DIY top mounts

Have many people brewed their own top mounts??

They seem like pretty simple things to get machined, or total DIY.

I have some Compbrake ones, but they will raise the car and the thread at the top of the damper doesnt poke through the bearing enough.

The VAG regs allow the locating cone on the strut to be cut. So I was thinking of a hefty piece of ally bolted to the top (with the right fixings) and sliders machined for adjustment of caster (camber adjusting on the strut). And then a piece made for the top of the damper that houses the bearing and allows it to adjust on the 'hefty piece'.
I know its better to put the top mount inside the turret, but im pretty sure I have seen some mounted ontop...

I could make it all simpler by not having the caster adjustment...

The strut brace can be mounted to this too.

Any ideas, or things I have overlooked?
Sam (mk1 golf)

 

I'm going to use a set of ground control ones. http://www.ground-control-store.com/products/description.php/II=148/CA=195
I have them and they are well made and light. A little on the large side but still suit a MKI. That red MKI track car in PVW recently has them as well.

I am also considering these http://www.eurosportacc.com/camber_caster_adjustment_kits_bolts_plates.htm
Not camber adjustable but more compact and you can stack the spacers.

 

Thanks. Yeah, I was thinking along those lines.
The ground control ones are more than I can stretch to, but that is where I'm coming from.

Haven't seen those others before. Are the spacers to reduce ride height, or add camber? Because it looks like it slides to alter camber...no?
I also dont need them for camber adjustment, as I can get all I need from the strut.
It would be handy to reduce ride height by 10mm, so the spring platforms clear the tyres some more!

These are mounted ontop of the turret. Is that generally regarded as ok? What is stopping people mounting large universal top mounts ontop of the turret (with enough bolts... 4? 6?)?


Anyone made something similar? or had made?

 

I wondered if a friendly machine shop could be persuaded to do a batch for a group buy. They can't be all that hard to make up. Seems like the Ground control ones are nice kit, but I wondered if a similar design could be made up for a lot less. Need to source the right quality of bearings, of course.

I'm running Compbrake ones on my Mk2 Scirocco Track car. They work well. A bit crash-bang on the road, but the car doesn't get a lot of road mileage, except if it's being driven to an event. The raising of the suspension meant the wishbones went back to being level. I thought that was probably a good thing...

 

They are pretty simple to make I think. My Dad gets some made for other cars, but they locate under the turret. Decent bearings are the expensive bit.
The ground control ones could be alot cheaper without the markings on, stainless bits and anodising - I dont need that anyway....
I dont need camber adjustment either. So slotted mounting bolt holes for caster is all really.

 

Ground Control do some universal '4-bolt' or 5-bolt' ones if you look. They're $299 from memory, so a little bit cheaper. They look similar to the Mk1 ones, just with less markings. I know the Golf specific ones still take a fair bit of fitting (modifying), hardly a two minute job...

 

these are camber adjustable but not castor and they look very very cheap compared to ground control items. i'l stick with my compbrake ones just because i'm to skint for the ground control kit.

 

You want castor adjustment more than camber anyway... gives you camber when you need it, without the reduced contact patch on the tyre under braking & accel.

 

just looked at the $300 ground control ones. A bit more affordable.

Im going to get some made, non adjustable apart from slightly slotted bolt holes for caster.

Could even get shims made to go between the top mount and turret to drop the car???

 

Surely shims between top mount and turret will raise the car, unless the whole top mount is above the turret. IIRC, on the Ground Control ones that I've seen, there's a piece under the turret.

 

Yeah, I meant with the top mount ontop of the turret. Adding a shim to drop the car.

There is a piece under the turret on the ground control ones, but this rests (and slides to adjust) on the piece above - which is bolts to the top of the turret. No?

I thought it would be bad to mount ontop of the turret because all the forces go through the top mount fixings, but seems like there are a few that do - with only 4 bolts.

 

i know someone who is real slack at the moment and could potentially do a run of topmounts to suit, i`ll run it by him and see what he comes up with.

i too have thought about making my own, and will do as soon as i find time.

the correct bearings needed start at 5 each and go up from there.

 

something to bear in mind the camber scale will be different depending on ride height

 

This has a spacer design that might be useful for a reference.

 

A lot of the problems associated with installing top mounts of various shapes and sizes is that the shock absorbers are actually not the correct length to work properly. Hence the requirement to raise the mounts.
I could not find any standard after market shock that would work in it's optimum range. This means going bespoke which becomes very expensive. So I just I ended up making my own shocks.

 

Interesting pictures.
What spec are those bearing tinydubs? It would help me out to know

Danster, my problem is keeping the suspension travel. Was that your problem and reason for custom making?

 

heres some info,
http://www.rbcbearings.com/sphericalplainbearings/selguide.htm

http://www.rbcbearings.com/spherica...&category=Standard&optype=Section&type=Sealed

 

http://www.huco.com/products.asp?p=true&cat=235

these so far, there`s no need for high end precision and expense.

Now if we could find a rubber boot like the lower ball joint and get that in there they could be good for road use

 

It really depends what you are using the car for. This determines the travel required in bump and rebound.
If you then take the ride height of the car into the equation, you need a shock absorber strut of the correct length to allow the required travel in both areas.
All the "fancy" struts I came across were no use for what I wanted. And judging by the amount of folk that have resorted to raising the turrets on their cars, they have had the same problem to get around.

You also have to consider the wishbone angle, and steering and suspension geometry changes throughout the travel of the suspension. These all have an effect and need taking into account.

 

So... what parts did you cobble together to make these shocks?