Well, haven't been driving the Mistress too much under the current situation but took her out a few times last week - no issues - ran like a charm. yesterday took her out, ran great, came home parked in the drive to unload the house pony, then pulled her into the garage. This morning, I notice a fairly large rubber-type material on the ground where the passenger side front tire would have been. Looks like the Welsh poly's finally bit the dust. Pulled her out of the garage and the passenger front tire is up into the wheel well and pretty close to rubbing the wheel well liner. Looked at the mount from the top and can see some cracks but it doesn't seem to be too bad. In any case - will be ordering new mounts to replace again.

Oct 2013 replaced original upper mounts (~110K miles on them) with OEM mounts
July 2018, those mounts failed at about 50k miles of use and replaced with Welsh Poly's
Aug 2020 - Welsh Poly's failed car at 186265 miles (just under 30k miles). Decisions, decisions - may just go back to OEM

 

Steve,

Really sorry to hear that. Your case is yet more confirmation that the Welsh components seem to have become much less robust for anyone who purchased their product after 2016. I am glad that Wayne (cjd777) and I did the Welsh components install on my wife's 2006 XK8 in early January 2016. I ordered them in early December 2015. They continue to function exactly as designed. But you can bet that I am now paying more attention to them than I previously did....

 

Jon - yeah now do I install the spare set of Welsh poly's or order OEM. probably just install the Welsh for now to get her back on the road - been too gorgeous not to drive her

 

Jon - yeah now do I install the spare set of Welsh poly's or order OEM. probably just install the Welsh for now to get her back on the road - been too gorgeous not to drive her

 

I certainly won't use Welsh again if mine fail unless they announce a change back to the earlier version.

 

RJ - no doubt - just doing short term until OEM's arrive - too nice of a day to not drop the top and drive. Don't mind having to redo - only 2 hours time.

Who needs a spring compressor - 20ton press works just fine!!! and bump stops were powder - so had to run up the road to get a set

 

Were those Bump Stops from Welsh? I purchased their new ones from them when I did my upper mounts in 2015. Hope they hold better than yours. Guess I did mine mounts just prior to Jon and Wayne. Still have 15 5/8" to Center of wheel arch. Anyone had any update on Welsh's position on warranty their new design mounts past 1 year?

 

Steve, That's bloody awful. I've made my statement on the material being completely different.
They "HAD" a good product.

 

FYI MOOG PN: K90460 is equivalent to Jag PN: MJA2150BA for the front spring assistors (bump stops). Got her done but the skies let loose so didn't get to enjoy a top down drive - maybe later or certainly tomorrow

 

There now seems to be no decent choice for replacement front upper shock mounts. The OEM version is criminally overpriced for what it is, and the newer Welsh components are now proving to be significantly inferior compared to their original design a half-decade ago. So what to do? I wish the owner who crafted his own upper shock mounts out of those thick plastic cutting boards years ago would chime in and provide an update. That idea may indeed be the most effective long-term solution....

 

I think I may end up doing that when the time comes to replace my current Welsh mounts. I expect the ride to become more harsh with cutting boards. I think I read about another guy who rebuilt his by using neoprene.

 

In looking over the mount and the cutting board effort. Not going to keep things centered, as the rubber or poly or foam curves up around the lower plate to the hole and the top plate is centered around it. Granted the pop rivets and weight of the car would hold it in place except under stress, but that center bushing holding the shock in the center of the mount would need to be very stout but flexible. Like the stuff high performance bushing are made from.
I will be looking at some different options over the winter, just can't take the time to look up what's available. Sorry, my summer has been a wash out, great now, so going to work on the projects I let go.
Might work, if you heated the cutting board after getting the cuts right and pressed it into shape????? Trim as necessary. Damn, now I have to go search for 5/8 inch cutting board. Pretty sure that is the thickness of a new mount. I have a used one on the shelf and it's only 1/2 inch, looks compressed for sure.
Anybody with a new one and could check that?

 

No not Welsh - believe these may have been MOOG but can't remember. I do know with my front end being lowered an inch, the bump stops will take a lot more abuse than normal - so something I need to prepare for int he long run

 

Wayne - cutting board might be an option too and i If I recall someone also mentioned using a hockey puck - will have to search for that one

 

Here's the old thread -cutting board hockey puck and old tires all in one thread - sounds like we may have some options - just have to be willing to do a bit of work. Good thing I haven't tossed the dead Welsh mounts I removed yesterday - may be able to try something over the next few months

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...spacer-104129/

 

For a material, would Delrin be a potential choice. They use it to make suspension bushings. Another choice might be Tivar, another hard plastic material. I've used this before to make mounts for a rear view mirror, and it machines well. Just some ideas...

 

Thickness of mine from britparts is 27 mm (1.06299 inch)
But the bit you see is 17 mm (0.669291 inch).. If that makes sense...
Its the after market foam one...
Could only measure the outer one, the inner one would need the mount taking apart.

 

Good information, and that makes somewhere between 16 and 17 real close.
Got a good place to start, thanks for that. Now to find whats available around here in sheets.
I'll work on the center bushing separately. Don't believe it can be the same material.

 

Since the mention of material change was mentioned, just looked at my parts invoice for the 1st gen. poly mounts purchased in 2015 from Welsh. The poly inner portion was all that came with the part. They were $99.95 + S&H each, plus one had to disassemble the original metal enclosure, clean it of the old foam, then reassemble the new poly part, compress mechanically with bolts and C-Clamp ( I did this step) and bolt or use steel rivets to keep them together for install. This was labor intensive and appears to have held up well as the ride height is still at the factory spec. I did purchased replacement springs to correct my camber problem. Hard to believe that just mass producing the new kits plus adding 2 metal enclosures and the same poly material could have reduced the manufacturing cost enough to allow a price drop to $150/pair incl S&H for current kit. Hope Welsh identifies the culprit and upgrades their offering. The original formula for the poly seemed to be adequate point to begin search.
BTY, my shop mechanical labor rate is just adequate to keep the car on the road. :-)

 

That looks TERRIBLY dangerous...!