KamRacing solid adjustable top mounts

[AlanC]

Anybody have any opinions about the solid adjustable top mounts available from kam racing? I've read lots on here about the AST ones, but little about the kam racing ones.

I bought a pair of these: http://www.kamracing.co.uk/car-tunin...op-mounts.html just over a month ago - and they've made a fantastic difference over the wobbly rubber ones, plus allowed me to set the caster and camber accurately on my Williams, used for road rallying and Targa rallies.

However - I found that after 200 miles or so of ordinary - but vigorous! driving on ordinary roads, the spherical bearing on one side failed, such that there was about 2mm of vertical movement in the strut and a big clonk going over bumps. Got in touch with kam racing and they said they'd replace under warranty - but then failed to get back to me. I'm thinking that the more expensive AST mounts which are available with increased bearing preload for motorsport applications might have been a better bet.

However, I managed to find a replacement bearing with a phosphor-bronze outer rather than the Teflon-lined outer shell as used, with which you can set the preload by carefully machining the interference fit on the outer face of the bearing - I was a bit worried that the bronze might be a bit soft despite being rated at a higher load than the original - so I did just the one side, then completed a Targa rally last week (Fantastic result btw...), and the bronze bearing is still running perfectly, despite hitting some truly horrendous potholes. The other side with the original-style bearing has however now failed too, so I'll be doing the same mod on that side. Attached are a couple of pictures, although it's not completely clear the difference between the two bearings!

[Dan-valver]

Bloody hell the AST top mounts have got expensive! I remember getting a set of them and a set of Bilstein B8 rear dampers in 2010 for nearly the same price the top mounts are now!

They are brilliant though, haven't done too many miles with them but no problems so far.

[AlanC]

Yes - they are very good - worth the £214 quid, but hard to justify the £366 for the AST ones now! I do run Bilstein B6 dampers with custom extra-firm valves fitted and custom extra-firm springs which I guess add a lot of extra stress to the bearing.

[Coops]

I've had the AST ones for years, think I paid 160 for them, I even have a slightly dodgy set spare in the shed (need to retap the pinch bolt threads, bearings fine)