Aftermarket top hats? Pros/cons?

[FF Drifter]

Just got KWv3 coilovers and it seems that the standard thing to do is to use the OEM top hats. However iLIFT (and possibly other aftermarket vendors I'm not aware of) offers upgraded suspension top mounts. The listed benefits are that the upgraded mounts are lighter/stronger/quieter (this is of particular interest to me since there are multiple posts about the KWv3 being squeaky at times).

But why would weight be an issue? The suspension top mount is 'sprung weight' right? Any weight savings there are marginal.

Stronger is nice of course, but wouldn't the OEM top mounts also be strong enough?

The noise issue is the most compelling for me, but my understanding is replacing the OEM rubber bushings with OEM ones achieves the same thing.

Just trying to justify an upgrade cost here. It is $350 for upgraded top hats and $80 for urethane bushings to put into the OEM top hats. Has anyone had any experience with this particular mod?

 

[Venom2049]

I have those on my set up, worth every penny

 

[FF Drifter]

What is the change though? What, if anything, is improved?

 

[Venom2049]

lighter and not as noisy compared to the oem hats. I was told at the time not to take any pictures nor mention anything about the price

 

[ChrisK]

lighter and not as noisy compared to the oem hats. I was told at the time not to take any pictures nor mention anything about the price

I've ran both OEM now iLift top hats on my KW. The OEM was perfectly fine, just that the iLift one is lighter, had all new bushings vs my 20 year old OEM's at the time, and look nicer. You can't really feel the difference, but they do look more complete and nicer on the KW vs the oversized OEM top hats on the KW. If you can swing it I would get them.

 

[FF Drifter]

Thanks for the input guys; that is helpful.

 

[iLiftSystems]

iLIFT® Top mounts.

They are approximately 50% of the weight of OEM top mounts. They are made out of aluminum and anodized to provide a attractive and durable finish(will not corrode). They utilize urethane bushings that are approximately 50% stiffer than the OEM rubber bushings. This results in less suspension movement from the top mounts compared to the OEM top mounts. In addition, the urethane bushings are designed to support the load of the vehicle (OEM ones are not) and with the iLIFT® Intelligent Suspension Lift Systems. The urethane bushings will not become brittle or wear like rubber does with age. Our top mounts provide many of the benefits of pillow ball top mounts with out the noise, vibration and wear problems associated with pillow ball mounts.*

Our iLIFT® NSX Top Mounts are $350 for a complete set (set of four).

We also offer our iLIFT® High performance urethane bushing set which can be used for the NSX OEM top mounts. This will provide all of the performance benefits of our iLIFT® Top Mounts with out the 50% weight savings.*

Our iLIFT® High Performance Urethane Bushing set is $80 for a complete set(set of four).

For customers who will be installing an iLIFT® Intelligent Suspension Lift System with a coilover that utulizes the OEM Top Mounts (ie: KW V3) then we highly recommend either our iLIFT® Top Mount at $350 or our iLIFT® High Performance Urethane Bushing Set at $80 as they are designed to work with the iLIFT® Systems and support the entire load of the vehicle through the Urethane bushings.

Both our Top Mounts and High Performance Urethane Bushing sets can be used with or without an iLIFT® System. Feel free to contact us to see if they may be appropriate for your application.

Regarding your comments. Yes replacing the old OEM rubber bushings with new ones would address any noise concerns. The replacement rubber bushings would age over time and are not designed to support the entire load of the vehicle(Not optimal when using an iLIFT® System).

Weight wise, yes the weight savings isn't crucial just one of the benefits. The iLIFT® top mounts compared to the Bushings is purely a cosemetic and weight savings choice.

One of the reason we made iLIFT® top mounts are for people who no longer have their OEM Top Mounts but would like to install KW V3s.

please feel free to contact us directly should you have any further questions.

Thank You,

Daniel Lee
Stealth Innovative Systems, LLC
http://iLiftSystems.con
[email protected]
559-GO-iLIFT (559-464-5438)