Aside from the drop and not having to keep replacing the cheap rubber ones are they really worth it? Also, without the rubber Im thinking a spherical bearing might be necessary to avoid wear on the shocks or solid mount. I know the rear doesn't move around much, but something has to absorb or adjust to even a small amount of movement. People with solid mounts please give your opinion on the spherical bearing option and the value of solid mounts in general.

My rear mounts have spherical bearings, and from the motion analysis of the twistbeam trailing arm setup, the suspension would likely bind if you didnt have some way for the top of the shock to move around a bit. I can't really compare the difference though, I went right from worn out OEM stuff to Tein ss's.


1994 Saturn SL2 Home Coming Edition: backup car
2002 Chevy Cavalier LS Sport Coupe: In a Junk Yard
1995 Mazda Miata R-package Class=STR
Sponsored by: Kronos Performance

WPI Class of '12 Mechanical Engineering
WPI SAE Risk and Sustainability Management Officer

Solid mounts rock.
I installed them on my Porsche and my Cavy with excellent results.
Stock strut mounts use alot of rubber which can interfere with the strut/ shock doing it's job along with different harmonics to the springs. In general, stock strut mounts suck.

Solid mounts let the springs and struts do their thing without having to worry how all the rubber in the stock strut mounts are going to have an effect on your ride.
Smoother ride, firmer feeling ride, and knowing your suspension is doing it's thing as it's supposed to is worth it.
Do it.



Misnblu.com
Newbie member since 1999
Thank you Dave and JBO!

I went ahead and picked up some OEM solid rear mounts with spherical bearings. The assemblies are ready to be installed using Koni yellows with Eiback pro-kit and everything looks good. I will report back once they are installed.

The rear mounts, shocks and springs are installed. I just recently put KYB Strut Plus rear assemblies on the car, so the mounts, springs and shocks were already brand new.

HUGE difference! Any concerns I had about the parts I chose are now completely gone. The ride height is perfect for me... I would not want it any lower in the rear.

I can't say for sure what parts are adding what improvements and I still have the factory front mounts, springs and struts on the car, but the ride is already far better. At first I put the Koni's on full soft for break in and the ride was very bouncy... like as bad as riding in a Jeep. After adjusting a quarter turn the bounciness is completely gone and the ride is excellent. I can feel everything, but I was expecting a harsher ride compared to what I have and performance is far better.

Needless to say, I am now REALLY looking forward to putting on the front shocks/springs and other stuff I bought.... sway bars, aluminum control arms, poly bushings, k brace, factory front mounts, ball joints, bump steer rod ends, etc. The handling should be AMAZING after that!