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first off i'm not out to bash anyone, just making the community aware that XLR8 mounts can fail over time and/or donut, so you may want to check them every once in a while.
about 2 years ago i bought some barely used xlr8 motor mounts and the front rubber inserts had donuted so i bought some new ones from xlr8 (60 series). i just assumed there had been some user error on install for the previous owner, so i bought brand new inserts to put in my front mount. i installed everything to spec myself per instructions in the forum
for the past few months i could feel a shift/clunk whenever i drove off in first gear (normal take off, not flooring). it was annoying me since my car didn't feel good at all, and i finally got a chance to look at my mounts when i did a recent big 3 install and noticed that the front mount rubber inserts had completely deteriorated.
there are big chunks missing and the rubber is very fragile and brittle. there is a lot of one rubber insert missing. i'm hoping it was just a bad material lot of rubber and that it doesn't happen again.
donuted holes i got from the previous user (never installed on my car):
new inserts i put in:
all inserts, donuted and broken ones:
long story short, the mounts are great but make sure you periodically check your mounts for any deterioration and breakdown. they are not invincible and are prone to failure just like anything else in our car. i torqued everything to spec again but if they fail again i'm either going to switch to innovative mounts or try higher durometer rubber. (for what it's worth i do have lots of performance mods but nothing crazy)
Rubber bushings no matter what the material are prone to failure. Not really a fan of the XLR8 design motor mounts, it's 90 degrees from how the OEM mount manages the load. I personally feel that the vertical mount handles the load better than the horizontal mounting configuration. Do you regularly lubricated the bushing?
Sorry to see this happen. One of our 75A durometer bushings is a good idea, as long as the increased vibration isn't a deal breaker. To be honest, the difference between 62A and 75A is extremely difficult to tell with a butt dyno. They will both have some vibrations.
If you shoot me a PM I can put together a price for replacement bushings and see what discount we can offer you.
thread update: i bought some 75A inserts that gerzand designed and made that have a larger surface area for the bolt and should be less prone to failure. i'll put up some pics later of the new inserts (exact replacement for xlr8 inserts)
Originally Posted by Oh Sickest TL
oh lord I'm scared to look at mine, prob never been replaced . I will have to do that this summer. Looks like I should just stick to OEM ??
dude with your performance mods you can't even think of going oem. go aftermarket you'll get much better stability and power delivery. plus if they do fail (gerzand seems to think it's a matter of time with the xlr8 inserts), the inserts are like 30 bucks a mount so it's overall cheaper to replace them than oem.
Keep us updated on the new bushings. I just installed xlr8 mounts on both cars and while I do not expect the mounts to last forever 20k miles is not long at all.
cool cool. I just really dont want any crazy vibrations, I have read to go with xlr8 front and side and go OEM in the rear?
If you do the front and side with the automatic there are no vibrations over oem. On the six speed I get a slight vibration when stopped at a lite with the ac on. That has started to become less noticeable already and after a few thousand miles I heard they break in a little. I only put the front and side mount in.
Keep us updated on the new bushings. I just installed xlr8 mounts on both cars and while I do not expect the mounts to last forever 20k miles is not long at all.
i'll keep you guys updated. but i figure if they are good enough for gerzand's beast, they are good enough for mine haha
Originally Posted by Oh Sickest TL
cool cool. I just really dont want any crazy vibrations, I have read to go with xlr8 front and side and go OEM in the rear?
this second time around i neutralized my mounts before doing the final engine-mount torque (rock the car back and forth while hand tight), and the vibrations were much less, they aren't bad at all, except they are noticeable with the ac on
Originally Posted by Stephen00TL
If you do the front and side with the automatic there are no vibrations over oem. On the six speed I get a slight vibration when stopped at a lite with the ac on. That has started to become less noticeable already and after a few thousand miles I heard they break in a little. I only put the front and side mount in.
Originally Posted by Oh Sickest TL
^what durometer?
Id likely do front and side with xlr8 and do the transmission mounts too as they look pretty easy
the rear one is the one that adds the most vibration. the first time i installed it, it was too much and i took it out right away haha. when i install the new inserts i'm going to put the rear in and see how it is now that i know to neutralize the mounts before torquing them down.
i bought a transmission mount to install (upper), but it was a PITA to get to some of the battery tray bolts so i said screw it. my upper mount was still in good shape.
After about three weeks my front mount did the same thing bluetls07 did. The mount snapped where it bolts to the engine. I messaged heeltoe because I bought them from him but so far I am not happy with these mounts. It's hard to tell from the picture without taking the mount off the car but it broke where the top square that has a bolt running through it.
Last edited by Stephen00TL; 03-17-2016 at 02:19 PM.
crazy i hadn't seen any of the xlr8 mounts fail like that before. looking back on it i might have gone innovative even though i heard those aren't perfect either.
i still need to put in my gerzand mount inserts but even those won't help if the mount breaks haha.
That could be install failure, no? Preloading and all...
yea that would be my guess these things can be hard to line up and i can see it happening. i'm sure they don't have many cases of the mount tabs breaking off at the weld.
Exactly. When I saw where it failed that was instantly where my mind went. And yea for how simple the procedure looks on paper engine mount installs can be tricky.
Still...it's not very confidence inspiring is it? Lol
I took the car to a mechanic to have the mounts installed and mentioned to him about preloading since I have seen it posted here. I have installed a set on another tl and after the difficulty we had installing it on that tl I decided to take it to my mechanic.
Last edited by Stephen00TL; 03-17-2016 at 02:41 PM.
I took the car to a mechanic to have the mounts installed and mentioned to him about preloading since I have seen it posted here. I have installed a set on another tl and after the difficulty we had installing it on that tl I decided to take it to my mechanic.
yea it's a pain in the butt...i'm not looking forward to replacing all the inserts in mine next week... but hey it's better than the 3 times i've removed and installed the rear precat, now that install sucks haha
yea it's a pain in the butt...i'm not looking forward to replacing all the inserts in mine next week... but hey it's better than the 3 times i've removed and installed the rear precat, now that install sucks haha
Yeah the rear precast sucked I'm glad I liked it because I wasn't doing that install again.
One of my mounts broke a little over a year of ownership. XLR8 refused to replace it. I wouldn't advise anyone wasting their money buying these.
My rear mount broke in the same place and XLR8 did the same thing, refused to replace it and wasn't even willing to help with ordering a new one from his site. I will never buy anything from him again, you would think after someone buys a new supercharger $5400 and many other things he would be willing to help out. He couldn't care less about his customers or business, sucks when vendors don't back their products. I have the engine torque damper which has helped the other mounts hold up this long with my power level.
My rear mount broke in the same place and XLR8 did the same thing, refused to replace it and wasn't even willing to help with ordering a new one from his site. I will never buy anything from him again, you would think after someone buys a new supercharger $5400 and many other things he would be willing to help out. He couldn't care less about his customers or business, sucks when vendors don't back their products. I have the engine torque damper which has helped the other mounts hold up this long with my power level.
It's hard to tell from this pic but my rear mount bolt isn't straight/centered. It's at an angle. This may be why some are snapping the tabs. I'm actually surprised mine haven't snapped yet after all this time. I'll be sure to have my mechanic make sure everything is lined up when the inserts go in this weekend.
Looks like Gerzand figured out how to stop breaking mounts:
My XLR8 75a mounts have been installed for 4-5 years. I have done over 20 autocross events, 2 track days, and street driven atleast 10k miles.
I am very happy with my mounts and every other purchase from XLR8. Sucks some have failures, but my only other option was custom.
My car gets pushed harder than almost anyone else.
I check my mounts every once in a while and no issues so far, still on first set of inserts.
There can be misalignment when installing which could cause them to wear at different rates. I made sure to adjust and get alignment right, took a little modifying.
I also have the stiffy mount, plus 2 other aftermarket torque dampers to help take some stress off the mounts. My engine doesn't budge at all.
Last edited by brian6speed; 03-17-2016 at 07:30 PM.
I think the second gen tl and cl, the mounts for the third gen tl out all that stress on that small tab. Ive had the mounts on my cl since the 1st week of January and have had no problems with them.
Not sure if this has anything to do with it or not but I went online looking for pictures of the motor mounts and it looks like on older ones the welds were more noticeable.
Here are some pictures I found online.
Here are the pictures of mine I received last month.
Last edited by Stephen00TL; 03-17-2016 at 11:25 PM.
My XLR8 75a mounts have been installed for 4-5 years. I have done over 20 autocross events, 2 track days, and street driven atleast 10k miles.
...
I also have the stiffy mount, plus 2 other aftermarket torque dampers to help take some stress off the mounts. My engine doesn't budge at all.
The events are good but overall you only have 10k miles and you have 2 additional torque dampers.
The engine stiffy damper is a great way to help take stress away from your engine mounts. We also have a mount installation tip sheet I can email to anyone who is performing the install. Proper installation is key to the longevity of these mounts.
This is the first we've heard of the mount tab shearing off. Our warranty on these mounts is 1 year from date of purchase. For customers that are beyond 1 year I will try to offer a discounted price or free shipping on any replacement mounts or bushings people need. We do sell the replacement bushings separately.
Last edited by ExcelerateRep; 03-18-2016 at 09:01 AM.
There is the NRG rear engine mount to subframe damper and then there is a strut tower to engine damper. Not sure if the strut tower to engine damper offered out of the box for the 3G TL, but it is somewhat popular on the 8th gen (and perhaps 7th gen) accord. I run neither and my custom inserts are fine.
There is the NRG rear engine mount to subframe damper and then there is a strut tower to engine damper. Not sure if the strut tower to engine damper offered out of the box for the 3G TL, but it is somewhat popular on the 8th gen (and perhaps 7th gen) accord. I run neither and my custom inserts are fine.
andy do you have a recommended install sequence or any tips to load these mounts correctly? i generally know how to do it (done it twice) but always helpful to get your advice on it
02-16-2016, 03:00 PM
I hope XLR8 can chime in
.... hmmm it WAS only 3 weeks so maybe you're on to something..? 
