Alh jeep swap motor mounting

I have an ALH married to a w56.
The tanny mount is set.*
My question is about mounting the motor
- The alh has a front motor mount from the stock engine. I was thinking about using this. I have seen a few toyota swaps that use this mount. They fab up a bar across the front of the motor and use an isolator at each side.* But it would mean.
#1 This mount will be taking all the tortional force of the motor.
#2 And the total weight of the assembly is hung between the very front of the motor and back of the tranny.
"Less work"
The second method would be to fab a mount on ither side of the motor. "More work"
Note. I'm trying to use the kiss principal "keep it simple stupid".
This front mount/2 isolator setup would be very easy to fab up. I have plenty of room.
It seems to have worked for these others.
But I'm not confidant with it yet. Any body have some pointers?
Thanks

That is how I have my AHU mounted in my wrangler.. Its not uncommon to mount a motor like that in racing applications as well as heavy diesel trucks using what is called a motor plate. That's also a rigid mount. I have even seen a diesel motor mounted at the back of the block where it meets the bell housing and the motor hangs, that was in a garbage truck.

If you look at the Coty kits they basically do the same thing by building a truss to do the job, in addition the purpose of that truss is to hold and move forward all the accessories.
What's key are the isolators that you use. I'm in a rebuild phase and this time around I will use Mercedes mounts instead of the VW ones I used before.

What year, make merc mounts are you referring to.
I was going to use the round ones from an a3 jetta

Ok after some quick searching I'll go for the
Anchor #2698 mounts. .

I am going to use the 300D mounts.

The anchor mount looks about right but if its solid rubber it will transmit a lot of vibration. Ideally you want a viscous dampened one.

https://youtu.be/pLo57fEVH9M


I'm going to do this in my 4runner.

That's a good mount!
My AHU mount was designed around a 15 minute timing belt change but not far off what was done in the video.

This is mine,got rid of the stock upper mount and went with merc, type
hydraulics at the frame and a lowrange type tranfer case mount .Only slight draw back to this is having to get creative with the jacks when pulling the tranny.(propping up back of engine)


edit:Front Range Off road mount...

Ok thanks everyone. Bought some hydraulic type mounts last night. I'll go for it. I'll post a pic when I'm done.

Here's mine in its early stages.. things have changed and are about to change again...

all these mounts look great. where did you guys source the hydraulic mounts from? so i can start looking for mine

Mine were flea bay VW replacements non oem 90.00 for the two.. vibrations were in check but the bottom stud on them has come loose sue to its being pressed in. They came with a rubber umbrella cover on them.. Word is the 300D mounts are the way to go and are similarly anchored.

For the trans I just used to oem Jeep mount as I'm using the oem NV3550.. that mount will be reconstructed as well for the diesel vibrations... then again rebalancing the motor will probably help that too lol.

Getting started

Not familiar with the jeep frame set up,the engine is way back and way low compared
to a Samurai frame.

I see Passatforbus is building a YJ leafspring jeep. Mine is a coil TJ. I wanted things open down low seeing as I have all the 4 links to contend with. In this pic you can see the lower Power steering pump in the oem VW mount..it was moved to the other side because even with a 4" suspension lift it was 3 inches from the axle carrier housing...a guaranteed smash at the first bump.. Its also tight because the frame mount for the upper link is in the way of anything else, i.e. A/C... The true solution is to long arm the jeep. This time around I am moving the PS back to drivers side with my own mounts etc.
The original poster wont have to worry about this as much as it also looks like his axle has a pass side center section.

Yes "all stock" has me all figured out. It's a leafed yj, Chevy dana 44 in the front, passenger drop..
To get the right pinion angle I had top keep the motor low and the tranny high. I'll do a flex test before I final Weld on the motor mounts to make sure there's no interference.
The elephant in the room is my steering shaft between the column and gear box"not in the picture". One of the pulleys is directly in the way. I'm going to have to do a rat rod, multi knuckle steering rod relocation. "That's fancy words for 'figure it out later '".

If its a trail rig only...go hydro steering. You can always clock the transfer case if needed, it will help keep your center of gravity low, every inch matters! Also for a trail rig go with double cardigan joints to help with the angles.

Given the new layout of the motor I don't think most guys consider the oil sump location. Your now angled to move the oil to the front, and even much more the consideration is wheeling. I fashioned my pan like a rwd with a lower well for the pick up so it has a better chance of keeping the oil pump fed given the potential for all kinds of krazy vehicle angles.

My final goal is better economy, jeep daily driver mid life crisis build

lol.. that's how mine came about

What size tires you running

I am running 33's with 4.88's. I think 4.56 would be perfect. I decided when they went in that I would eventually be going with 35's. lol didn't matter as that's going to mean an axle swap anyway..
The 4.10's weren't bad but I felt it lugged around just a little. The TDI actually likes a litte rpm. It pulled a 1200lb camper/trailer from Detroit to just past Vegas on the 4.10's.. 90 miles outside of Vegas it sheared teeth off the ring gear.. That's when it got 4.88's... searched 3 states for a used D44 and couldn't find one right away. So the 35 is all brand new parts...everything!
All said the rpm's on the 4.88's are very easy on it, The 4.10's loved the motors torque and something in between would be perfect...for the 33's... So 35's of 34 and change should be a happy spot for it.

Another thing...Going through the pass outside of Denver with the 4.10's wasn't too bad. I did have to down shift a couple times but that was mainly due to a higher pump IQ and reduced fuel for the trip.. On the way back from CA, up the coast and through the mountains again with the 4.88's I didn't need to down shift at all.
Also just driving around at home with my foot in it everywhere lol... it averaged 28.1 mpg.. a lot better than the 14 of the 4.0l it replaced. Also more than worth the price difference in diesel. This time around I hope to break 30.. All this with 33" swing away spare, ARB Bumper, Winch, stereo, soft top, Linex interior and a heavy Lock box with tools for a back seat. Lots of engine mods too.


The whole jeep was rebuilt new aside from paint. Now the motors out getting rebuilt.

Hope that helps give insight to your plans.

All Stock said:

The TDI actually likes a litte rpm.

Click to expand...

Could you elaborate a bit? What trans are you running?
Reason I ask is I'm about to install some 33s on my MJ (still has the 4.0/AX15 w. 3.54s); obviously gonna need a re-gear. Before I decide on a ratio though I'd like to anticipate where the TDi will like to cruise at ~70mph.

Previously my tach only worked intermittently so I cant give you an exact rpm.. but going by the feel of the motor ...4.56's with 33's and the nv3550 are the way to go. The 4.10s are still doable on 33's but that also depends on how you plan to work/load it. Its not a lugging diesel like a cumins...rather more like a revving powerstroke and duramax if your familiar with those.

Tacked up. Did a flex test. Nothings hitting.
Time to Weld it up

Yes thanks for the insight. This fabbing and measuring angles and stuff is really time consuming, feels like the projects crawling. But after all the fitting it's just slap it togeather right?
I'll definitely bee looking for help come wiring time.

Might want to add some gussets on that vertical piece.

Gussets coming up!

Looks good! I like the lower attachments at the frame. That's what I had in mind for when I redo mine. Torsionally its closer to the centerline of the crankshaft compared to the higher mount I had in place. I think that will reduce the stress on the motor trying to rip apart the mounts. I feel that's been the demise of my mounts. The higher mount is also what the Coty design uses for their truss...and something I had come to reconsider.

passatforbus said:

Tacked up. Did a flex test. Nothings hitting.
Time to Weld it up

Click to expand...

Same concept I used for my Vanagon conversions - I think you will enjoy this a lot!