Manageable Motor Mounts
It seems to happen at some point, your motor/transmission mounts fail. It is not a difficult task but can be tedious. Here is a trick that you can apply that will make changing your mounts much easier.
Here is a picture of a typical motor mount.
Not much to it but a couple of studs, two nuts, and some rubber. What makes this job tedious is that you need to be able to jack up the motor high enough in order to get the studs free from the mounts. Wouldn't it be nice if you could remove the mounts by only jacking up the engine a small amount? Here is a way. It does require a bit more up front work but there are quite a few advantages. Now remember, each car may be a bit different but the concept is the same.
Assume you have the mount already out (or you are using a new one). The first thing to do is cut off the studs flush with the metal plate. You can use a hacksaw or any type of cutting wheel. With both studs gone, place the mount in a vise (or anything else that will hold it steady) and drill a hole through the metal plates and rubber. We were replacing the mounts on a 96 Disco and drilled 1/2" holes in both sides. Go and purchase some 1/2" hex bolts and nylock nuts. We used 2 1/2" in length but yours may vary.
Now put the mount in place and slide the new hex bold throught the frame and the mount and put on the nut. In most cases, the bolt can only go through one way, either from the frame or the engine. Again, depending on which mount you are doing, the process may be slightly different. Now tighten it down.
So why is this better? Two big reasons:
- The mount is now flush - no studs sticking out. So if you want to remove it, you only need to jack up the engine with enough space to make the mount loose. Once that is done, when you pull out the bolt, the mount will easily come out as well.
- Reuse the mount if you need to. You are not relying on the adhesion between the metal plates and the rubber. If the rubber comes apart, using this fix will allow you to put the mount back on hence reusing it.
In theory you should not have to ever worry about breaking a mount again unless you snap the bolt. If that happens, just carry a spare and replace it. We were on a trail ride and found a motor mount on the trail that already had this done to it. We found the vehicle it belonged to and had it back in place and tightened down in 10 minutes.