Reviving the thread to offer more thought on the subject.
The concept being discussed is to replace the stock Fiat top strut mounts with a more robust design from some other vehicle. In the example above they are from a early Ford Focus front suspension. The overall size of the Focus mounts is close to the Fiat ones. But there are two aspects of their design I don't care fore. One is the way most of it is located below the actual mounting surface on the chassis (strut tower tops). This lowers the strut relative to the body, raising the ride height of the car. To counteract that you would need to shorten the spring length (or otherwise lower the car), which reduces suspension travel. The other aspect I don't care for is the deep cup on the bottom on these mounts. A custom "filler" piece must be machined to allow the X's strut to rest solidly under the mount.
Here is my point in pictures:
The mount hangs down low...
This effectively raises the body by the distance between the lines.
The area where the arrow points to...
must be filled with something like this...
Ideally another top mount - from another vehicle - could be sourced with a shape / design that better fits the X's struts. I came across some pics of one that will help illustrate what I mean:
The bottom view shows how this mount is almost flat with the tops of the towers...
That will locate the top of the strut up higher, helping to lower the car's ride height without losing suspension travel. You will also notice is has a nice robust bearing built into it. This would serve the same function as the custom steering bearing from Mark Plaia.
Top view shows how it extends up toward the raised area on the top of the X's strut tower...
They even have a nice dust "boot" cap for it...
I do not have any dimensions for this particular part, so no idea how well it would fit on the X. The overall size might be too large, the raised portion may be too big, the shaft diameter might not be correct, etc. But you can see how a design like this would be a better fit as a substitute top mount.
My intent here is to open up more thoughts for another option to do what was previously accomplished with the Ford mount, only do it more effectively.
