Founders strut tower mounts
#1
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Car: 1985 firebird
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Founders strut tower mounts
Hey everyone I just got on some of Founders solid strut tower mounts. The parts were clean well packaged and nicely painted. The install was just as easy as it should have been and now my front end is much more solid. It was a big change from the rubber mounted cheap ones. My passenger side mount was blown apart before the change to founders.. so big thumbs up from me...
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Car: 86 IROC
Engine: 5.0 TPI
Transmission: 700-R-4
Axle/Gears: 2.73 open
Re: Founders strut tower mounts
Hey everyone I just got on some of Founders solid strut tower mounts. The parts were clean well packaged and nicely painted. The install was just as easy as it should have been and now my front end is much more solid. It was a big change from the rubber mounted cheap ones. My passenger side mount was blown apart before the change to founders.. so big thumbs up from me...
#3
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Car: 92 RS camaro, 99 Z-24 cavalier
Engine: 5.0L TBI, 2.4L
Transmission: 700r4
Axle/Gears: 2.73
Re: Founders strut tower mounts
Hey everyone I just got on some of Founders solid strut tower mounts. The parts were clean well packaged and nicely painted. The install was just as easy as it should have been and now my front end is much more solid. It was a big change from the rubber mounted cheap ones. My passenger side mount was blown apart before the change to founders.. so big thumbs up from me...
#6
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Car: 1991 Trans Am GTA
Engine: L98(5.7 L TPI)
Transmission: 700r4(A4)
Axle/Gears: G80 RPO, 3:23s, Auburn Racer's Diff
Re: Founders strut tower mounts
At what mileage is it recommended to replace the stock ones?
#7
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Car: 92 RS camaro, 99 Z-24 cavalier
Engine: 5.0L TBI, 2.4L
Transmission: 700r4
Axle/Gears: 2.73
Re: Founders strut tower mounts
Im not sure the recommended mileage but I'd imagine with the age on any of these cars that it wouldnt hurt to at least change them with another stock version. I just got mine from founders on today. My stock ones dont look horrible though, much better than i would have imagined. My only complaint with new ones is how banged up they got when the shop did my alignment today....
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#9
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Car: 92 RS camaro, 99 Z-24 cavalier
Engine: 5.0L TBI, 2.4L
Transmission: 700r4
Axle/Gears: 2.73
Re: Founders strut tower mounts
yea Im a litte disappointed about it but Im going to try and match the color with some touch up paint. And I drove it straight from my driveway to the shop and it felt a little better, but after I had them set the alignment to the "street specs" it feels much better than with stock mounts.
#10
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Car: 88 Firebird Formula
Engine: LO5 5.7 TBI/Ebl Flash
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 2.73 stock rear end
Re: Founders strut tower mounts
Mine didnt come with decals either, but i preferred them that way. Although the finish was similar to what shows in the first pic. Honestly at first i was a little upset they looked all disfigured but eh not buying the part for the finish really.
#12
Re: Founders strut tower mounts
IIRC shocks/struts were recommended every 50,000 on the older cars. Replacing them helped handling as well as helped the front brakes last a little (and a do mean little) longer.
#14
Senior Member
Re: Founders strut tower mounts
Since these are set up better for working with cars with lower suspension, will they be ok with a stock height car? Possibly doing all the steering components and new shocks/struts but won't have the $ for my weight jack set up this year, but don't want to buy stock replacement parts just so I can use them for a season before I finally lower the car.
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Car: 1982 Z-28
Engine: 5.7L Crossfire
Transmission: TH-350
Axle/Gears: GM Posi, 3.73
Re: Founders strut tower mounts
This is the next part for me. I completely rebuilt the front suspension, except for strut mounts and with the front up on jack stands I can wiggle and move the tires around quite a bit. It looks like the play is at the top of the strut. My car is stock height as well.
#16
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Re: Founders strut tower mounts
The Founders Performance caster camber plates will fit the stock replacement strut and as for whether they'll work if the car isn't lowered, I would say they will. The only thing that may come into play is the amount of caster or camber you try to put into it with the type of strut you have. If you have a strut that's large up top the adjustability may be limited by the opening in the tower. A performance strut without the dust cover will offer more adjustability unless you trim the tower plate to give it more room to adjust. But the Founders Performance caster camber plates are a stock replacement part.
#17
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Re: Founders strut tower mounts
I would advise you bring it up with the shop owner or manager. I'd be pissed if someone boogered up any of my parts on a simple alignment. If they couldn't move them by hand with the suspension loaded then a rubber or wooden mallet or dead blow hammer both work and are non-marring. If they don't take your complaint seriously leave a poor review on Google warning other customers.
#18
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Re: Founders strut tower mounts
Since these are set up better for working with cars with lower suspension, will they be ok with a stock height car? Possibly doing all the steering components and new shocks/struts but won't have the $ for my weight jack set up this year, but don't want to buy stock replacement parts just so I can use them for a season before I finally lower the car.
#19
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Car: 83Z28 HO
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Re: Founders strut tower mounts
I put a set on mine probably 5 years ago. They're a big improvement over the stock rubber ones. They work great on either stock height and even better on lowered cars because they have more adjustability.
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Car: 92 RS camaro, 99 Z-24 cavalier
Engine: 5.0L TBI, 2.4L
Transmission: 700r4
Axle/Gears: 2.73
Re: Founders strut tower mounts
Since these are set up better for working with cars with lower suspension, will they be ok with a stock height car? Possibly doing all the steering components and new shocks/struts but won't have the $ for my weight jack set up this year, but don't want to buy stock replacement parts just so I can use them for a season before I finally lower the car.
#21
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Car: 92 RS camaro, 99 Z-24 cavalier
Engine: 5.0L TBI, 2.4L
Transmission: 700r4
Axle/Gears: 2.73
Re: Founders strut tower mounts
I would advise you bring it up with the shop owner or manager. I'd be pissed if someone boogered up any of my parts on a simple alignment. If they couldn't move them by hand with the suspension loaded then a rubber or wooden mallet or dead blow hammer both work and are non-marring. If they don't take your complaint seriously leave a poor review on Google warning other customers.
#22
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Re: Founders strut tower mounts
The problem probably isn't the shop but founders powder coat. I bought a TDS steering brace. Nice piece. Looks great powder coated black. But utterly cheap and crappy powdercoat durability. Went to install it and just tapped it against the frame and it chipped. I went to see the powdercoat shop I have been using for years and he took one look and knew what was wrong. Bad prep and not enough cure time among other things. Powdercoat done right you can hit literally with a hammer and it won't come off. Powdercoat done right from a reputable shop isn't cheap either so take that into consideration in the price point of these parts. Those two towers powdercoated right by a professional would easily run over a hundred dollars for prep. But they would last for years. Just an FYI
#23
Re: Founders strut tower mounts
When you have a walk in sand blast cabinet that requires a full air supplied suit to operate along with a oven that can bake over 100 of these parts at a time it really doesn't take long to process these part. All of our parts get sand blasted before coating. The small coating shops use smaller blast cabinets and smaller ovens so yes they would charge more. They usually have a minimum charge as well usually $75 - $100.
#25
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Re: Founders strut tower mounts
When you have a walk in sand blast cabinet that requires a full air supplied suit to operate along with a oven that can bake over 100 of these parts at a time it really doesn't take long to process these part. All of our parts get sand blasted before coating. The small coating shops use smaller blast cabinets and smaller ovens so yes they would charge more. They usually have a minimum charge as well usually $75 - $100.
#27
Re: Founders strut tower mounts
Hey everyone I just got on some of Founders solid strut tower mounts. The parts were clean well packaged and nicely painted. The install was just as easy as it should have been and now my front end is much more solid. It was a big change from the rubber mounted cheap ones. My passenger side mount was blown apart before the change to founders.. so big thumbs up from me...
#28
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Car: 1985 Camaro
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Re: Founders strut tower mounts
So where have you guys gone/going to get a good alignment with these?
#30
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Re: Founders strut tower mounts
Here is a before and after on the TFS steering brace. First pic is the phosphate coating before the powder. Second is just the initial metal after they dip it to remove the old powdercoat. It looks like you have right down to bare metal there. Phosphate helps it grap more and give you that extra layer of it does get chipped. I know your doing the red look but it's why a lot of guys do suspension and basically everything the flat or low low gloss black. You can just touch it up with the roll bar and chassis black. Probably a 2018 Honda red touch up would fix that. That just angers me though. I would expect damage around the bolt heads, not there. There is nothing there but maybe a carelessly swung tool and such
#31
Re: Founders strut tower mounts
Looks like they didn't use jacking compensation and instead used a prybar to do the adjustment like lazy ****s.
Definitely would be asking for a new set if it is a show car.
Definitely would be asking for a new set if it is a show car.
#32
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Car: 92 RS camaro, 99 Z-24 cavalier
Engine: 5.0L TBI, 2.4L
Transmission: 700r4
Axle/Gears: 2.73
Re: Founders strut tower mounts
No I wish mine was show car quality though lol. I think I will try to touch it up. Ive been meaning to do that but have had my hands tied trying to take care of my leaky gas tank woes. But I agree that was definitely careless.
#33
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Car: 92 RS camaro, 99 Z-24 cavalier
Engine: 5.0L TBI, 2.4L
Transmission: 700r4
Axle/Gears: 2.73
Re: Founders strut tower mounts
ok I probably should start a fresh thread for this question but I figure I would ask in this one where you guys have installed the same part. So after I installed these mounts I had the alignment shop align it differently than the stock alignment since that seems what most everyone does anyways. So the specs I gave them were the "street alignment"
Caster: L +4 R+4.5
Camber:L -.5 R-.5
Toe Total: 3/32
I do not drive this thing much and it handles much better than it did before but Ive noticed the past few weeks that the outer part of the front tires seem to be wearing down much faster than they did previously. No wires or anything showing but definetly outer edge is worn down more than inner and its entirely possible that they have been this way for some time and Ive somehow missed it. But anyways I wanted to see if anyone else who has had the different alignment has had a similar issue with tire wear. I think I may take it in next week to double check the alignment or have the tires rotated and keep a close eye on the other pair.
Any input is appreciated, thanks
Caster: L +4 R+4.5
Camber:L -.5 R-.5
Toe Total: 3/32
I do not drive this thing much and it handles much better than it did before but Ive noticed the past few weeks that the outer part of the front tires seem to be wearing down much faster than they did previously. No wires or anything showing but definetly outer edge is worn down more than inner and its entirely possible that they have been this way for some time and Ive somehow missed it. But anyways I wanted to see if anyone else who has had the different alignment has had a similar issue with tire wear. I think I may take it in next week to double check the alignment or have the tires rotated and keep a close eye on the other pair.
Any input is appreciated, thanks
#34
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Car: 92 RS camaro, 99 Z-24 cavalier
Engine: 5.0L TBI, 2.4L
Transmission: 700r4
Axle/Gears: 2.73
Re: Founders strut tower mounts
ok I probably should start a fresh thread for this question but I figure I would ask in this one where you guys have installed the same part. So after I installed these mounts I had the alignment shop align it differently than the stock alignment since that seems what most everyone does anyways. So the specs I gave them were the "street alignment"
Caster: L +4 R+4.5
Camber:L -.5 R-.5
Toe Total: 3/32
I do not drive this thing much and it handles much better than it did before but Ive noticed the past few weeks that the outer part of the front tires seem to be wearing down much faster than they did previously. No wires or anything showing but definetly outer edge is worn down more than inner and its entirely possible that they have been this way for some time and Ive somehow missed it. But anyways I wanted to see if anyone else who has had the different alignment has had a similar issue with tire wear. I think I may take it in next week to double check the alignment or have the tires rotated and keep a close eye on the other pair.
Any input is appreciated, thanks
Caster: L +4 R+4.5
Camber:L -.5 R-.5
Toe Total: 3/32
I do not drive this thing much and it handles much better than it did before but Ive noticed the past few weeks that the outer part of the front tires seem to be wearing down much faster than they did previously. No wires or anything showing but definetly outer edge is worn down more than inner and its entirely possible that they have been this way for some time and Ive somehow missed it. But anyways I wanted to see if anyone else who has had the different alignment has had a similar issue with tire wear. I think I may take it in next week to double check the alignment or have the tires rotated and keep a close eye on the other pair.
Any input is appreciated, thanks
#36
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Car: 1991 Z28
Engine: 305 TPI
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Re: Founders strut tower mounts
Rustoleum Sunrise Red. It is almost a perfect match. I had to touch up my Panhard bar I got from founders. Just get a small artist brush so you can just dab a small amount on the bad spot. Try not to overpaint on what is not scratched. Also I would maybe look into a new shop for your alignments.
#40
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Car: 92 RS camaro, 99 Z-24 cavalier
Engine: 5.0L TBI, 2.4L
Transmission: 700r4
Axle/Gears: 2.73
Re: Founders strut tower mounts
Rustoleum Sunrise Red. It is almost a perfect match. I had to touch up my Panhard bar I got from founders. Just get a small artist brush so you can just dab a small amount on the bad spot. Try not to overpaint on what is not scratched. Also I would maybe look into a new shop for your alignments.
#42
Member
Re: Founders strut tower mounts
Are the slots for camber adjustment longer than stock? Doesn't look like much if any. I had these modified over 20 years ago, haha.
Last edited by jayg; 08-02-2018 at 11:13 AM.
#43
Senior Member
Re: Founders strut tower mounts
I put a set of founders on mine a few months ago. I like them. they mounted right up. no issues.
#45
Re: Founders strut tower mounts
Installing these should only affect your Caster/Camber settings to a major degree. So the car should still drive plenty straight enough to go to a shop for an alignment. Changing caster/camber affects toe, but should be minimal enough for the trip to an alignment shop. Verify if the shop you are going to have it aligned at will do a custom alignment. Many of the major shops will ONLY do factory spec alignments and nothing to your own specifications.
There are specs here on the boards for a much better alignment that reduces understeer as well as reducing tram lining.
I also have a set I want to install, but am waiting to accumulate some other parts so I only have to do the alignment once.
There are specs here on the boards for a much better alignment that reduces understeer as well as reducing tram lining.
I also have a set I want to install, but am waiting to accumulate some other parts so I only have to do the alignment once.
Last edited by Thirdgen89GTA; 01-04-2019 at 09:30 AM.
#47
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Re: Founders strut tower mounts
I once worked with an engineering group that was trying to powder coat a part. In that case the trouble with adhesion was caused by sharp corners. The powder coat worked great on the smooth surfaces but would lose adhesion and flake off of sharp corners. Ended up using a different coating in that situation.
About that same time I had a powder coated steel bumper on my Jeep and noticed the flaking began at corners too. But it was a Jeep.... dents, bends, and spray can touch ups are just more style points.
About that same time I had a powder coated steel bumper on my Jeep and noticed the flaking began at corners too. But it was a Jeep.... dents, bends, and spray can touch ups are just more style points.
Last edited by QwkTrip; 02-16-2019 at 03:54 PM.
#49
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Re: Founders strut tower mounts
Put these on my car during suspension rebuild a few months ago. Had a the recommended performance street alignment done at a performance shop and the alignment guy said they worked great and made it easier to dial in. Plus they look great, give my struts more travel, and have a solid bushing. Great value, especially for the reasonable price founders sells them at.
Alos used founders rear control arms (on car adjustable), relocation brackets (bolt in), and adjustable panhard bar.
Thumbs up on all their products!!
Alos used founders rear control arms (on car adjustable), relocation brackets (bolt in), and adjustable panhard bar.
Thumbs up on all their products!!
Last edited by Sdmodified; 08-21-2019 at 02:12 PM.
#50
Re: Founders strut tower mounts
i took my car to the local perf/fab shop to get my alignment as they have the best equipment in the erea. when i brought my Camaro in they charged me extra for having aftermarket equipment that they said made it more difficult for them. I spoke with the owner and was not impressed that a shop that specializes in custom and aftermarket would charge more. They are the most expensive shop in town to even use for alignment but the results are always great