I need to get top mounts for the 8300 Penske shocks I'm having built. Has anyone bought top mounts independently? Possibly for Penske?

I know BC racing and possibly others sell the top mounts, but I'm not sure if they are durable enough for the front shocks, since the BC racing springs rest on the mount and the Penske have a top hat, so all the front corner axial load goes through the ball.

 

Are you just looking for the spherical bearing or the camber plate? If you are just looking for spherical bearings lots of places sell them just gotta get your dimensions together.

 

Both actually. I'm looking for a top plate (camber plate) with a spherical bearing. The Penske shocks have OEM size rod ends, 12mm front and 10mm rear and are meant to fit into the OEM top plates.

I think I could get away with using OEM top mount in the rear with the rubber bushings, however I think the front bushings would overload.

In any case, I prefer spherical bearings all around.

 

I would contact SPL

 

Those top plates will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, you'll need to get the one that matches your kit.

 

Most of the shocks designed for the Z are going to use or should be OEM rod size 12mm. I have Pro Parts front upper pillow mounts that im transfering from my Konis over to my new Motion Controls. The Pro Parts mounts will not be able to adjust camber. In fact I dont think you can adjust camber from the shock mount due to the suspension design of the Z if Im not mistaken. An upper control arm will aid in camber adjustment(Kinetix, SPL, etc).

 

How about these?

http://www.cuscousainc.com/products/...ounts-364.html

 

Forgot the Z went upper lower in 90, doah. No camber to be had there. The good news is just about any upper mount will work you just might have to swap out the spherical bearing or add a sleeve to work with your particular shocks if they use some unusual diameter shaft.

 

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I contacted Cusco, and they will follow-up with Japan, but don't have any top mounts for the Z available (only have complete sets).
Multiple shops (including ProParts) can make a custom bushing to retrofit existing top mounts, which I was hoping to avoid (want an existing solution).

So most likely I will buy BC racing tops and have a machine shop make custom bushings. Just hope the bearings are a good quality.

 

ProParts sold me mounts when I was having them put together my Koni setup thats weird. think they were like 250-300$. Its the mounting plate with the spherical bushing and sleeve to fit over the shock rod (12mm). The mount also has a delrin washer for a standard 2.5in spring preventing binding.

 

Spl I believe makes the upper mounts for the Moton dampers they sell, and you can also check with KW , they should sell theirs seperate for people who want to upgrade their V1 thru V3 to pillowball.

 

Hmm, didn't think to check with KW. Did with SPL, but they don't offer anything and referred me to someone else. Cusco will make a very custom set for $$$$ and ship from Japan. Too much money and too long of a wait.

In the end, I found someone who will make a custom set for me. They look very nice and I'll post a pic when I get them.

Thanks again everyone for the suggestions.

 

Meant to post earlier...anyway found a fellow Z builder who custom machined top mounts. Had to machine custom spacers since my Penske shocks were Penske built and designed, and his were 3rd party, so the shock free lengths didn't match. Easy fix, and 2 events in with no problem.

 

i have the same problem with the MCS shock length. The Z really needs the droop travel to keep from getting inside wheel spin (using Torsein diff/ Quaife) and to keep the car happy over bumps. How much shorter were the Penske's versus stock? I measured 1.75in shorter on the MCS shocks before sending them back. Im now about .5in shorter and looking to have a mount made for the rears.

 

So the top mount you see here is for the front shocks which are roughly 2in shorter then OEM. I needed a good spherical ball bearing mounts to take the load of the spring and shock. In the rear, I used the OEM mount since the springs are in the OEM position. The rear shocks are roughly 3.25in shorter them OEM.

I setup my car rather low in the rear with no sway bar, so it seems to have enough droop not to upset the car too much. Also im running 1200fr/900rr spring force, and the car doesn't get too tail happy over bumps. Maybe I'm not pushing it enough . The free lengths also don't require me to run a helper spring.

 

im surprised your not having an issue. Are you measuring from the clevis hole to the base of the top mount seat at full extension? Are you running a torsein or clutch type diff? I found the car very harsh with a shorter than OE length shock over bumps. Granted i could probably lower the car more than I have but im limited in the back using a 6inch mainspring and the eibach 250lb tender(stack height is 1.1in/free length i think is 3.3in). Im at 1000fr/1200rr. Im switching this weekend from the 35mm hollow hotchkis bar full stiff to the 36mm solid H&R bar full stiff up front(no rear bar)

 

I'm measuring from the center line of the lower bolt hole (that assembles to the hub assembly in the rear and the lower arm up front) to the upper shock rod shoulder that butts up against the top mount. I have a Cusco RS diff set at 60%. I too use a 6in spring in the rear with no pre-load at full droop. I use a stock sway bar in the front.

Our setups are different since I'm trying to get more under-steer, I run square 285 tire.

What kind of bumps are we talking about? Like race track curbing effecting one side of the car or the entire car going over a bump?

The lot I run at the most has a small-ish bump where the concrete ends and asphalt begins. However it's hard to tell if the bump or the change in surface effects the car. Don't get me wrong the car does not plow into corners, under hard trail braking or throttle the rear end wants to come around and it has. However i'm ok with the way it is and have taking liberties in corner entry and exit to overcome my sloppy driving.