ROCKET62
Has Left the Room!
It’s been about 2 weeks since I completed changing out my engine mounts to the Woodhouse Poly mounts. I wanted to wait a little while so that I could give a more objective opinion of how they feel and to give them 500 miles to settle in.
Let me first start out by saying that I would NOT EVER do the mounts unless I was changing the exhaust manifold(s) or putting in headers. I also think that if you are doing headers that you owe it to yourself to do the mounts at the same time as this will make both jobs a TON easier.
After reading about the difference after changing the mounts, I decided to do mine only because I already had the driver’s side exhaust manifold out as I had a crack in the stock manifold. With the exhaust manifold out on the driver’s side, the engine mount is easy to get at, remove and replace - a real piece of cake! The passenger side mount is a whole different story – especially since I did not have the exhaust manifold out like the drivers side. No matter what you think, prepare yourself for a royal PIA job. There was many times when my language would have made a sailor blush and I had to take 3 or 4 walks around my house to cool off as my level of frustration was thru the roof. There is no room to work, you have to fight to get at every bolt, and you end up removing stuff like the oil dipstick tube, the air filter box, and the top cross member that goes between the top of the two shock towers. No matter how hard I tried, I still had to separate the engine mount from the engine bracket just to get it out and did the same to get it back in. Even after getting them in place it still takes a substantial effort to get the engine and mounts to sit right and yes – I did grind off the extra tab on the passenger side mount. I can’t even imagine trying to get the mounts to line up without grinding off that tab.
So was it worth it – ABSOLUTELY! As others have reported there is a very noticeable amount of vibration right after they are installed – so much so that everything is blurry when you look back using the rear view mirror. After about 500 miles, the vibration that you feel is virtually non-existent. What you will notice is that the Viper feels ROCK SOLID, the go pedal and the "GO" are instantaneous, and you just feel a lot more connected to your Viper. The biggest difference is how solid the shifter feels. When you get on the go pedal – the shifter does not move at all – it is planted in place – and shifts feel crisp. I did buy the trans mount - but am not sure I will install it as everything feels good right now. Again, I would only do this mod if I was doing headers/exhaust manifold work and it is still probably worth every penny to have this job done by one of the Viper experts that have done this project before.
Thank you to Mark Jorgensen for his help with the mounts and exhaust manifold. Also, thanks to Dan Lesser/Viper Specialty for his posted advice and all that have posted their tips and tricks for trying to do this very frustrating mod.
Good luck to all those that are brave enough to do this themselves. I rate the job about a 9/18. Nine beers needed when doing the job and 18 beers to celebrate being done.
Let me first start out by saying that I would NOT EVER do the mounts unless I was changing the exhaust manifold(s) or putting in headers. I also think that if you are doing headers that you owe it to yourself to do the mounts at the same time as this will make both jobs a TON easier.
After reading about the difference after changing the mounts, I decided to do mine only because I already had the driver’s side exhaust manifold out as I had a crack in the stock manifold. With the exhaust manifold out on the driver’s side, the engine mount is easy to get at, remove and replace - a real piece of cake! The passenger side mount is a whole different story – especially since I did not have the exhaust manifold out like the drivers side. No matter what you think, prepare yourself for a royal PIA job. There was many times when my language would have made a sailor blush and I had to take 3 or 4 walks around my house to cool off as my level of frustration was thru the roof. There is no room to work, you have to fight to get at every bolt, and you end up removing stuff like the oil dipstick tube, the air filter box, and the top cross member that goes between the top of the two shock towers. No matter how hard I tried, I still had to separate the engine mount from the engine bracket just to get it out and did the same to get it back in. Even after getting them in place it still takes a substantial effort to get the engine and mounts to sit right and yes – I did grind off the extra tab on the passenger side mount. I can’t even imagine trying to get the mounts to line up without grinding off that tab.
So was it worth it – ABSOLUTELY! As others have reported there is a very noticeable amount of vibration right after they are installed – so much so that everything is blurry when you look back using the rear view mirror. After about 500 miles, the vibration that you feel is virtually non-existent. What you will notice is that the Viper feels ROCK SOLID, the go pedal and the "GO" are instantaneous, and you just feel a lot more connected to your Viper. The biggest difference is how solid the shifter feels. When you get on the go pedal – the shifter does not move at all – it is planted in place – and shifts feel crisp. I did buy the trans mount - but am not sure I will install it as everything feels good right now. Again, I would only do this mod if I was doing headers/exhaust manifold work and it is still probably worth every penny to have this job done by one of the Viper experts that have done this project before.
Thank you to Mark Jorgensen for his help with the mounts and exhaust manifold. Also, thanks to Dan Lesser/Viper Specialty for his posted advice and all that have posted their tips and tricks for trying to do this very frustrating mod.
Good luck to all those that are brave enough to do this themselves. I rate the job about a 9/18. Nine beers needed when doing the job and 18 beers to celebrate being done.
