DaveInSaltLake

I've found it pays to call the online parts suppliers to have them verify the parts are stamped "Made in Germany", or at least not stamped "Made in China".

Also, I've called a few parts suppliers to verify their ignition switches have the Audi log on them. Haven't found one yet that does besides the dealers.

If they won't take the time to pull the part and look at it then it's a pretty big indication of their overall customer service.

VAP

<center><img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/711/cmount.jpg"></center><p>
as this is what I've seen happen only twice in my Audi tenure of 28 years.

Both mounts are from same car however separated mount is from drivers side. Unlike small-chassis mounts the C-chassis mount is heavily reinforced/biased from going upwards thru the strut towers while the B4 and earlier small chassis mounts are more reinforced/biased towards preventing the mounts being pulled out of the strut towers.

I "believe" the original C-Chassis mounts to be Lemfoerder brand name but wouldn't surprise me to find out Sachs/Boge to have taken over productuion today. I go one step beyond you're preventitive precautions when ordering "high stress" parts like strut mounts. I eliminate the sellers claims from the equation altogether as it relates to verbal assurances of "made in Germany." I insist on ONLY the OEM/Audi original part and accept NO substitutions whatsoever, under ANY circumstances... EVER!

Mounts in this pic are pictured "upside-down" except for the separated center bore on left which is shown right-side up for clarity. I'm showing the bottom side of mounts so you can see on right mount the big, thick, "steel" base of the mount that overlaps the mount bore OD casting walls. This is the insurance policy that prevents the mount from being pushed up and out of it's housing and thru the top of the strut tower. But there's little-to-no provision beyond rubber that keeps it from being pulled "out" of the strut tower from underneath. One good "frontal bump" on a tire with a tired, fatigued old, high mileage strut mounts and old control arm bushings could easily deflect the the tire and lower control arm assembly rearwards and thus easily pull/separate the mount inner bore bushing from the cast outer mount bore as did happen in the case with pics above and I suspect of the car in this thread. However this car was rebuilt and not written off as a "total" by the insurance company. Of course that was a '94 UrS4 in the year 2000.

DaveInSaltLake

that's border on the unbelievable!

VAP

post might have some believing. Firstly I don't believe these things just "pull out" while driving down the road... Chinese or OEM. I think it takes a pretty good "whallop" to the front tire that moves that tire rearwards and causes the mount inner sleeve to tear and "shear" it's internal rubber. I do believe the Chinese mounts to have a softer-more shear-prone durometer rubber and thusly could easily shear/tear sooner. Tho a worn German mount would stand little chance against such an event as well. But I don't think this kinda thing happens without a contributing factor like that frontal tire whallop that sets all the dominos in-place for the inevitable fall. That "whallop" could've happened simultaneously to the catastrophic failure or days, weeks or months previously which then puts the car on borrowed time until the next time which then becomes "the straw that stroked the camel's sack."

There's also a good reason for making struts that are are designed for easier "one-way" escape from the strut towers. It's to prevent/minimize collateral damage. If a strut is locked in from both directions it necessitates strut tower damage when this happens in either a "push" or "pull" situation. The current design prevents that in half those situations making the lesser-offending/easier separating incident cheaper to fix. Same way strut bar bolts are designed to shear at a specific impact load. That prevents the "hit" side of a side-frontal impact from transferring that damage to the opposite strut tower.

But I'm convinced the car in this post hit something with the front wheels pretty hard and likely in advance of this incident. Maybe months ahead or 20 minutes, but "something." I don't believe the car just raised up it's front-end and separated from the strut on "that" stretch of highway as it's just too smooth. I "think" this car was waiting for just the right combination of events and when all those things were right, "sh*t happened."

DaveInSaltLake

in your opinion? This is how I found my 1992 100 when I pulled the plastic strut mount covers. And one of the several reasons I've formed a specific opinion about a local indy shop that maintained 2 of my cars long term for previous owners.
<img src="http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f174/DavesData2/1992%20Audi/Strut%20Mounts/Strutmount1sm.jpg" border="0">&lt;br /&gt;
<img src="http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f174/DavesData2/1992%20Audi/Strut%20Mounts/Strutmount2sm.jpg">&lt;br /&gt;

VAP

Tho if you hit a curb head-on at 35MPH or so with a front tire it'll pull anything you could stack on top of the strut mount out thru the bottom like it was GREASED!!

Alaska A6

Mance's picture is exactly what it looked like. I don't have the car anymore, it was totaled by the insurance company. Also, if any one's wondering, I replaced the mount exactly as I took it off. I didn't discard any washers or other items!