3rd Gen 3.5V6 motor mounts

@Bonzen Any future plans for an upgrade MT mount for the 3rd gen crowd?

 

X2! I’d love to get a set of these engine mounts but not without a trans mount to go with it.

 

What do you mean by manufacturing the problem?

 

It does move around that much when actually crawling, bombing through whoops, and so on. Forest roads, no. When you're in 4lo especially, you effectively have over double the torque forcing on things. Make those forces more with bigger tires.

Theres tons of threads on 2nd gen guys breaking the mounts off the frame, etc.

For example, I just broke my dual case shifter off since the shifter moved about 6" while under full load, bound up against my center console and broke off. I thought it was only going to move 3". With duals I effectively have over 5x the torque forcing on everything

The motor moving also becomes a problem when guys (im doing one this weekend on mine) put a bigger steering rack in, as clearances are more than tight already, and then you throw a larger rack in and you need to know that the motor isnt going to slam down onto the rack.

Heres a photo of my stock mount, it was binding into the metal, and in turn creating inches of motor movement.

 

Ive been building and selling these custom engine mounts for almost 20 years, and there is a good reason why - because the problems do exist. I receive messages in my inbox, email, and social media inbox almost daily of broken trucks due to engine mount failures. As for my personal experience wheeling and racing off road, I could tell stories for weeks about this subject.

Every one of the following problems listed, I have personally witnessed, had happen to my own vehicle back in the day, or received a message and pictures/video along with an order for my product.

• Frame perches crack, rip and tear off the frame
• Frame damage, including bent frame and caved in frame
• Engine block bolts shear off in the block
• Engine block cracks around bolt areas from broken bolts
• OEM mount tears apart and rips the sheet metal construction
• Engine drops and oil pan hits front differential, putting hole in oil pan. Oil leaks out, engine seizes.
• Engine over flexes, pulls on radiator hoses which put stress on radiator hose water bungs, causing them to crack and rip off. Engine looses coolant, causing engine to seize.
• Engine rebounds upward damaging hood.
• Power steering lines become damaged or rip off due to extreme engine movement
• Exhaust headers impact coil buckets from extreme engine movement
• Exhaust cracks at down-pipe from extreme engine movement
• Fan impacts radiator, damaging radiator and destroying fan shroud housing
• Transmission housing cracks out around mount bolt holes from extreme movement
• Premature wear on drive line u-joints and carrier bearing (center support bearing) from extreme drive line movement

https://solid-offroad.com/tech-info

If you learn something new about this issue, awesome. Thats why we are here on this forum. No one knows everything - we all (including myself) started out on forums and off roading with zero to little knowledge. I made tons of mistakes, costed myself thousands of dollars and a hundred thousand hours of time building, fixing and re-building off road capable rigs the last 2 decades.

If you've ever driven through rough, loose, uneven desert terrain at high speed, where your suspension loads and unloads at high frequency with stock engine mounts and then with solid type mounts, you will feel the power transfer, hook up, and night and day traction increase. There is a reason that not one off road race vehicle, or serious comparably built prerunner that is designed to scout the race course runs a factory OEM rubber mount.

And on the other side, I have sold a hundred kits to S and X runner street/strip/track racers that love the extra hook up and handling capabilities. Parasitic drivetrain loss is a real thing, and the more the powertrain is allowed to flex (energy loss) the less of that created energy is sent to the tires.

 

Transmission mount is on the table for a future project. Being that the 3rd gens are still "fairly new", the demand has been light. For comparison, I receive orders for 2nd gen transmission mounts every week.

The R&D process is costly and lengthy, so it makes sense to spend that money and time once demand starts ramping up.

The good news is, that the engine mounts alone will cure 90% of the issues and a stronger transmission mount is not necessary in conjunction. I have many, many trucks racing off road running just the upgraded engine mounts and they are having zero issues. Obviously its good to make sure your OE trans mount is in good shape when bolting in the upgraded engine mounts.

Good tech info about transmission mounts not needing to be done at the same time as the engine mounts. Is it better to have a solid mount style trans mount in with the upgraded engine mounts? Of course, but not absolutely needed. For example, a 55w HID is better than a 35w HID, but not needed to go offroad but some people will still opt for it.

https://solid-offroad.com/tech-info

 

The mounts have had pretty much the same setup and positioning since Toyotas have been in the US. I'm actually using 2nd gen poly mounts (other brand) in my 3rd gen

 

Ive been building and selling these custom engine mounts for (Toyota trucks) for almost 20 years

I will check in on this thread periodically, if it gains momentum for a GB then I will get the process going to get you guys a great upgrade for a big discount.

I check the Instagram page more frequently, so if you want to message me on there feel free to do so, I usually respond much faster on that platform.

@solid_offroad is my handle.

 

If you ever do a GB add me to the list.

 

I cant see a situation where this occurs outside of deliberate abuse. In all my vehicles there is maybe at most 1/2" of possible movement.

When I was a dumb 18 year old kid deliberately abusing my YJ, I broke an engine mount bolt (NOT the mount or bushing) and the engine fell on the wheel well. Had no idea it happend until the transmission stick smacked my thigh. I drove that thing off the trail and 20 miles home with the engine on its side and the only thing that was damaged was the radiator fan shroud, but I was legit jumping a jeep that shouldn't be jumped.

 

This guy huh what you talking.

 

Mmmmmm purple...

 

How did you measure that movement? If you drove through the desert at 70mph on a two track road through un-even terrain, that .500" turns into 6" really quickly.

If this forum would allow me to post it, Id upload a video of a customers truck running stock rubber motor mounts where the engine is swinging all over in between the frame rails, subsequently smashing his headers into his coil buckets and collapsing his frame rail perch mounts.

On my first tacoma I owned, I broke an engine mount by yanking someone out that was stuck in the sand with a tow strap. The torque backlash and rebound effect of the drivetrain was enough to shear the rubber puck in half. Did not know it at the time, continued to drive it and it destroyed my frame perch on that side and cracked my frame rail.

The term "abuse" is subjective to the driver and how their vehicle is set up. Alot of people might think that driving hard off road is abuse, (the dealership/warrenty department certainly will lol) yet there is a multi million dollar a year aftermarket for coilover shocks and long travel kits, so it must be common place to really run these trucks hard.

 

That’s my point thank you.

 

Damn 70 on a dirt road? I’ll go like 40 max if its fairly smooth. Yeah, I definitely don’t need those

I was curious there for a sec.

 

You can upload video to YouTube then share a link here. I would like to see that.

 

Agreed, would def like to see it. Quick search for motor mount flex and failures only showed 30 year old soccer mom vans..

 

Haha! 30 y.o. soccer moms doing 70 on uneven dirt roads?

 

gps sent her down a wrong turn and she has 3 children screaming in the back seat and a husband saying "I told you not to go that way"