Pillow Mounts

Hey Dez what are the advantages of pillow mounts on a coilover system?

One word, awesome. I don't use them on my car right now because, I am short money and I have other problems. But most expensive coilover kits use pillow mounts ath the strut towers, which is partly why those kits cost well over 1500$ Depending on what kit you are looking at, some pillow mounts have the ability to adjust your camber and caster at the shock tower, which in my opinion is the best way, and easiest to allign. The pillow mounts ar stronger than the stock shock mounts and bushings,a nd are usually made of alluminum and steel which are a lot stronger than the factory parts.

Some kits dont make use of camber caster adjustment of the pillow ball mounts some do. If you have the money go with the camber/ caster plates, which is the same thing as pillow ball mounts.
http://www.hksusa.com/assets/images/065.jpg
http://www.cobbtuning.com/images/susp-camberplates.jpg
The only bad thing about these kits are the price, usually a good kit will run 200-400 per tower, and they tend to be noisier than the stock mounts. Other than that if you plan on racing, auto x I would highly recomend them. If you can afford them then the next best choice would be
http://www.progressauto.com/images/productand/dragcoilovera.jpg
You can see the poly-urethane bushings on the progress kit, that is the next best thing, along with a good camber kit like K-mac or ingalls.

Cool.. Ive been looking around at Coilover kits cause if I ever do decide to change (again) Thats what I was going to go with.. I noticed that you can get most with or without pillow mounts and the pillow mounts usually run about $400-$500 dollars more.. Im probably not going to do anything for a while.. Id like to get some sort of FI first... I know you have coilovers how are they in everyday driving, are they pretty comfortable?

Did I read somewhere that you have a Turbo now?

I have Neuspeed Bilstein coilovers with hard rubber shock mounts, and kmac camber kits all around.
http://www.dezoris.com/adjustableshock.jpg
http://www.dezoris.com/ball1.jpg
http://www.dezoris.com/ball2.jpg
When all my parts were working, (I have some problems currently)
This kit compared to other suspension setups I have driven is great!! The ride is so smooth, They are self adjusting, which means they stiffen up based on conditions, and can be custom valved, as can most good setups. I personally like the Bilstein Nuespeed over most Koni setups because the ride is so refined for normal driving at resonable ride heights, no more than a 2" drop, below that the ride is still stiff and smooth but, bumps can be jarring. The Konis tend to be stiffer, and more jarring for normal driving, the adjustablity for rebound is nice but for street use, it is all relative, if you were to seriously race, you would want those shocks custom valved to suit your needs, when I say that I mean valved to give you adjustability for bound and rebound etc. These options on more expensive coilovers are useless for the street if you ask me. No coilover setup over 2200$ is worth it unless you race the car weekly or monthly, they are just impractical. To many settings, and not enough experienced shops to allign counter weight, etc.

I bought a turbo kit, custom. Returned the turbonetics t3/t4 because that is just too big of a turbo for the car. I have not installed it because I want to do internals first before I blow my motor.
Rev Hard manifold
Turbonetics wastegate
Blitz BOV
Spearco intercooler
Koyo radiator
Holly fuel pump
Apexi Fuel management
total=3800$
I am broke, so I will be waiting awhile considering internals will cost me at least 1500$ so, whatever. We'll see. Very expensive project.

thanks for the info man...

Hey Dezoris, so am I right in thinking I could get my Apexi WS coilovers and later pick up some pillow ball mounts? Or must the two come together?

By the way, where in IL are you? Just curious.

Actually the WS do not include them, although Apex does make them and may offer them as an option, Iwould highly recommend them, the fully adjustable ones(camber caster), of course. :)

So the mounts are coilover specific and not vehicle specific? You couldnt use, say the Apexi N1 pillow ball mounts with the WS? Sorry to bombard you with questions! :D

Actuallt the N1, mounts may work. You want the match up thge pillow ball mounts with the shock. I would only use Apex pillow mounts with their coilovers. Actually pillow mounts are application specific, and can be used with most shocks. Some require modification the the shockk tower, some don't. If you are really considering them contact apex customer service to see if the WS can use them properly I think so, but you'll be paying more. :)

will an ingalls camber kit paired w/ a good spring/shock setup give you adjustability of camber/caster like those pillow ball mounts?

The ingalls type (a-arm replacement) is a very old setup, but, as I got in a few discussions with BDC about how old does not mean they are not proven. And to be honest, the pillow ball joints are on that point, they are a better technology, but, more people know how to work with the ingalls, and it is easier to install. Adjustability is better with the pillows but, for what you'd do with the shock/spring combo the ingalls type is your best bet IMO, dont throw away your money.

pillowball mounts are pretty useless on most Hondas as they have a double wishbone suspension. the camber/caster settings are only truly appreciated on a macpherson strut type design to allow for true adjustment.

Not true, the benefit of the double wishbone suspension is you can dial in negatrive camber to accomadate race conditions where as, Macphersons, natural design is to maintain a neutral camber, whether you have a kit or not.

Originally posted by Dezoris
Not true, the benefit of the double wishbone suspension is you can dial in negatrive camber to accomadate race conditions where as, Macphersons, natural design is to maintain a neutral camber, whether you have a kit or not.


yes, you can do that with double wishbone... that's the beauty of the design. but not effectively with pillowball mounts. adjustable upper A-arm is the only effective way of changing camber/caster on a double wishbone suspension, but requires a measuing device.

macpherson, like u mentioned, maintaines neutral camber. but to allow adjustability, camber can be changed by chaging the strut mounting point... where the pillowball mount truly begins to shine.


this is why most companies who make pillowball mounts and/or true coilover setups dont make adjustable pillowball mounts for hondas... it's essentially worthless. they prescribe an adjustable upper A-arm.

Its a lot cheaper to do a upper A-arm kit, like the classic Ingalls true and pretty damn effective.
I personally have seen some awesome adjustabilty with pillow ball joints mainly on modified shock towers, if they are not modified, I believe your max adjustailty is only +1 -1 for camber caster is a little more, but what conditions are we messing with caster?

Originally posted by drift



yes, you can do that with double wishbone... that's the beauty of the design. but not effectively with pillowball mounts. adjustable upper A-arm is the only effective way of changing camber/caster on a double wishbone suspension, but requires a measuing device.

macpherson, like u mentioned, maintaines neutral camber. but to allow adjustability, camber can be changed by chaging the strut mounting point... where the pillowball mount truly begins to shine.


this is why most companies who make pillowball mounts and/or true coilover setups dont make adjustable pillowball mounts for hondas... it's essentially worthless. they prescribe an adjustable upper A-arm.
By the way, I am not trying to get in a pissing match with you either :)
just nice to see other people on here talking turkey ;)

Originally posted by Dezoris

By the way, I am not trying to get in a pissing match with you either :)
just nice to see other people on here talking turkey ;)


i know. i'm merely stating what i have found to be true on the autocross course. i'm also currently developing a suspension setup for my latest autocross/road racing car, so a lot of the info i have is still fresh in my mind.


just spittin info i'm pretty sure i know.