Had a bit of a look today at my strut top mounts and was surprised just how rooted they are!

36k miles and 34 months old.

The cup thing at the top should be in contact with the body unless I'm very much mistaken. Pictures of your borked strut top mounts would be nice too

Hmmm.. can we have: 'no idea as I haven't looked'? I generally know where they are but have never taken the wheel off (what are the garages for ) I guess when it starts to feel/sound bad I'll go check!

you don't need to take the wheel off have the two people who say theirs are 0% borked actually checked? It's not necessarily the sort of thing you'll even notice while driving.

Sorry I haven't realised... Maybe a kind soul can check mine in Stanford Hall? Now I'm not so sure where to look... (thanks Maxi )

Yes. I looked at them this morning when my sparks were being changed. There is no gap between the body and the top mount.

The drivers side is fairly rusty though. 15k at 30 months

Melanabb said:

Sorry I haven't realised... Maybe a kind soul can check mine in Stanford Hall? Now I'm not so sure where to look... (thanks Maxi )

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If you catch me when you come in. I'll have a peek for you.

I have a very small gap but is that not what they should be like?
Maxi your gap looks about 5 times bigger than my ones.

i think your dampers may not be anymore

Melanabb said:

Sorry I haven't realised... Maybe a kind soul can check mine in Stanford Hall? Now I'm not so sure where to look... (thanks Maxi )

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I think that judging my chat with AndyMonty on facebook, the thing that goes in the Grande Punto top mounts is the bearing rather than the rubber which has gone in mine.

RUI said:

I have a very small gap but is that not what they should be like?
Maxi your gap looks about 5 times bigger than my ones.

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Nice

I don't seem to remember there being a gap before. AFAIK the top cup bit should be in contact with the body of the car, but I could be wrong, it's different on our Subaru because the strut top mount bolts directly to the body rather than being held by the little cup bit at the top.

I just looked on out Panda 100HP and they are the same as my 500, just a small gap.

Maybe there is meant to be a tiny gap then Thanks for checking

something looks very wrong with that ? shouldn't it be pulled flat to the strut top ???

SteveTDCi said:

something looks very wrong with that ? shouldn't it be pulled flat to the strut top ???

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Exactly Hence the thread

SteveTDCi said:

something looks very wrong with that ? shouldn't it be pulled flat to the strut top ???

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Not necessarily - the visible upper part is really only there to stop the strut falling out when the weight comes off the front wheels. The important part is the top mount under the wing - there should be no significant free play with the weight of the car on the wheels. They can be, and often are, quite loose when the car is jacked up, leading some folks (and even a few MOT testers) to think they've failed, when in fact they're still serviceable.

Provided there's no free play when the wheel is rocked firmly with the car on the ground, they're probably OK.

Have a look at the relevant section of the MOT tester's manual here.

This is the relevant quote:

"Note: Some MacPherson strut top bushes are designed to have lateral play when the suspension is hanging free. Rejection is only justified when play is due to wear and/or maladjustment, etc."

That said, Maxi's photos do look a little excessive to me

It'd be interesting to have a look at a few showroom cars to see what they look like ex-works.

I'll get some photos when mine have been replaced.

306maxi said:

Maybe there is meant to be a tiny gap then Thanks for checking

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My 10 month old TA appears to have no gap/tiny gap between both cup washers and the top of the strut tower with the car on its wheels.. A bit late, but hopefully helpful!

Thanks Mine will be back in rude health soon enough hopefully though Had a nice clunk from the suspension today. Confused that my droplinks are still ok as they seem to have been a weak point in the suspension

306maxi said:

Thanks Mine will be back in rude health soon enough hopefully though Had a nice clunk from the suspension today. Confused that my droplinks are still ok as they seem to have been a weak point in the suspension

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Those drop links are a weak point in every suspension system that uses them - I've lost count of how many times I've replaced them on a family member's Ford Focus - bloody useless things. Rose jointed ones needed..

bgunn said:

Those drop links are a weak point in every suspension system that uses them - I've lost count of how many times I've replaced them on a family member's Ford Focus - bloody useless things. Rose jointed ones needed..

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We've got some of these chunky droplinks for our Subaru. Much better than the plastic ones they replaced