Needing some input from the collective mind. I currently have Whiteline Com-C's on the car and I'm on the third set. Granted, these have lasted longer than the others and Whiteline have been great at replacing them in the past, I'm also a bit bored of stripping the suspension down to replace them each time!

So what (tried and tested) options are there as an alternative for normal struts and springs (using Koni inserts) which give additional caster but are less creaky and cracky than the Whitelines?

 

How many miles has this last set lasted?

Had the rubber bowed upward? Allowing the perch to contact the top mount?

Was it the latest version? 10.9 stamped on the head of the fixing studs and the Koyo 6302z SEALED bearings?

49N/m torque setting for the centre nut?

Is the centre nut washer or flanged head of the centre nut no larger than 24mm diameter? So as to not contact the bearing around the centre sleeve - this can sometimes happen if the flanged nut or washer are not perfectly flat.

 

I have the same set up on my WRX for the last 3 years and on 2 different cars without issue. When I had the alignment last done by Peter Cambridge he commented on how well balanced they were.

What springs are you using?

 

Hi 2Pot,

How many miles has this last set lasted?
- Less than 10k, albeit 18months of Scottish conditions with perma-salt through the winters.

Had the rubber bowed upward? Allowing the perch to contact the top mount?
- Ever so slightly, and there's evidence of perishing/micro fractures around them where the central metal insert is joined to the rubber, but they're not in the league of bowing that I've seen in various photos online from other forums.

Was it the latest version? 10.9 stamped on the head of the fixing studs and the Koyo 6302z SEALED bearings?
- They were the latest version as of summer 2018, direct from the UK distributor. The first set I had were silver, and the bearings on these cracked and pinged from the off with STI inverted struts and springs. The second set lasted better but still failed in the same way. These latest ones are black and have the sealed bearings on them.

49N/m torque setting for the centre nut?
- Yeah.

Is the centre nut washer or flanged head of the centre nut no larger than 24mm diameter? So as to not contact the bearing around the centre sleeve - this can sometimes happen if the flanged nut or washer are not perfectly flat.
- It's the stock WRX setup of spring perch and washers, with S05 springs. It's only in the last 1k miles it's started to make the same cracking sound the first ones made. I'll pull it all apart and have a look when I get a chance but as I'm pretty busy at the moment I was thinking it would be nice to have something else I could just put in there instead when I rebuild it.

 

After 3 months , with the new koyo bearing …. so im told

 

I've never had an issue - I believe there's a 3 year warranty.
I know they changed to 10.9 grade studs, because they were snapping when over torqued.
They've gone through 3/4 bearing versions - finally a sealed Koyo bearing.

Is the cone washer being put in correctly: between the spring perch and the top mount? Upside down would tear the rubber/cause the bearing to fail.

 

I'd go and check mine to compare but the car got t-boned at a junction on Tuesday.

 

The one with the Koni struts?

 

Yes. And the PCA springs. And the Whiteline top mounts. And the AP 4 pots And the rebuilt rear calipers with stainless steel pistons. And the freshly fitted Bugeye seats. And the refurbed mint STi alloys.....etc

 

 

Write off?

 

https://www.scoobynet.com/1049799-ne...r-wagon-5.html

Save clogging up this thread,

 

I hope it is more of a fitment issue and not down to the white line parts as I'm currently in the middle of having mine refurbed with new Ultra SRs and WA/W2 springs, and the white line top mounts. I ordered them through the Whiteline website to make sure I got the latest ones.

Ian

 

Do these increase NVH much over the stock mounts? As long as they haven‘t failed of course..
I‘m looking at getting a set, too.

 

Having done both I can't recommend the com c over solid top mounts.
My car felt Alot more solid on the road and much less spongy, much better turn in and generally more crisp and pointy.
All though that's only my opinion.

 

have supplied the Whiteline Com-C mounts (and others) for years with no issue or comebacks..............

 

That‘s good to hear. It seems people on here that work with them frequently don‘t see too many problems.

 

buy them from the 'right' place and ensure they aren't spoofs.............

 

Much though you’re clearly an excellent engineer and work with a lot of high performance cars and put out some great work, I’m really not convinced by your attitude to problems a lot of the time. Stating you’ve sold lots with no issue is perhaps fact, perhaps not, but then extrapolating out from that to infer that the failures must have been installed wrong, or are fakes, or have been used incorrectly is a bit frustrating and would put me off using your services.

I’ve had three sets of these as stated, one set warrantied through the shop I got them from (who had whiteline uk send the replacements direct to me) and the second replacement set I just spoke to whiteline direct who sorted the replacement. So the actual backup is great, and I’ll happily buy other whiteline parts, but not these. They’ve been assembled correctly, and function fine...until they start failing, and yes, the conical washer is the correct way round. . This instance may well be totally unrelated but given the symptoms are identical to the last two failures one would have to make the assumption that it won’t be unrelated, hence me looking at alternatives.

Are there any alternatives to these plates? I see whiteline also do the Max-C plates. What’s the reliability of these like in road use? Presumably they’re better sealed/use higher quality bearings to the budget coil over market like BC?

 

Have you done the free castor mod on the arms?

 

Of course if someone says they supplied or installed a part with no issues that doesn‘t necessarily mean they get to hear if the part fails later on. No doubt there‘s been some quality or design issue in the past and probably now but it can‘t be all the time otherwise people would know, right?
Maybe we should get a whiteline rep to comment on this.

 

Yeah, did that early on.

Very true, there are plenty of times I break stuff and just bin/repair myself either because something’s out of warranty or it’s just easier to do stuff myself.

These whiteline parts do seem particularly prone to failure, even the new ones, although the rate does seem a lot lower than it was five or more years ago if you’re going with anecdotal and web evidence. But it experience is my experience, hence wanting to look at alternatives.

 

sorry but I have made a (true) statement based on our dealings with this particular product - I haven't referenced yourself and don't doubt that you have had some issues BUT that isn't our experience so not sure how or why i would be able to comment on that without some direct involvement
I simply tell it how it is, I don't and never have done ''spin' so not sure what other issues or problems you think I have the 'wrong' attitude to??

we have seen and been brought many counterfeit items that are very clever in their appearance...........

there are other options but not an off-set 'rubber' type...........

 

Alyn i still have mine can i send them to you to see if you think they knock offs.?
Quite a big uk company sold them to me and refunded me when i sent them the pic of the split rubber.

 

intrigued why we have never seen this then................have dealt with Whiteline for too long to remember............

bearing in mind these are designed to be run as a 'fast road' upgrade and may not cope with aggressive loads from competition / track style use as they are ultimately a plain bearing just as a std version.........Pillowball mount will cope far better in this scenario

 

Definitely not tracking my car, fast road albeit rough, and it does get some stick. However, the road use would dissuade me away from pillow ball given they're generally not as well sealed/suited to salty environments.

I've just discovered Pedders offer an equivalent of the Whiteline product. Has anyone use these in the real world for reasonably hard driving (i.e not low, slammed and for ferrying your kids around town)?

 

Mine have failed in under 2 years on a spec C hatch, bought directly from Redranger, never tracked, and promptly replaced without asking for proof, which is odd. They are simply not up to the job on any "rawer" versions of cars, in my opinion. Given that their rack bushes disintegrated in 9 months, and their arbs and droplinks rust within 3 months for me, it's time that responsible agents of Whiteline actually started listening to their customers when they complain about quality, and relating that dissatisfaction back to Whiteline Redranger . At least Scoobyworx acknowledged to me that the quality was not the same as Superpro

 

Here's the rack bushes that lasted 9 months and were picked up at MOT testing. I find it hard to believe that sellers of this manufacturer are unaware of the poor quality, and willing to defend them. Perhaps the profit margin on cheap goods is too good?

 

Well strangely enough I’ve just noticed that my top mounts are cracked in the same place but maybe a lot worse. Been on the car maybe 2 or 3 years but covered about 5000 miles. I’ll post pics tomorrow

 

They will replace them without questions, and you can't fault their customer service, BUT the mount is clearly an inferior product, and the feedback on here is clearly true.