http://www.bmrfabrication.com/F3-chassis.htm What does everyone think of the design? +/-?

 

Looks pretty stout to me.. however I am only basing it on looks alone.

 

saw that today too, looks like a really good design to me(better then the PA), half to wait to get some feedback from people using it.

Justin

 

$500 for questionable welds, nope

 

wow i need to get one from some company so much space savings.

 

where do the springs mount too on top???

 

You have to order it with them on it, in the pic it shows them using them without them with a coilover.

Justin

 

BMR has a rep for questionable welds?

 

Yep. Go search LS1Tech.com

A couple of k-members and I believe a control arm or two.

[edit] AND you have to use their A-arms. $940+ for a mild steel drag racing k-member and a-arms with spring perches? Hahahahaha... hahaha.

 

They have more pics on there website now...







Looks good but I really don't like the engine mounts. They should have left the plate where you can mount your own so you can run custom mounts or mounts for a LS1. But it looks like they are coming out with a version that does have the stock mounts so we will just have to wait and see.

 

That's the first aftermarket 3rd gen K-member that looks even remotely well built. Is it lighter then the stock one?

 

I have to agree.....It's an impressive looking piece.
Why would it not work with other a-arms?

 

does anyone have any more info about the quality of these things. I've done some searching and it looks like broken k-members were in their first release and that later units have been reinforced in weak areas.

It also seams they customer service was very good about handling and replacing failed ones, but I still wouldn't want one to snap while making a corner at 80 mph.

They also stated that you cannot use these with factory a-arms. Can they be used with a-arms from other manufacturers, like Spohn? Or are we forced to buy the k-member along with BMR a-arms?

 

$600 for a K-member and spring perches? That sounds insane.

If they don't work with stock A-arms, they probably won't work with Spohn A-arms since his are designed to work with stock pieces..

 

the BMR A-arm (angled cross-bar) looks as if it is designed to clear the K-member. I dont think the Spohn arms would work because it seems like the true A-arm design would interfer.

 

That's really not bad at all if it is truly stronger then the other brands and if it can live up to street use. I am not saying that this piece can but it definitely seems better then all the other k-members on the market for our cars.

 

How many are available? Its just this one, PA Racing, and maybe ProFab? Does Pro Fab make one for our cars? That sounds familiar. But there aren't that many options I guess.

 

AJE also.

 

Pro Fab and PA Racing are identical. AJE makes one also. AFAIK there's only 4 choices (3 different designs). I like everything about the BMR one except engineering it to work with only his arms. That's pretty lame!

 

that thing looks pretty tough. the only way i see that breaking is if there is a ****ty weld or somethin, you cant see penetration.

 

seems a bunch of BMR PHB's broke at the welds. Looked into it once, i will not buy BMR!

 

BMR is not a cut rate brand - they offer a good value for the price. I have had them( STB, PHR, LCAs) on my 2K SS for over 4 years with absolutely no problems. The failure you hear about is usually only a few rare cases in road race ( like silverstate) or extreme autocross situations - I have never heard of their products failing on the street. And the failure rate was a very low instance - not tring to stick up for the brand just saying BMR is by no means crap or even low end. Just seemed like this was turning into a BMR is junk - like inter-nut- hype type of thread.

And yes it sucks you couldn't use that with the Spohn Front lca's

I would be happy that there are finally companies comming out with some trick stuff for thirdgens- the mustang f*gs have been able to get this type of stuff for 15 years

 

I would be happy if we could finally get a company that made one that was strong enough to use in a competition situation that didn't only involve a straight line (and used other manufacturers parts interchangably)...

 

They say they're working on it currently

 

www.racecraft.com also offers one. theyre so close i should go down and check them out, but im lazy, going with pro fab more then likely

 

Doesn't look possible to mount a pinto or mustang rack,
and the cross-bar is too far back. One of the benefits of the pa/profab k is the bar is far forward, which gives you some options for oil pan and exhaust.

So what's good about it ?

 

I too have used BMR for many many years and have been completely satisfied with thier products. This does look like a very well manufactured (strengthwise) piece.

 

I don't know why BMR has such a bad rep on these boards. EVERY brand suspension products have broken. It doesn't mean the brand as a whole as bad. Every brand makes a few factory defects, yes some brands more then others but no one has the statistics on how many products have broken per brand so these arguments are not very valid. There is a lot of thing many people don't realize for example some people have broken Sphon's products like there control arms but the posts were deleted a few hours after then came up. You can't say something is going to break if it's brand new and no one has even tried it yet, let alone broken it.

It says on there site they are making a version that will work with the pinto rack... http://www.bmrfabrication.com/F3-chassis.htm

 

I've said it before...I haven't had any luck at all with Spohn products lining up to any holes on any of the 3rd gens I've workied on over the years where BMR has always fit. I swore them off as well. He may be a great guy but I could care less for his product. I even called and asked about his wonderbar and a trans crossmember once and he told me thats normal to have to massage a hole to have to get it to bolt in. TDS isn't that way and works very well.
No part is ever perfect and we can argue all day long about parts we 'heard' failed. If they were, GM would have gotten the car perfect right off the bat and it'd never need any modding.
I for one am going to try the BMR unit and let you guys know how it goes. I don't drive my car daily though so my results will not match what some of you are looking for.

 

I'd give this a shot, but I did some searching on ls1tech as the guys above suggested and there was one person who had the k-member snap while he was parking the car.

He heard a clunk, saw what it was and towed the car home. Now image the same failure going 100 mph around some corner.

 

I wouldn't rule out BMR because of a few failures. Consider how many parts they've sold and I'm sure they have a better ratio than what GM has. From my understanding, it's been a while since they've had a failure and I'm sure they resolved the issue. They're well made parts. Keep in mind, good welders are not hard to find.
Steve Spohn also makes excellent products. If he ever made a k-member....I'd have no hesitation on using it for whatever application.
Like stated before though, even Steve's parts aren't bulletproof.

 

I havent heard of any GM PHB's or K members failing!!! I don't think a few failures is acceptable when your building these parts to go fast, quite the opposite. I have no real preference as far as parts go, but i have head of the BMR failures, if others have failed i'd like to know.

As far as weldors, i think a better statment is that weldors aren't hard to find, but good ones are!

 

Wow that looks sweet I wonder if this would work with air ride with the spring perches.

 

i seen several of them and they all look the smae plus some of them are cheaper

 

i seen several of them and they all look the smae plus some of them are cheaper

 

perosnally, I don't question the welds on BMR's parts one bit. I know the guy who is their welder. He has a very good rep. around this area. He has done some welding for me, personally before and his welds always look great and I have had no problems with them.

 

im just wondering if since this k member requires use of their a arms will a spohn front coilover kit work along with everything? or do i need to use the spohn a arms too??

 

i'm pretty sure it wouldn't make any difference since the coil over just goes over the strut, and mounts to the spindal. A-arms wouldnt make any difference.

 

S&W Seems to have a setup also! Along with a complete 82-92 line that looks good from the ad pics.

I think this BMR piece looks great. I like the engine mounts.

 

The S&W one is AJE.