Marlin's Home-made "MarMount" - HD Engine Mount Details
Marlinize your stock good or broken Toyota mounts with minimal cost!

Another thing you can do with your engine mounts is what Marlin does and that is to transform a factory Toyota mount into a one-way heavy duty engine mount. This has been discussed before, but essentially Marlin modifies a stock engine mount -- good or broken doesn't matter -- by passing a long bolt straight through the center of the mount taking the place of the stud that attaches to the engine bracket. This forms a solid connection between the upper and lower plates surrounding the stock rubber isolator/dampener. In this configuration the mount is unable to expand (due to the very high tensile strength of the bolt) but is able to compress (as the bolt is free to pass through the engine bracket under compression). Therefore, when used on the driver's side, which is the side that sees the most amount of torque (pulling the stock mount apart) and consequently the highest failure rate of stock mounts, Marlin's design restricts movement under acceleration -- mimicking HD mounts -- but operates like a normal mount under compression without nearly the same harshness. It's a one-way HD mount, ideal in operation as it is only "HD" in the direction of applied engine torque.

Update: I forgot to include that Marlin adds a thick nylon washer so you can torque down the nut while limiting vibrations sent through the bolt.

Marlin's idea also provides lateral support because the bolt is torqued in place with the nut thus limiting the upper and lower plates from sliding
or moving laterally about one another. This is not as rigid as a true HD mount but again it provides an additional restriction that was lacking in the stock mount. I run dual Marlin HD mounts in my truck, both of which were previously broken mounts that Marlin restored back to life. The lateral control from Marlin's modified Toyota engine mounts are so much improved that my water pump no longer contacts my electric fan when I'm in a very steep climb. It's the best of both worlds: Improved strength without the vibrations of a HD mount ... but yet only at the cost of a bolt and a few washers!

Marlin even carries spare parts to rebuild broken mounts on the trail using his improved design:


Seen here holding the now Marlin-ized rebuilt stock broken mount ready to be reinstalled. The threaded stud you see is not a stud at all, rather it is Marlin's long one-piece thru-mount bolt joining the two engine mount plates together:


Regards,
BigMike

could you post a link to the original thread by big mike? subscribed. I'm trying to figure out if you are welding your motor mount solid and why you would do that? Very interested though.