Ride quality and Motor mounts

I am about to do an engine swap so i figured the old stock motor/trans mounts should be replaced while its getting pulled apart..

I Most definately want Rubber and not poly. And had origionally planned to just get some O.e.m. ones .

I know theyre supposed to be barely good enough for stock use. But this is my DD (gets out on the trail for like maybe 4 weekends a year). and i want the best ride quality i can maintain.

i have never had my stock one break yet but i imagine that it might be more likely to happen as i progress . I now have skids and rocker protection and am locked (selectable) front and rear and geared down. (not going past 33" tire)

im thinking it will get pushed harder than it has in the past. I wont be doing a stroker so thats not an issue. I Dont Wheel Fast or Jump at all either. I do However like Rocks wich i know is going to put some stress on them

Does frame stiffening Help them to not get tweaked so bad (and potentially last longer) it is getting frame stiffeners and being tied into the 2x6 rocker replacement so it should be quite a bit stiffer. 9and a few other things to stiffen a bit like a cage in the future
( i want longevity out of my xj)

On the other hand i dont really want to be changing out the motor mounts very often in the future.

So i know the O.E.M. will have the best ride and be the weakest (i havent broke one yet)

The aftermarket ones i am looking at are:

Brown dogs
(wich i know are highly recomended on here) in the Rubber Variety of course. They look awesome and Tough and have a great reputation for service (and made in USA!).
My concern is that it will vibe more than ill be happy with as it looks like less rubber than my other aftermarket choice i like . and that the replacement bushing need to come from Brown dog. (not locallly found)

M.O.R.E.
i think these are just control arm bushings that can not only easily be found locally but bought with a lifetime warranty so i wont pay for a bushing ever again.

It also seems to make sense that these would have a better ride (less vibe) as it looks to have more rubber..

Ok so The question is Wich has the better Ride M.O.R.E. or Brown Dog.

And does a D.D. that only get on the trail like 4 weekends a year need more than stock mounts at all

The M.O.R.E. bombproof motor mounts are definitely "buzzy" at idle, they will transfer more engine vibration than stock. Off idle, <shrug>, I don't see much of a difference.

I have no personal experience with Brown Dog's.

OutkastBoss said:

Ok so The question is Wich has the better Ride M.O.R.E. or Brown Dog. (Both Rubber)

And does a D.D. that only get on the trail like 4 weekends a year need more than stock mounts at all

Click to expand...

Heres the Short Version

If you're that worried about vibration, just get any aftermarket version with a rubber bushing. The stock ones are crap, mine were falling apart when I took them out.

I've got Ironman 4x4 mounts with poly bushings. I haven't driven it on the street much since I installed them, but I can't say I really notice any difference at idle or on the trail. I'm just glad I have strong mounts that will last forever and not put my fan through my radiator.

any mount besides the stock type will transmit vibrations to the unit body. i have run factory mounts on my Comanche for years and I wheel it hard, I do replace them every couple years (there so simple to change) and you can get them at rock auto for about 20 bucks a set shipped. I don't know how a bad engine mount will get the fan blade into the radiator..that is a bad tranny mount in my experiences. just stick with factory mounts you will be fine. and vibration free. and no engine mount will last forever they are deteriorate and wear out

I have brown dog rubber mounts with the block brackets (well worth it getting the brackets, as ive seen too many snapped bolts, stripped threads and cracked blocks using the factory brackets)
the first week or so there was some vibrations getting transmitted into the cab, and either they broke in and got less pronounced or i got used to it (or a combination of both).

Thier warranty is as good as it gets. According to them im the first person to ever bend one of thier block brackets. and they are sending me an upgraded replacement free of charge.

I have the MORE mounts and while they have served me well, if I were to do it again I would go with Brown Dog. If nothing else because of their sterling reputation and positive feedback from people who have used them.

EDIT: MORE also sells the block brackets similar to the BD ones.

I've broken two MORE's, havent broken a Brown Dog yet. Don't think I will.

You get a lot more vibration. After they wear in (weeks, or even a couple months) its nowhere near as bad. Or you just get used to it, not sure.

I would not run OEM motor mounts on a rig that is being wheeled on the rocks, or in remote areas.

I've been running a set of MORE "bomb proof" mounts and they certainly transmit a lot of vibes, but 90% of it is at idle. Off idle, I can't really tell a difference. But they've held up well for going on 4 years now.

Ok so I am Going to Go with the stock Style Mounts since its still my D.D. and it still rides pretty nice with them even after my mods.

I will post up if i find this to be a mistake for me And at that point it will be Brown Dog that will get my $ .

If at any point this isnt my D.D. or i find that im breaking or wearing out the mounts more often than i like Then it will be Brown Dogs. (not shure i can justify the bracket even then) that is untill i break a bracket at least lol.

Thanks for the info.

You typically don't break the bracket. You break the bolt mounts off of the side of your engine block, and have to get a new engine.

I like my brown dog rubber mounts. They transmit a bit more engine feel, but nothing to complain about.

Regardless of which mount you get make sure that the block side mount bolts do not bottom out in the hole before completely tightening down.

cal said:

You typically don't break the bracket. You break the bolt mounts off of the side of your engine block, and have to get a new engine.

Click to expand...

Very Scary thought

This is why the upgrade.

If i upgrade the mounts to be stiffer i will now be doing the brackets as well..
bringing it up to $ i for shure cant afford right now, even though i really want them now.
And it seems like a fair price after reading their run down of them they are most certainly on the future mod list.
(probably do them later when im not rebuilding a motor at the same time)

Seems like the stock mount wouldnt be as prone to that being that it may move more or fail before that happens (and possibly let my motor move forward into fan and maybe ruining the radiator)

Was that from jumping? or tweaking really hard in rocks or from massive torque of a modified motor? or all of the above
I bet its a real show to watch your rig in action it looks Insanely awesome do you have any U-Tube vids?

Just a picture found on google. No idea who's it is.

It happens more in rigs that get used hard, I've seen it on bone stock jeeps that just hit something hard.

OutkastBoss said:

Was that from jumping? or tweaking really hard in rocks or from massive torque of a modified motor? or all of the above

Click to expand...

ive seen it happen to someone while driving down a dirt road.

ive also magically had them hold up to fairly hard wheeling and some jumps in my old xj

another time i bought a motor from a friend who wheeled to find one of the bolts was finger tight and the other 2 snapped off.

FWIW some years the bolts bottomed out before fully tightened down from the factory and caused the breakage. The one pictured is a WJ or TJ and the problem was fixed by then.

Would using a stiffer mount w/o the larger plate (Brown dog standard, more) increase the likelihood of a break?

I will be keeping an eye that the bolts don't bottom out .

Makes sense to me a stiffer mount puts more demand on the bracket bolts in the classic i just made this part hardcore so now i need this part pattern.

I said I would come back and post if I ended up with the stock mount not being sufficient for the people that search. I hate leaving incomplete threads.

Well it lasted about 2 years and failed out on the trail tearing my Spectre intake from the motor side. We were putting a lot of pressure on it doing Lower Rock Garden in Harlan Ky. Really though I DD and only get out a hand full of times a year and do light to medium trail and rock duty. The stock ones just don't cut it if you wheel.

I completely forgot about this thread and started this one about the brackets and how the install of my new brown dogs went.
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1113979.