Help me find or design a less destructible motor mount

The truck tore loose from one of its mounts today.  The mount had roughly 8000 miles on it, give or take 200 miles.  No oil leaks or anything else going on to weaken it, it just decided "screw it, I'm going to cause this fan to destroy this radiator."  At least it gives me an excuse to knock out some other projects I've been putting off.

Anyways, the motor mount type I have is one of these https://www.summitracing.com/parts/ani-2698/year/1993/make/ford/model/f-150

Roughly 3 inches between the flat faces.

I would like to A) find something similar enough that is ready-made that I can drop in with minor rework that won't let go, or B) fabricate something that I know won't let go.

I've been perusing the interwebs and found a lot of mounts that are similar to these from BrownDog, and it looks like that's going to be the easiest way to go if I fabricate.  Anyone have any comments on that?

Was it a OE mount or aftermarket that failed?

My goto engine mounts are leaf spring bushings, chunks of roll cage tubing with some flat stock for good measure.

In reply to Gearheadotaku (Forum Supporter) :

Aftermarket. 

Check the other side and the trans mount also.  And maybe do the old school Chevy chain to limit engine movement?

Was it a solid rubber mount or the hydraulic version?

A cursory search shows that a few people have had mount failures of that style but I could not locate any aftermarket mounts of that style.

The power of the mighty 4.9L cannot be contained 

Wow.  $280 are the only ones I can find. 

I wonder if they mean mine when they say the donut style mount.

https://autofab.com/i-9621949-80-96-ford-truck-300-inline-6-motor-mounts.html

Seems it is hydraulic or fluid filled. Soes the option have to be fluid filled also?

My first inclination would be to go with a solid rubber version.

What is the application? Standard F150 as per what the mount was designed for or custom application?

Weld a couple pieces of flat metal to each half of the mount 180* apart, it will never come apart again. Aftermarket mounts are usually crappy. We only used OEM because of the high failure rate of the aftermarket ones.

In reply to NOHOME :

I've been going with solid rubber ones.  Standard application.  They just suck.

One option would be to find a round bar of solid rubber in your durometer of choice (probably around 60-80) in the McMaster catalog, cut it to length, and run a Grade 8 bolt through the center.

Ya'll ever forget you have an entire engine laying around?  I was planning on going to the JY and pulling the mounts so I could start mocking something up, then I realized I can just get started on measuring and making tonight.

Doh.

Mr_Asa said:

Ya'll ever forget you have an entire engine laying around?  Realized I can just get started on measuring and making. 

 

Doh.

Ive never mentioned the ine ive forgotten about in the corner. Its been there three years. I forgot about it again until this post. Probably need to do something with it. 

I modify aftermarket motor mounts for old school Pontiac Firebirds that had the same problem with tearing the rubber apart. I drill through the plate on one side, through the rubber, and through the plate on the other side. Then I run a tap all the way through to thread the bottom plate. Next I countersink the top plate till the hole in the plate is bigger than the threaded tap size and the head of the bolt ends up flush. Then install a bolt all the way through just snug and tack weld it to the bottom plate. Only tightening the bolt till snug allows the rubber to still perform most of it's NVH reduction but the bolt limits engine travel to keep the rubber from separating. You might need to grind your weld flush.

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Stop buying aftermarket engine mounts. They are useless, in pretty much every way possible.

Alternatively you could gut an old mount, weld a stud in the center of the bottom of the old mount with the stud pointing up.  Buy 2 hockey pucks and drill a hole in the center of each puck.  Stack the pucks on the stud and install.  YMMV.

In reply to Streetwiseguy :

Not too helpful there.  Especially since I can't find the mounts on Ford's site.

I use hockey pucks in a very similar way for my engine mounts.   Work fine for me!

In reply to Mr_Asa :

Then go to  junkyard and buy a horrible rusty one that has a Ford logo cast into it.

Or proceed with your fabrication, while being aware of potential nvh problems.

Or, check underneath Volvo front wheel drive cars with your tape measure.  They are very similar in design to the Ford ones, and if they are shorter, its pretty easy to build a spacer. The Volvo ones are pretty sturdy.

I agree that aftermarket repair mounts are trash.  I used to work for an engine mount manufacturer.  There is a lot of knowledge/process/development in being able to formulate the rubber correctly as well as mold it so that it forms a permanent bond with the cast aluminum and steel portions of the mount.  Hydro-mounts have even more engineering within them.  Anchor and other companies have not figured out how to make these well (and don't care to, honestly).

Thankfully a RWD inline 6 is pretty much the best case for NVH.  My suggestion is find a super common quality aftermarket mount that almost works and make an adapter as simple as possible.  350?  LS?  Ideally find one where the rubber or poly section is easily replaceable.  Rubber is going to perform better IMO, but is harder to replace later.

That said, if you want to spend some more time searching, there have been about a gazillion engine mounts made in that style.  Corvette, GTO, CTSV all use a short version of a mount like that - you may be able to find an aftermarket solution for those that is almost bolt-in for you.  You may need to just add a 1/4" spacer or something to get it back to the correct height.  Also, make sure you are running a heat shield if you go with something that is OE-style.  It greatly improves the life of those.

Mr_Asa said:

Wow.  $280 are the only ones I can find. 

I wonder if they mean mine when they say the donut style mount.

https://autofab.com/i-9621949-80-96-ford-truck-300-inline-6-motor-mounts.html

So, I've decided that I'm going to fabricate up some of these, or something similar.

Anyone have input on thickness of the metal?  My welder says it can do 1/4", and I'd think that would be more than thick enough. 

Input on the bushings as well?  I don't have my lathe setup so I'd like to go with something readymade for the tube and bushing material.  I tend to return to Ballistic Fabrication for stuff like this, but if there's a better source I'm open https://www.ballisticfabrication.com/collections/ballistic-bushings/products/single-poly-bushing-with-dom-sleeve?lshst=collection

Quick 3d Print to verify random 300ci motor mount block mounting dimensions I found.

Driver with front bottom of engine being origin: (0.000, 0.000, 0.000) (3.440, 3.340, -0.800) (6.000, 0.000, 0.000)

Passenger front bottom of engine being origin: (0.000, 0.000, 0.000) (3.000, 2.800, -1.620) (6.000, 0.000, 0.000)

A little CAD till the JYs open up and I can verify some dimensions without disassembling the truck.

Very rough design for now, but does anyone have any comments?  Holes to the block are 7/16", inside of the bushing is 2" with a 9/16" bolt through it.  All of it is .25" thick plate.

Design looks good to me and so does the bushing. 1/4" is plenty. 

My only concern is that the bushing looks kind of stiff and might cause a lot of vibrations. Inline 6s are usually smooth running engines, might be worth a shot. 

Some parts came in, measurements and actual design is happening on the solidworks

Driver's side

Passenger's

Going to need to figure out some form of heat shield with this one when I get ready to install it in the truck.

1/4" seems crazypants overkill.

The restrictor & bumpstop inside an OEM hydrailic engine mount (which interface with one another to prevent it from coming apart) are only around .110 IIRC.  That said, their shape is a bit different, but 1/4 seems nuts.

Can you fit a socket in between those plates to get to the top bolt?  Or are you planning on using SHCS?