Evil Aluminum Dog Bone: Care and Feeding of you GM A-Body

The ChevOldsmoBuiac, a 1990 Oldsmobile cutlass Ciera, kills it's torque strut mount every few years. The bushings in the mount, which are cast into the body of the aluminium strut, delaminate and crack, letting the Iron Duke rock back and forth a few degrees, causing the car to lurch into gear and sometimes surge oddly when cresting hills.

This is a bit of an annoyance. The original strut lasted for 15 years or so, and the subsequent 10 have seen 4 mounts. They're only a few dollars each, but it's silly to have that be a wearable part.


I have considered just filling in the cracks and gaps of the old mounts with silicone rubber, but at ~$4 each, the replacements are easy to swap and can be kept on hand as spares.

I've also thought about fabricating my own with more easily replaced bushings. I could drill an 2" aluminum bar and press in a few sway bar bushings. Those are commonly available at the autoparts store and could be easily replaced without waiting for shipping. But then, I'd have to actually make the thing.

So, I keep buying the same old strut mounts.

Old strut. Bushing bulging out of the sides:

New strut mount installed.

Side comparison, showing bulging at the ends.

Profile comparison. Cracks can bee seen around the cores of the old mount.

Comparing the cores up close.

New mount installed.

Spare Anchor 2396 struts (on top of monroe struts!). I have't paid for any of their kids college, but I have paid for a nice dinner.

A Small Difference in Stature: More on Volvo B230 oil filters

I buy oil filters for the cars from Rock Auto in bulk when on sale, and usually in conjunction with other parts. That way filters can be had for a few dollars each at most.

The current set of spares for the Volvo 740 (B230 I-4 engine) are motorcraft.

While the Motorcraft FL-332 filter does spin on as a replacement for the Mann W917, the Motorcraft, is is about 1/2 inch taller. The o-ring is in a slightly different location as well, so I cleaned the mount well to be sure no grit got entrained.

The date on the old filter is correct. The volvo is only driven a few thousand miles per year, so annual oil changes are something of a waste.