On Sunday I had my clutch swapped out by TopElement.

When he removed the lower crossmember to our suprise the rear mount's polyurethene is suffering fatigue. Because the polyurethane warped/melted, the bolt sleeve is about 1/2 inch lower than centerline. Also the bolt sleeve is barely held by the sagging polyurethane. It is making the rear of my motor sit about 1 in lower. I've only had it for a few months and driven roughly 6000 miles.

A few months ago I had my engine swapped. The Cattman headers were installed during the engine swap. A few days later I installed the PR motor mounts.

If you have Place Racing motor mounts check them to see if there's any fatigue in the polyurethane, mainly the rear mount. I did not feel a change so I was suprised. Of course it may have deformed gradually so I wouldn't have noticed the change.

I am having issues with Cattman because basically he wrote back saying the warranty on these $260 mounts are void because of the headers and I can buy the ES motor mount inserts from him at his "introductory price". I will post something later about that but in short:

VeeQueue = No longer a Cattman customer.

I'm going to buy my mounts and bushings from a local .org member who can get ES parts too.

 

Here are pics:

 

THAT is some serious bullsh!t right there

 

Hmm, i will have to inspect mine.

 

u actually believed he would make good on a warranty claim?

 

no wonder there are no longer in business. Sorry to hear that man. I am very surprised that Cattman is not going to address this for you....

 

side not what kinda dog do you have? I see a Paw in the pics and what is supporting your engine if the crossmember is on the floor?

 

uh...?

You have Cattman header and PR mounts. By installing the Cattman headers, the mounts go bad?

I would have though he would have tried a better excuse...that one makes ZERO sense.

 

That really sucks. Is the rear the only one deformed? That would make since cause the Cattman header makes it impossible to use a heat sheild. I guess I won't remove that sheild. Seeing these pics makes me wonder why anyone would ever buy these things when they could make their own for ~$15.

 

i wonder if this would also be a problem for people with stock motor mounts

 

He was kind enough to mentioned that he is selling Energy Suspension motor mount inserts in his reply. I've purchased other **** from him before. I spent close to $1,100 combined on the headers (at his regular price) and Place Racing motor mounts and basically he's telling me I'm SOL and oh yeah I have other mounts for you so do wanna buy some?!?!

I bought both products from him and if a product made by him is causing the failure on another part sold by him you'd think he'd at least cut me a deal on the ES mounts. He didnt offer anything. He just mentioned that he's having ES bushings at "introductory prices". THANKS!!!!!!!

Those "introductory prices" are suspension.com's EVERYDAY price. Look up suspension.com for 95-99 Maxima control arm bushings. They said they have every ES part in stock and will have a huge shipment coming in so call them up for an update and price. If suspension.com's everyday price for 95-99 Maxima lower control arm bushings are the same as Cattman's "introductory" prices then I'd expect the ES motor mount inserts to be similar in price.

I'm going to order the ES mounts and LCA bushings from a local org member who can get them.

 

The stock mount rubber just tears. My stock rear mount was completely torn all the way around providing 0 support..

 

Id expected him to do better than suggest that I buy his new mounts which he'd probably wont back up. I wouldve spent more money through him if it weren't for his ordertaking service. Like when I was in the market for my JWT ecu I wanted to go through Cattman to save a few bucks and not deal with JWT directly. But this Lorie (sp?) was suppose to obtain info from JWT for me and call me back. Well she never did. I actually called her back to remind her that I'm waiting for an update. And she never did so I said fck it and ordered directly from JWT. Commission go bye-bye! I'll never buy **** from him again.

zack342: That's TopElement's Dog.

 

Visually the front looks to be ok but it is softer then when it was new. I should also mention that the mounts were already cold by the time the dismantling took place because the car was left to sit for a few hours early in the morning.

 

yeah i am sure it tore from fatigue but i wonder how it deals with the heat from the header.

Was the dog inspecting the motor mount and also giving his opinion.

I was looking forward to the cattman highflow cat but i am actually surprised how he treated a org member who has given him so much business. Seems to me as though him offering you the Es bushings was added insult to injury.
I am going to wait until hotshot develops their header. Excellent quality without the $325 cattman premium.

Thanks for sharin and sorry to see that you got screwed $260 is not chump change

 

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. I was always under the impression Cattman had excellent service, but for spending $1100 at his store you got jack ****. Hopefully you guys will clear this up, for both your and his sakes.
-Cyrus

 

Damn, that sucks

 

yea, I was there and saw the motor mount in person. My first thought was that the headers was the cause for the PR mounts to be deformed from the heat.

I actually recommended veequeue to contact Cattman, figuring that for someone who spent over a grand at cattman would be compensated somewhat. Its odd how buying headers voids the warranty for motor mounts

 

Speaking of bad customer service, is your buddy Andy/slammed95 ever going to ship out the CF fender supports I paid for months ago? Or should I just let it go? I'd rather know the truth so I can move on.
-Cyrus

 

Haha, nice one.

 

I've contacted him personally and never gotten my carbon fiber door pillars either, no replies, no nothing... I'm not going to name any names but I contacted MANY others affiliated with his company and they all said they'd raise the matter with him and I still have nothing... and me and Vyrus arent the only ones. I ordered them on Memorial day this year.. its been 6 months... So no its not messed up. I'm out $50 and thats not okay with me.

 

 

I'm sure they have already exhausted their other means of communication, generally thats what happens when it is brought to the forums.

Make sure you tape the mounts well, that stuff has a tendancy to seep out and make a big mess.

 

No OT nonsense here.

 

Wow...talk about FUBARed mounts.....glad I didn't invest in those...seem like filling your stockers is still the way to go.

 

I think it is right on topic

 

RE: heat. The pipe is Jet-Hot coated. That stuff is suppose to be a thermal barrier.

http://www.jet-hot.com.au/jethotdata.htm


If there are FI guys (esp turbo) running PR mounts and their modified cast iron manifolds are probably generating comparable if not more heat than the headers. I jacked up my car to check the axle seal leak immediately after driving an hour on the freeway and I was able to get underneath there and wipe the axle seal areas clean + inspect and TOUCH the sagging mount without buring myself. The metal mount brackets themselves werent' that hot at all.

He had his chance to make it right. By telling me that the warranty is void due to his own headers he's basically telling me to get bent. My worth to him as a customer is clearly reflected in his decision/response. He doesn't want to stand by what he sells? Fine. Business transactions are between adults. Its not a parent-child relationship. I shouldn't be expected to whine to him like a baby until I get what I want. He has a mind of his own and he chose to handle it like he did. My response to that? Take my business elsewhere and inform others. The discussion's over after he sent that email. At this point I dont want anything from him.

 

wow, that sucks Veequee, your feedback will make a difference. I'm dissappointed u spent so much and they still wont do anything. What are there reasons for not helping? they cant possibly say the heat from their own headers void this warranty. This should be stickied and/or put in dealer experiences. there has to be a second story to this...just doesnt sound fair...

 

I made my own polyurethane engine mounts. I've worked with polyurethane a number of times now. Assuming the proper polyurethane was used, i.e. one with a suitable operating temperature range, which is available, because I have purchased it before, the only time this kinda of failure occurs is when the polyurethane was not cured properly. Polyurethane that has a high enough heat resistance, and a shore rating of 60-90A typically requires curing of 7 days at room temperature. It will cure as fast as 1 hour at say 80 deg C. However, the faster the polyurethan cures, and the higher the cure temperature, the weaker the final product.

When I made one set that I cured over 24 hours at an elevated temperature of around 60 deg C, they failed in a similar fashion to how yours failed. A set I made from the same polyurethane that I let cure at room temperature for over a week, has yet to have ANY problems.

I'm not saying curing was the only issue, but it definetly appears as though that was the cause of the failure (again, assuming the appropriate polyurethane with a proper operating temperature range was used).

 

CF fender supports? WTF?

Sin, thanks for the enlightenment about the curing. How 'bout applying? Is temp the only important variable? How 'bout humidity? I have over a month to cure them in my house so that is not a problem.

 

Actually, ranting about TET's crappy customer service is related to ranting about Cattman's crappy customer service:

 

I checked mine, no problems. However, I have the HS headers. I think the problem may be specific to the cattman ones.

 

My under the hood temps with my cattman headers seemed alot hotter. Although they are ceramic coated they still give off alot more heat than the stock manifolds

 

This is due to the fact that steel conducts heat better than Iron

 

The steel tubing is also a lot thinner than the iron manifold. PLus, there's no more heatshield.

 

If the headers do this to a PR mount, what's going to happen to the stockers?

 

Stockers are liquid filled, therefore have a higher specific heat. Higher specific heat means they take longer to heat and take longer to cool. Also, their peak temp never gets as high. That is the only explanation as to how they can remain intact.

 

Pretty sure only autos are liquid filled...at least my rear mount isn't.

 

they have oil in them

 

Not all....maybe 2K2+?