Is it normal for the ruber mount to move while turning direction from one lock to the other?
Could this movement make noises?
Is there an amount of allowed lose play there?

Hm. Have never checked this. But... the top mount (inside engine bay) is only bolted on top of the shock's piston nut with another nut, and is not tight to the bodywork / strut tower. If the piston of the shock absorber turns with the steering wheel (as the shock and spring will do), the top mount might turn aswell, as it is directly bolted to the threads of the shock's piston top. The assembly that holds the spring in place consists of a bearing, which might have dried out, and maybe needs a grease-up or change. The top of this assembly will not turn when you turn the wheel, but the bearing inside will.

Morten.

I take it you are getting a groaning noise from the top mounts Athos when you turn you steering wheel ? The top mount has gone dry and that's why its doing it when I did the springs on my 5Dr I changed both the top mounts and the bearings result is no more groaning ..take your front wheels off and spray some oil up there and over the top mounts while someone turns the steering for you ..and wipe any excess of with a rag after ..and cover you discs up while your doing it as well for obvious reasons hope that helps my friend

Thanks pals for your advice.
I saw the front struts kind of float into the body with out a firm anchor there.
The mount all that does is keep the damper from fall out really, but strut can move a lot!
Maybe this adds to the lose sensation the Stilo steering transmits to driver!

Personally I don't like the top mount arrangement on the stilo and prefer the same type that the early fords used where the top mount and bearing where one assembly and bolted to the turret by three bolts.. the piston of the strut was inserted into that and bolted home ..I think the one used on the stilo gives to much movement as its only held there sandwiched between top mount which is bolted to he strut and the turret and plate on top of the turret ..and it wouldn't surprise me in the least if this is one of the main reasons we get so much inner wear on the front tyres regardless of the fact we have has laser tracking done :chin:

When you move the steering all the way to a side lock the top mount of the inner damper doesn´t fit level with body and raises itself a little!

So it's evident front suspension floats betwen body strut pits.

Even strut braces will not help here as struts move indepently from car body where brace fits!

Only a strut brace that fixes the dampers to the body with a diferent top mount will help here!

So I believe the Stilo front suspension and steering is a no win case! Better look for another car if you want a high performance motor!
:bang:

I really can't decide wether to think this is a bad or good design. The top bearing assembly is fixed to the shock piston by one nut and the energy from the spring. The nut is screwed onto the piston until it stops, then the spring is released at the correct position of the underside of the bearing assembly. It is now possible to adjust camber on the top bearing. I was told not to alter this by Fiat, as there are no adjustments on the hub, where the shock absorber is bolted with two bolts.

When this bearing is twisted, the top level will alter it's angle, and hence the complete unit will point in another direction when inserted. If the markings on both parts of the top bearing assembly is at "zero" it will fit straight into the suspension turret, laying flat up there. So when you turn the wheel when the car is on the ground, this means the direction of the shock piston vector will change, due to the design of the top bearing assembly having the ability to twist and bend in it's own design. This might actually be a good thing... just trying to think here... to keep most of the tyre's area on the street when cornering. Fixing the tops of the shock pistons to each other or force it to the turrets will propably destroy this idea.

A possible bad result of this design is if the steering wheel is turned when the wheels are off the ground. If you pop the hood and watch the suspension turrets and the big washer and nut that holds the strut to the turret, you will notice a gap there. On the OEM shocks there are used pretty high nuts, making a gap of about 5 mm from this washer (with rubbermold) to the suspension turret. After changing to the Eibach shock this gap has decreased due to a slightly lower nut. But if you jack up the car this gap will vanish into thin air, because the complete unit actually falls out of the turret the exact lenght of the gap mentioned. This now means there is no pressure on the top mount assembly, making it possible to twist complete inside the turret, and ending up at the complete wrong direction - if the steering wheel is turned when the car in jacked up.

This might be one of the reasons of strange tyre wear. I have not had any problems with it though. Well, that was my creative morning idea.

Morten.

Very good reasoning from you Morty ..I have seen what you mean about the gap I think its definitely the design of the front suspension and the way the strut is connected to the turrets that's giving us the irregular inside ware on the tyres on the stilo ..and I also think now that every car could well be different with regards to the tracking as each car might be sitting differently on the road ..this problem is certainly intriguing a Worth looking into :chin:

PNL said:

Very good reasoning from you Morty ..I have seen what you mean about the gap I think its definitely the design of the front suspension and the way the strut is connected to the turrets that's giving us the irregular inside ware on the tyres on the stilo ..and I also think now that every car could well be different with regards to the tracking as each car might be sitting differently on the road ..this problem is certainly intriguing a Worth looking into :chin:

Click to expand...

The last of the Stilos had mods to solve the tracking issues.

I'll find out what they were . . .