New Upgrades (Pics) - Change those engine mounts! Tire dates! Ab's wires rule!

Kmrumedy

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Spring is finally here and decided to do some much needed maintenance and upgrades to my 97 B/W GTS (28,000 miles). I did the following:

1. New tires - upgraded Pilot Sports to new PS2's - It's been said a lot....check your tire codes and dates. The tires that were currently on my car were purchased end of 2004 so I thought I was ok and never bothered to check the dates. The tires looked new and felt sticky. Based on some accidents blamed on bad tires on this forum I checked the dates.....my tires were made in 1999!! The original owner was sold 5 year old tires as new. It pays to check.

2. Changed plugs and wires - AB's wires!!! Qualitywires.com !! OEM plugs. I can't say enough about the quality of this product or the customer service you receive from Adam. Instructions are simple, just change one wire at a time and take your time.


Viper_Upgrades_April_2009_001.jpg


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Question – The little plastic mounts that hold the wires are pretty baked by the heat and quite brittle now. I broke one removing a wire (see pic). What are you guys using to secure the wires? Are you simply replacing the parts with new or some other solution?

Viper_Upgrades_April_2009_019.jpg


3. Changed engine and tranny mounts - Based on threads from this forum I saw all the twisted oem mounts that looked fine until removed and checked. My car was babied by the original owner and I don't drive my car hard. Still I decided to change them as a precaution. You can see by the pictures that they were starting to tear. Not nearly as bad as many others I have seen but I am glad I did it. You can't really tell until you get them off. I decided to replace the old mounts with OEM mounts for now. I researched the Woodhouse mounts which have great reviews, but I don't track or drag my car and didn't want the extra vibration. Now I’ve been driving it for a few days, I think I should have gone with Woodhouse. OEM is fine for now. If you have 96-99 car and haven’t changed your mounts I would really look into it.

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Craig

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Looking good. You notice any difference after this maintenance? My 98 has all the stock stuff still, and has 9,600 miles on it now. I just replaced the factory tires (those things were crazy unsafe) and am getting ready to change the oil and install my new exhaust next weekend.

How bad was the motor/tran mount(s) install?
 
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Kmrumedy

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Looking good. You notice any difference after this maintenance? My 98 has all the stock stuff still, and has 9,600 miles on it now. I just replaced the factory tires (those things were crazy unsafe) and am getting ready to change the oil and install my new exhaust next weekend.

How bad was the motor/tran mount(s) install?

I noticed a little more vibration but I think the mounts just have to settle. It only took about 45 minutes to change using a lift. My local dealer lets me work side by side with his vipertech so its like learning the car with a safety net.

The tires made the biggest difference in handling but essentially the car feels the same way before the upgrades.

What kind of exhaust are you getting? I did RandomTech last year.
 

Craig

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Yeah, motor mounts take a while to get "broken in" I had poly mounts on my old car and the vibrations were rediculous. I'm installing the 3" B&B header back system, which comes with test pipes, so im deleting the cats as well. Car currently is completely stock (not for long :))
 

VIPER BAZ UK

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Get the newer style OE plug wire clips..They are a clamp design, Abs wire do fit but a little tighter...
 

ViperTony

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Also don't forget to check the air pressure on the donut spare in the trunk. :2tu:
 

RobZilla

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The Woodhouse mounts will add very noticable vibration for the first 300-500 miles maybe. The vibration will slowly go away, and you will soon love the upgraded mounts and the feel. The sagging and dipping of the engine and drive line really give the car the feel it should have had all along.

Dont forget the trans mount as well.

:usa:
 

AZTVR

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The Woodhouse mounts will add very noticable vibration for the first 300-500 miles maybe. The vibration will slowly go away, and you will soon love the upgraded mounts and the feel.
Dont forget the trans mount as well.

Same experience here also :2tu:
 

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