JessN16 Posted April 2, 2003 Report Share Posted April 2, 2003 As some of you know, I'm doing a full restoration on my '87 Starion. Well, strut mounts/isolators were needed this week to complete the suspension rebuild. So we ordered Gabriel strut mounts, a pair. They mounted up fine, but when we let the car down, it pushed the tops of the struts up through the mounts as if the mounts were old and tired. I contacted Ken Blalock and John McGrath from this listserv and we were all confounded for a time. The shop ordered another Gabriel strut mount, it too was bad. Finally, we ended up ordering a pair of stock-spec strut mounts from a dealer in Chicago (we're in Alabama). They worked perfectly. The problem is in the rubber that forms the inside of the mount. The rubber on the aftermarket Gabriels was soft and tackified, and flexed way too much. Apparently, there is a bad batch out there. We ordered these from either AutoZone or Advance. Jess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blaze Posted July 19, 2003 Report Share Posted July 19, 2003 I can confirm this problem. After replacing worn originals with Gabriel strut mounts I started having problems with tire wear and thunking noises(spring mounts and spring turning) from front end when turning to limit. There is too much "give" in the Gabriel strut mount rubber. Â This also effected the chamber and made the car drift and dart on road imperfections. There are a bad batch of these out there, so watch out if you are replacing or are having similiar problems. I'm getting mine replaced under warranty and the shop is also kicking in for new tires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jms Posted August 3, 2003 Report Share Posted August 3, 2003 About three years ago I bought TRW mounts and also encountered the same problem. For strut mounts, for me it's only OEM. I would venture to guess that most of these aftermarket mounts are manufactured by the same company and then sold as TRW, Gabriel, Monroe, etc. Rgds, Jms Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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