I purchased Place Racing motor mounts from Cattman and those things melted and are now junk, so I bought a set of ES motor mount bushings from suspension.com

The installation was a piece of cake.

Initial impressions: It idles better than stock mounts. I rode in other Maximas with stock mounts and they do not idle like the ES mounts! It's much better than when my Place Racing motor mounts were brand new! Also because my POS PR rear mount failed it made my engine sit about 1 inch lower and offcentered so it caused my B&M shifter to hit the shifter trim panel in 1st, 3rd and 5th gears. Now I have about a finger's gap between the shifter and the panel. There is no wheelHOP when I dumped the clutch at high rpms. With my balding tires I just sit pretty much stationary as my tires spin and my engine races to redline. Shifting is much more crisp and there is absolutely no play in the driveline when I floor it. I am able to chirp my tires during a 1-2 shift @ redline now.

There are absolutely no downsides. All I'm doing is crossing my fingers hoping it will last longer than a few months/6000mi and not melt like my PR mounts. However by my previous experience using ES inserts on Hondas (yes equipped with header) the urethane haven't melted and thats with a couple of years of usage. One thing I noticed is that the bushing itself is not tacky to the touch. I remembered that was the case with my PR mounts when they were brand new. I highly recommend these motor mounts. I will update this post after 3 months/6000 miles.

 

Pic of the mount inserts already pressed into the stock mount brackets.


Pic of the POS PR mount. Notice how the rear melted.


Pic of both PR mounts and ES mounts side by side.


Pic of front mount installed



Pic of rear mount installed

 

wow I didnt think they would melt like that. Thats crazy!!!

 

What's on top of your middle finger?

Also how much was it shipped from suspension.com, I am planning to buy them soon.

 

??? Are you referring to the mounts or the fold in my latex glove?

Suspension.com is located in California so I had to pay tax. The mounts : $80. Tax: $5.90. Shipping via FedEx ground : $5.33. Not bad for their EVERYDAY price.

 

whats the part number for these mounts? I might order a set tomorrow.

 

Wow, that is a really good price, $80 for two? I am going to have to hop on this. I have been looking for stock ones to fill, but $50 for stocks and $25 for material, then time it is just not worth it... Thanks for the pics and info.

 

Another Org member with PR mounts and headers did not have this problem so I don't think theyre suppose to do that. I think I had a set that wasn't cured properly or PR used an inferior/bad mixture of urethane in a batch. If the ES ones hold up then I am certain that the above is the case. Since Place Racing is supposedly no longer in business you have no warranty whatsover on the mounts so its a huge risk to buy a new set now, given their astronomical price ($260+). I believe ES has a 2yr warranty and they've been around for a loooong time.


The part # is 7-1114G. Its listed as a 5th gen part on suspension.com's website because they haven't updated their website but its for 95-03 per Energy Suspension's website. If you call up suspension.com you'll probably speak to Lisa. Ask for the Maxima mm inserts and she'll know about it because several Maxima owners already inquired about them before I ordered my set. Click on the link in my sig for info and their contact info.

Yes the large inserts come in pairs. You'll probably pay the exact price (tax+shipping) since youre also in socal. Expect to pay around $50 and up to have your stock mounts gutted and those ES bushings pressed in, unless you know someone who can do it for you at a good price.

 

I think I misunderstood. So you gave them your stock mounts? and had them pressed in for $80? or was that the whole thing?

 

The price to take your stock motor mounts and the new ES bushings to a shop to have them drive out the the stock rubber/metal sleeve by means of a press (or destroyed by a torch and cut out) is not included in the $80 price for the ES bushings. The $50 and up I mentioned is the price of labor to R&R your mounts.

You need to take your stock motor mounts and the new bushings to a shop to have them press the new bushings in for you. This may be labor-intensive and not many shops can do it due to the size of the bushings; they are usually used to pressing smaller bushings so they may not have the "adapters" (sockets, metal sleeves etc) large enough to drive out the stock metal-sleeved rubber bushing and press in the new ES bushings. Some may fear of destroying the bushings so they will not attempt to do it. Do not take offense and just go elsewhere.

It took me about 1 hour driving to places until I found someone that was willing to do it. Several shops gave me $50 quotes and made their attempt but end up telling me they weren't able to do it due to not having an adapter available. The place I went that was able to do it said it was his first attempt at such a large bushing. When the mechanic was done he told me if he knew what he was getting into he'd charge me $100. He had to torch and cut out the metal sleeve. He only charged me $50. He told me if I get several local people to him for this service done at the same time he will source a suitable adapter to drive out the stock metal sleeve and charge "around" $50-$75 per set.

Oh I should mention that the shop didn't install the finished product (ES bushings pressed into the stock mounts) onto my car. I did it myself.

 

Gotcha, thanks for cleaing that up. I knew it sounded to good to be true. I will stick with my original plan to fill stock mounts. Thanks though!

 

ohhh man
I should make an appointment ASAP to have my ES mounts installed

 

Nice info.....i've been thinking about new mounts myself

Anyone use any of the other bushings from there site? I'm guessing the 'shifter' bushings are for the 5/6 spd? Or are they differnet?

 

i would like to know about the shifter bushings as well.

i will be ordering a set of motor mount inserts tomorrow.

 

http://www.energysuspension.com/pages/nis2.html

The shifter bushings are for 5.5 gens 6sp manuals only. Hopefully they will make it for 95-01 Maxima 5sp manuals.

I have the LCA bushings and if weather permits they will be installed later this week. All I need is the subframe bushings then I have all the ES bushings available for the 4th gen Maxima. If the 5th gen trailing arm bushings (7.7108) happen to fit the 4th gens then I'm getting those too.

 

Very good info!

 

VeeQueue, you said that you put them in yourself....how did you do it. Im not in the mood for trying to find a shop to do it if I can do it myself.

 

It really is a one man job. What I did:

-place car on jackstands.
-remove driver side wheel.
-use 17mm socket or wrench to loosen the mount-to-crossmember bolts (it'll be a b!tch to break them loose with it out of the car because of the awkward shape of the crossmember).
-use a couple of extensions and a 17mm socket to loosen/remove the rear mount through bolt via the wheel well. You can clearly see the bolt. I used an 18" extension and a 6" extension + 3" long 17mm socket. I had to place the jackstand underneath the motor and raise it slightly to slide the bolt out.
-remove the front mount through bolt. You'll probably want to remove the driver side lower splash shield adjacent to the crossmember and access it from the bottom.
-Get underneath and loosen/remove the front 17mm crossmember to radiator support bolts. Slide underneath towards the subframe and loosen the 2 rear 17mm crossmember to subframe bolts. While you do this support the crossmember with your knee so it wont sag and cause you problems while loosening the bolts.
- Once youre done with the remaining crossmember to subframe bolts remove the crossmember/mounts as a unit. I have the ****man headers and it required me to raise the motor as high as the 2 remaining mounts would allow for me to finess the rear mount out (Id like to keep the scratches on the pipe to a minimum) When the crossmember is finally out remove the mount to crossmember bolts and take the mounts to the shop (unless you already have another set of mounts with the ES mounts pressed in)

installation is the reverse. I tighened the mount to crossmember bolts as much as I can because it'll be awkward to tighten the rear ones when everything is back up. Again I should mention that I had to raise the motor as high as the two remaining mounts would allow to give clearance for the rear mount to go in. I did not have to do this when I had the y-pipe.

When you position the rear mount you will probably need to jack the motor slightly to align the holes of the bracket/mount sleeve to slide in the bolt.
Tighten the mount through bolts first to spec. then go underneath and tighten the 4 crossmember bolts. Voila , you're done.

You can also remove the crossmember first once you break loose the 4 mount to crossmember bolts in the beginning but you should do it as a unit to get used to handling this object when reinstalling it.

 

How are the ES bushings installed? Do they need to be pressed, or do they slip in like the control arm bushings?

I can torch/cut the old ones out myself, I've done it before...

 

They need to be pressed in. The mechanic whom I stumbled across told me he lubed the bushings slightly and pressed them in.

 

Good luck with the new ones.

 

VeeQueue, thanks for the kicka$$ writeup, this will help me a lot when I do them.....I just need to find a shop to press the bushing out.

 

Anyone have pics of the ES bushings un-installed?

 

Anytime we have a member do such a good job of explaining everything like this, it should be added to the FAQ's. Great info.


My 2 pennies.

 

Where did you put the jack on the motor?

 

I have already have a set in just not installed. I hope they work well. Now I just have to find a shop to do it. Thanks for the write up. I had the general idea but these specifics are great.

 

I put it underneath the oil pan. I placed a folded cardboard box between the pan and the floorjack saddle.
---------------------------
These mounts seem to be well engineered (durability remains to be tested). Its like I forgot how quiet my interior used to be before I started messing with the engine mounts. (stock to poly-filled stocks to PR to ES).

I don't hear/feel the engine resonances as much as before so the mounts are definitely doing their job of absorbing vibrations. Coming from a guy that owns both PR and ES mounts you'd be to buy new PR mounts now

Why oh why didn't ES come out with these motor mount bushings earlier??

 

Pic from POLO

 

Do you mean the motor mounts or the control arm bushings?

 

are you serious?

 

Yeah I'd rather use a block of wood but I didn't have any handy laying around. The combined thickness was about 2 inches and it didn't compress much if at all. More than enough to spread the load and not harm the oil pan.

 

considering my oil pan is dented as it is, i doubt it would do much more harm

 

just ordered the motor mounts today. can't wait for them to come in.

 

The motor mounts. I already have the suspension bushings in.

 

I was pretty sure that you had the suspension ones but they were mentioned by someone else earlier in the thread and then I saw your post so I thought I'd ask because I have uninstalled ones sitting in my closet.

 

My question is whether or not the motor mounts are built into a metal sleeve. (press in with a machine) Or are they two halves, like the small control arm bushings. (push in with your fingers)

 

I can take pics of mine when they come in in a couple of days.

 

The ES bushings do not come sleeved. They are large one-piece grooved/ribbed bushings w/ a tapered end to denote the direction they should be installed.

Here is a good pic taken by spirilis (BIG pic)
http://spirilis.net/gallery/esbushings/DSC01441?full=1

Once you remove the stock metal sleeve then it fits perfectly.

 

Damn. I wonder if a bench vice could do it, or a mallet (with enough lube).

 

So you only replaced the front and rear mount, what about your side mounts?