Strut Brace Bushes
 

After reading a few things online & feeling my strut brace had a bit much play in it I ordered a Poly Bush Strut Brace Tensioning Kit from Powerflex (PFF88-614).

http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/w...psab2e5290.jpg

It stiffened up the play but I don't know whether the Upper Engine Mount (cross shaped) needs replacing. There is some marking on the bracket from what looks to be excessive play. Should I change his as well as the small bush at the back?

http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps0332ffbf.jpg
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps69c73f1d.jpg

On a lighter note here's my new grille I made.

http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps42a8b1ed.jpg

Strictly speaking that bar is not really bracing anything. It's more of a hanger rail for the motor to restrict it's movement during normal operation and hang on to it in case of frontal impact. The gaps in the top mount look normal to me and I would expect 6mm+ of movement fore and aft there. If the rubber is not cracked or obviously perished I would leave well alone.You also have the later style longer lasting square mount. I see you have a diesel. Many owners have tried with poly things to eliminate free play of the top engine mount and experienced awful vibration in the cabin and reverted to the stock set up. This is less of an issue with the petrol motors.

Thanks Brandan, I'll check for any cracking etc & leave them be if it's all ok. I have notice a little vibration in the car recently but think this may be down to either a lost wheel balance weight or alignment issues caused by the mahooosive pot hole I hit when travelling down a country lane & being forced to avoid an idiot in a van (grrrr).

Brams, get some large washers and put them between the cast aluminium and the bar, clamp it tight to eliminate all movement and you've got a "proper" strut brace ;)

That top mount doesn't look right to me. I've checked mine and it looks from the pictures that your's is off centre, whereas mine is equally spaced. You're clearly getting metal to metal contact and that's not right. Pull it apart and see if it's breaking up.... fairly cheap on ebay if it needs a new one :)

TiredGeek - Thanks for pointing that out I hadn't actually noticed it was off-center, I'll take a look at it closer now. Would the small bush at the back of that arm cause it to move if it were u/s as well?

Also check the lower torque mount (gearbox mounted) small bush - if the top goes the lower mount small bush normal does.

Just comparing pics from mine to the Powerflex Poly bush mine looks like it's sagging rearwards compared to the poly one. Time for a replacement??

http://www.powerflex.co.uk/UserFiles...ket2%20web.jpg

The rubber bush in my V70's "top mount" had disintegrated, so I replaced it this weekend.

Thanks to this forum, I now know its purpose is in the vertical plane rather than the horizontal, but I am still amazed at the difference a sloppy bush connected to a wibbly-wobbly bar makes, it has really made an all round difference to my gear change, engine noise etc and I think it was well worth doing.

It cost £27.29 with p&p from Charlton via ebay, the only thing is that the tapped threads at the front are not deep enough to tighten the bolts that hold the metal eye at the front (lifting eye? doesn't look strong enough-is that it's purpose?) so i used nuts as spacers.

Geoff

Cheers Geoff, was it this one LINK
Does it just come with the bush or is the aluminium bracket shown included? You say it made a difference in engine noise, do you mean it made things quieter? How did it affect the gear change? I think I might just have to bite the bullet & order the poly bush to match the tensioner ones ;)

Yes, thats the one, both bush and aluminium housing included. Came the day after I ordered it too. Gear change is smoother, more positive, especially that one from 1st to 2nd! Under accleration there is less noise (although I quite liked the old Subaru ish noise!) And on idle before, the engine used to sometimes feel as if it was idling roughly, I suppose the engine was rocking around more. And the handling feels more positive, again I suppose the engine moving around less.

I think it might be better not to polybush this one though, judging by this thread and others.

HTH