driver side as you guys say is prone to premature failure because of the torque and heat from the exhaust. What if you did passenger side oem motor mount and a brown dog driver side mount? Would that help quiet the vibes while keeping the driver side from early death?

Click to expand...

I know the buzziness can be annoying some times but I would argue to use a stiffer mount and I'll explain why.

Look at that giant space between the passenger side frame rail and driver side frame rail. The motor mounts connect the frame rails to the engine on both sides. After installing the stiffer motor mounts I noticed a significant improvement in turn-in steering feel and tightening of the steering/suspension up front. The Jeep uses 3 main mounting points for its motor and transmission. The side motor mounts act as a stiffener for the wide open engine bay space.

My wife's Volkswagen uses 5 motor mounts and 4 subframe mounts to achieve the same result. 2-side mounts (like our Jeeps), 1 front mount (called a snub mount, prevents dive and rise), and 2 side transmission mounts. Steering feel in her car is fantastic after I replaced the subframe mounts with aluminum (previously rubber).

FULL DISCLOSURE: I have Brown Dog urethane mounts in my heep. And had urethane inserts in rubber bushings in my last built car.

TIP: Try loosening the motor mounts and tranny mount again (a little less than hand tight). Leisurely drive around the block and then come back to the garage and tighten all your mounts. This could reduce the vibration felt.

I've messed with mine all that I care to, with no real results felt. I'm done. I enjoy the stiffer feel of the vehicle, for sure - and I might just replace the driver side mount and keep the pass side, hoping to keep some of that improve feel - but my XJ doesn't have the interior build quality to put up with the vibration without buzzing.
I wonder if a torque mount could be readily fabricated, something connecting the top of the engine to the unibody (on bushings of course) to keep it from abusing the driver's side mount so badly.
Either way... I'm ready to compromise some performance for comfort with regards to NVH

lazyxj said:

I'm not too far behind you feeling the BD rubber mounts are too noisy for a DD. On the other hand, I sure love the connected feeling they give and you are sure to notice any new noises the engine is making.

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I don't know what you guys are doing to get all the buzzing? I have a slight rumble at idle and if cold enough one on the trim pieces has a slight rattle. Once moving there is nothing and it feels great. I wouldn't call the idle on my stoker glass smooth, could stock engine really be that unbalanced?

What would be nice are some of those Porsche dynamic engine mounts. Silky smooth when you want it, solid when you want it.

Talyn said:

I don't know what you guys are doing to get all the buzzing?

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Heck if I know, either. I've adjusted the through-bolts a couple times, loosened & re-tightened the trans mount, etc.

I've got Anchor mounts (engine & trans) on order. I'll play one more round with the BD stuff and try to get it to my liking. I'm tired of all my door panels & dash trim buzzing though.

Hellbent said:

When I first did my brown dog mounts a few years ago, I gave it a week or so to get used to them. Just couldn't handle the "buzzy-ness" though in a daily driver. So I took the passenger side out and put in a new dealership mount on that side. It was the perfect combination.

Click to expand...

Now that's something I had not considered, wouldn't cost anything other than a hour in the garage to give it a try.