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.