Replacing Motor Mounts

[AssBurns]

I broke my motor mounts the other weekend and now I am in the process of replacing them. The passenger side isn't too big of a problem but the drivers side has me a bit stumped regarding the top bolt. I can't seem to find enough room to access the top bolt and get a wrench or ratchet in there to loosen the nut. The only place that has any access is right in front of the shock tower but still not enough I feel like. I was able to get a 14mm ratcheting wrench in there to remove the two lower nuts and bolts on each side. I also used a shorty flex head ratchet with a 17mm socket and a short piece of pipe to break the passenger side loose. Still can't get the drivers side top nut loose!
Any input from someone with experience would be greatly appreciated!
Hoping to replace the broken mounts with the Trail Gear Bomb Proof motor mounts for the Tacoma. Hopefully they fit.

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[T4R2014]

It's going to be tight fit, very tight. Not exactly big on those motor mounts. Poly bushings are way too stiff for motor mounts and it's going to make your 4Runner feel that much more like a rattlely banger. Also, if you're doing motor mounts then the transmission mounts s is a good idea as well,

 

[fourfive]

I broke my motor mounts the other weekend and now I am in the process of replacing them. The passenger side isn't too big of a problem but the drivers side has me a bit stumped regarding the top bolt. I can't seem to find enough room to access the top bolt and get a wrench or ratchet in there to loosen the nut. The only place that has any access is right in front of the shock tower but still not enough I feel like. I was able to get a 14mm ratcheting wrench in there to remove the two lower nuts and bolts on each side. I also used a shorty flex head ratchet with a 17mm socket and a short piece of pipe to break the passenger side loose. Still can't get the drivers side top nut loose!
Any input from someone with experience would be greatly appreciated!
Hoping to replace the broken mounts with the Trail Gear Bomb Proof motor mounts for the Tacoma. Hopefully they fit.

Was a very tight fit trying to access the driver side top nut on the motor mount but I was able to ease my way to it through the wheel well just above the shock tower. I used a 3/8 flex head socket wrench. Also managed to reach it with my flex head torque wrench to torque it to spec. Did you lift your engine by the oil pan or did you use an engine lift?

 

[AssBurns]

I was able to get them out with a flex head ratchet behind the rear of the shock tower. Took some work but I got it out. Getting the new ones in are a whole new issue. I can't get them to line up with the motor. It got dark as I was trying to put the new mounts in so I decided to give up until the morning. The motor seems to want to pull towards the drivers side too much to get it all lined up properly. Hoping get it done tomorrow morning.
I used a floor jack with a wood block supporting the oil pan.


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[1985taylor1925]

How did they brake?

 

[AssBurns]

How did they brake?

Not sure if there was a specific incident or just from off-roading a lot.


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[AssBurns]

Had a little trouble getting the drivers side mount on last night and was able to tackle it pretty easy this morning. I pulled the passenger side mount off and left the drivers side on and let the motor down so the passenger side dropped really low. This let the engine pull further to the passenger side enough to line up the drivers side. Bolted the drivers side up, lifted the motor, and the passenger side lined up perfectly. Don't know why it didn't want to line up the other way but it worked doing the drivers side first. As for the engine vibrations with the poly mounts, I probably would have never noticed the increased vibrations if nobody said anything. The vibration is not that noticeable with our smooth running V6's. I am overall very happy with these mounts so far. It really tightens up the feel of the vehicle and adds a little more responsiveness. I actually broke both motor mounts! My engine must have been bouncing around quite a bit. Now I will have to do the transmission mount soon.

Passenger side isn't too bad for access.

Drivers side was a little harder.

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[W4R123]

Nice work! I need to do this to my 4Runner as well and this is great information.

 

[AssBurns]

Well! That didn't last long! Since I wasn't able to go off-roading over the last couple weeks because of the motor mounts, so I went up the mountain to test out the new mounts and new bump stops. Things were going great. Motor mounts added some response and bump stops felt amazing. I pulled into my driveway and something didn't feel right or sound right. I noticed the fan was rubbing the fan shroud and figured the mounts were just shorter than stock. I looked at the motor mounts just to double check things were still good. The trail gear mounts looked great but...
Where the motor mounts bolt to the frame were broken. FML I'm going to probably have to pull the motor to fix this.

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[Tyler James Inc]

Wtf?!
That's pretty strange the ears broke off the frame pads like that.
Do you do a lot of serious "shocking" to your drivetrain off-road or what? Even on serious crawlers, that's not a common spot to break.


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[AssBurns]

Wtf?!
That's pretty strange the ears broke off the frame pads like that.
Do you do a lot of serious "shocking" to your drivetrain off-road or what? Even on serious crawlers, that's not a common spot to break.


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I don't feel like I do anything that crazy but I do push things pretty hard. I think what happened was the factory mounts were both broken, allowing the engine to rise and smack back down with more energy that it would every typically see under most conditions. Once I bolted the new mounts on, it completely broke. I found out they were broken before I even took it off-roading today. I didn't notice any cracks while I was working on it but I actually got a picture of the completed project showing the tab actually broken before I ever took it out. Too bad I didn't notice it before I took off.
I am going to end up buying a set of DMZ Tacoma motor mount perches. http://dmzfab.com/product/tacoma-motor-mount-perches/


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[T4R2014]

That was what I was suspecting would happen. These frames aren't thick and when you bolt on these excessively beefy aftermarket parts, that is usually how your failure point looks like. But your old mounts may have already caused the metal to fatigue anyway.

 

[SinisterGrin]

Damn... I was considering putting those motor mounts on my 4Runner... Sorry to hear that

 

[AssBurns]

Damn... I was considering putting those motor mounts on my 4Runner... Sorry to hear that

Pretty sure the failure had nothing to do with the upgraded mounts. The perch was actually was broken when I put them on and somehow didn't catch it. I took a few pictures after install and didn't look at any of them until last night. One of the pics show the perch was broken at installation.

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[SinisterGrin]

I've got to pull my motor out to reseal everything... looking at early January and starting a list of parts that need to be replaced. I am definitely putting new motor mounts on... I'm just torn between those mounts and the OEM. I am concerned about the vibration, but I may have to look into those aftermarket tabs you are going to install.

 

[SinisterGrin]

Do you know anyone who has installed the DMZ Tacoma motor mount perches? I have a friend who has a metal fab. shop and can usually cut me a pretty good deal on anything I need to have welded.

 

[Tyler James Inc]

Oh! Okay, now that makes sense. I guess I was wrong about that not being a common breaking spot- I've never heard of that.
But now that you say they were broken before, that makes sense.
Those DMZ perches are nice too [emoji1360]


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[AssBurns]

Do you know anyone who has installed the DMZ Tacoma motor mount perches? I have a friend who has a metal fab. shop and can usually cut me a pretty good deal on anything I need to have welded.

The only person I've seen use them (well not the DMZ ones but I guess he got some similar custom ones from someone at Camburg) is some guy on Tacoma World that has a LT tacoma and had the same issue. I can make something similar but I don't want to waste any time fabricating when I can purchase these ones that look good and are ready to weld on. I have two trips this month that I need to be ready for in like a week.


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[AssBurns]

Got the new motor mount perches welded up. I pulled the front differential, CV's and pulled the steering rack out of the way. This gave me just enough room to cut, grind, and weld. Didn't get any pictures besides a couple of after I cut the old perches off and ground everything smooth. Took about a total of 8 hours worth of work. It wasn't anything ridiculously hard but it was still enough work that I never want to have to do it again. These perches should hold up to just about any abuse I could possibly put it through. Next on the list is the transmission mount.

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[jkeith.w]

So you were able to do it without R&R the engine? Did you use a fender hoist?