What mounts should you run? There are a few different choices here. You have stock crap, you have stock Brazilian which are ok, you have urethane, and you have solid. In this article, I will go through the pros and cons of each. Then I will ask you what you’re doing with the car and make my suggestions.
Stock crappy mounts- These mounts are usually made in India. They do work and they do fit. The rear ones are ok and don’t fail within a month. The front mount well yeah, not so good. If you make any more power than stock it will fail on you pretty quick. Not only is a front mount a pain in the ass to replace, driving a car with a broken front mount is tricky. If you feel the shifter move in your hand as you get on and off the gas, you have a broken front mount. About the only good thing I can say about these mounts is that they are cheap to buy. Also, compared to urethane mounts or solid mounts, they are quiet (They don’t transmit noise into the car).
Stock Brazilian mounts- They are way better than the crappy mounts, but again, if you are making some power the front one might fail. They do fit and they are pretty straight forward on the install. They do cost a little more money but it’s worth it if you’re going to go stock. Price is good, they fit and they are quiet; Good choice for a stock set-up.
Urethane mounts- They are better than the stock mounts and oil doesn’t seem to degrade these mounts. If you’re making more power than stock this is a good way to go. The fit is ok. They are harder to install than the stock mounts. Things to watch out for: They have spacers in the urethane so make sure they are in there. The front one is a pain because the mount is thick and the two outer nuts are counter sunk. I find on a bus that the studs sticking out of the torsion housing for the mount usually are not long enough for this mount to work. On the rear mounts the hardware they give you sometimes sticks up too high in the bellhousing and will hit the flywheel teeth. So, make sure you check that before you try and put the motor back in. These are better than stock and will handle higher HP motors. However, they do transmit more noise into the car.
Solid mounts- These don’t fail. The fit is good and they will hold high horsepower motors. Way easier to install than any of the other mounts. The bad news: They transmit lots of noise into the car. Being that they are solid, the vibration of the car seems to loosen everything on the car. So fasteners on the car will come loose. If the mount won’t break, then there is a good chance something else will. an example being the nose cone on the trans break through the mounting holes.
So what should you be running? (Again, this is only my opinion). First you need to ask yourself some questions. Is this a daily driver? Is this a Friday, Saturday car? Is this a race car or off road car? Do I care about the noise in the car? How much power am I making?
If this car is a daily driver and the motor is stock, then I would run the stock Brazilian/German mounts. If this is a daily driver and has a little power, then I would run the stock mounts with a rubber insulated trans strap or rubber mid mount. If you can handle a little more noise, then run the urethane mounts. Rubber trans straps or rubber mid mount is a good thing to add with those as well. If you do the urethane mounts and straps/mid mount and still get wheel hop, then you better look into a way to stiffen up the trans fork flex. ie: a traction bar, fork struts. On a race car or off road car (tube cars), I would use solid mounts. The reason here is they won’t break and these cars don’t see the miles that a “driver” sees. This will give you time to tighten all the fasteners that will come loose. Noise in the car? Who cares. It’s made to haul ass not be quiet. Also, think about stiffening up the trans forks. There are a number of ways to do that. Just do it because you can have all the solid mounts you want, but if the forks are flexing you’re still going to break stuff. If you are going to run a solid mid mount you really don’t have to run the solid front mount. On super horsepower cars you really should think about a motor plate(s).
So, to sum this up, ask yourself what you’re wanting to do with the car and what it is used for. Then pick the mounts that work best for you.