Good strut cap bearings?

[paulyg]

My strut caps have ~10k miles on them and the rubber is starting to fail. I’m going to try to dig the receipts/boxes out so I can name and shame. In the meantime, which brands have folks had luck with?

[2002iii]

Unfortunately the quality of rubber parts these days is horrible!! Even parts from the dealership aren't as good as they used to be.

[Mike Self]

The OEM rubber caps on my '69 started to crack within a year of my buying it (new)--and remained that way for something like 29 years without failing.  I replaced 'em when I rebuilt the front suspension...and the replacements started showing stress cracks within a year or so.  But I've not had one fail yet. 

 

They're under constant tension, whether the car is moving or not, so I'm not surprised they stress crack.  Has anyone on the board ever had/seen/heard of one failing?

 

mike

[02tradition]

Pics or it didn’t happen

[2002iii]

5 hours ago, Mike Self said:

The OEM rubber caps on my '69 started to crack within a year of my buying it (new)--and remained that way for something like 29 years without failing.  I replaced 'em when I rebuilt the front suspension...and the replacements started showing stress cracks within a year or so.  But I've not had one fail yet. 

 

They're under constant tension, whether the car is moving or not, so I'm not surprised they stress crack.  Has anyone on the board ever had/seen/heard of one failing?

 

mike

I've heard of only one failing where the strut shaft poked up into the hood making a weird dent that looked like a little circus tent! The mechanic who told me that had been working on 02s for atleast 25 years and that was the only one he'd seen or heard of.

[JohnS]

For these I've always paid for the OEM ones from BMW.  I think the last ones I got were made by Lemforder.  But they cost around $150 per upper strut mount (BMW Part #31331110195)  which is over 3 times the cost of some of the aftermarket ones.

Edited August 13 by JohnS

[Son of Marty]

Are we talking about the strut bearing assembly or the half round plastic caps that seals the top?

[paulyg]

Bearing assemblies.