If you Drag Race, PLEASE weld your axle tubes.

[BMR Tech]

As I am going by a picture, nothing else. I haven't seen a video or anything else like that. So I could very rightfully be wrong, but in my opinion it doesn't look that way. Just some food for thought I suppose.

I do however wonder why many think that welding the tubes are enough on these cars, should have been braced accordingly or it's just asking for trouble sort of like this scenario. Now I'm not sure if it was or wasn't braced, but if it wasn't it should have been.

I think the main reason is because, many people have been going very quick and very fast for YEARS on welded tubes.

If the penetration is there - and everything is proper.....then they should not twist. You should get deflection fore/aft...and maybe a bent tube, before twisting, if it is welded properly.

Our 2011 GT cuts 1.3 sixties, with our LCA Brackets.....with no welds on the tubes. We also have the stock 2-piece DS. We typically don't fix or replace something until we break it.

 

[BeachMonkey100]

But knowing the fact or possibility that something like that could occur, or in this case has occurred why not brace it to prevent anything like that happening? There is no guarantee that it will stay together. I mean this is racing anything can happen, I been there plenty of times when stuff can go wrong and has gone wrong, but why risk something like that when you could of possibly prevented it?

And for as letting it go until something breaks you fix it, lets make up a scenario what if that were you in the car and that happened, would you brace an axle/housing now that it "twisted" and caused you to total your car?

I'm not trying to be foolish, just simply thinking outside of the box before someone could get hurt or even killed. Guy is lucky no doubt, but it could have been worse.

All in all, everyone would need more pictures and explanation of what happened before a final conclusion could be reached. Like I said, I haven't seen the video other than a short 15 second clip of someone standing at the end of the track that didn't show much except a car looking somewhat straight and then barreling left towards a wall.

 

[BMR Tech]

But knowing the fact or possibility that something like that could occur, or in this case has occurred why not brace it to prevent anything like that happening? There is no guarantee that it will stay together. I mean this is racing anything can happen, I been there plenty of times when stuff can go wrong and has gone wrong, but why risk something like that when you could of possibly prevented it?

And for as letting it go until something breaks you fix it, lets make up a scenario what if that were you in the car and that happened, would you brace an axle/housing now that it "twisted" and caused you to total your car?

I'm not trying to be foolish, just simply thinking outside of the box before someone could get hurt or even killed. Guy is lucky no doubt, but it could have been worse.

All in all, everyone would need more pictures and explanation of what happened before a final conclusion could be reached. Like I said, I haven't seen the video other than a short 15 second clip of someone standing at the end of the track that didn't show much except a car looking somewhat straight and then barreling left towards a wall.

I hope you realize, and are aware - that I am the one who started this thread to warn people of this issue.

I am a firm believer, that if the tubes are welded properly on most people's cars....that tube twisting will not occur.

As for our cars, preventative steps, etc.....you hit it on the head. It is racing. If our tubes twist, and the car totals out....then we lose a car and hopefully not a life.

But if you get technical, it can apply to anything. We had a MT Drag Radial pop on us, due to a defect. We have had engines fail, causing the tires to get oiled....I mean, what may be the proper steps for one person, may not apply to the next. We have been racing our car in NMRA for 4 years now, successfully. Our car has over 300 passes, and may make 300 more before anything fails. It is the chance we take.

 

[19COBRA93]

All along I've been the guy saying welded tubes are all you need. But, even though I question the cause of the failure above, I'm now considering additional support on my own car. I race all the time, my car is a big part of me, and I have a lot to live for besides that. So I think before I find out my welded tubes weren't enough, I'm going to add some more reinforcement. Because why not.

 

[BMR Tech]

^ I agree with ya

 

[BeachMonkey100]

I hope you realize, and are aware - that I am the one who started this thread to warn people of this issue.

I am a firm believer, that if the tubes are welded properly on most people's cars....that tube twisting will not occur.

As for our cars, preventative steps, etc.....you hit it on the head. It is racing. If our tubes twist, and the car totals out....then we lose a car and hopefully not a life.

But if you get technical, it can apply to anything. We had a MT Drag Radial pop on us, due to a defect. We have had engines fail, causing the tires to get oiled....I mean, what may be the proper steps for one person, may not apply to the next. We have been racing our car in NMRA for 4 years now, successfully. Our car has over 300 passes, and may make 300 more before anything fails. It is the chance we take.

I am aware that you did create it, and thankful you did, most never think to have them welded or braced, or both. Which ever they prefer.

Exactly, the word "properly" most that get them done aren't proper from what I have seen around the tracks and or shows. You can't just burn a weld on something and think it will hold, proper penetration and root pass are the two most important things when trying to hold something like that. But I also believe that trying to weld cast and thinking it will hold indefinitely with GMAW is inferior, most of the time it will weaken and looks tensile strength by a degree. Those are factors to include in as well. That's why personally I would have a brace on it. There are many ways to skin a cat in this situation though..

And that's correct, no matter what steps had been taken, something is always liable to be broken, spilled, blown, etc. It's part of racing which some will never understand, but again like you said, it's a chance we all take and live by.

 

[BMR Tech]

I am aware that you did create it, and thankful you did, most never think to have them welded or braced, or both. Which ever they prefer.

Exactly, the word "properly" most that get them done aren't proper from what I have seen around the tracks and or shows. You can't just burn a weld on something and think it will hold, proper penetration and root pass are the two most important things when trying to hold something like that. But I also believe that trying to weld cast and thinking it will hold indefinitely with GMAW is inferior, most of the time it will weaken and looks tensile strength by a degree. Those are factors to include in as well. That's why personally I would have a brace on it. There are many ways to skin a cat in this situation though..

And that's correct, no matter what steps had been taken, something is always liable to be broken, spilled, blown, etc. It's part of racing which some will never understand, but again like you said, it's a chance we all take and live by.

Yup.

To take it even further - I have seen people twist tubes with bolt-on bracing.

The "proper" - Or I should say BEST way to do it, is to step up to a 9" housing.

 

[BMR Tech]

So - I should change the title....or atleast claim this, now.

If you drag race, and do not make the 9" swap.....then you should weld, brace and bolt/screw/pin the tubes.

 

[JEWC_Motorsports]

Fab 9 ftw lol.

 

[BeachMonkey100]

Yup.

To take it even further - I have seen people twist tubes with bolt-on bracing.

The "proper" - Or I should say BEST way to do it, is to step up to a 9" housing.

So - I should change the title....or atleast claim this, now.

If you drag race, and do not make the 9" swap.....then you should weld, brace and bolt/screw/pin the tubes.

lol that's hilarious, but probably would be some good advice! glad we can all laugh about it though, but seriously I would love to see more pictures of the axle and car, etc. I think everyone would, there are a lot of variables in this situation.

 

[weather man]

Our 2011 GT cuts 1.3 sixties, with our LCA Brackets.....with no welds on the tubes. We also have the stock 2-piece DS. We typically don't fix or replace something until we break it.

Kelly, when the company is that aggressive and you know there is an issue at that level, poor risk management. The owner will curse the day he was born if someone gets hurt and lawyers get involved.

 

[BMR Tech]

Kelly, when the company is that aggressive and you know there is an issue at that level, poor risk management. The owner will curse the day he was born if someone gets hurt and lawyers get involved.

It's the risk we all take drag racing.

Lawyers don't get involved in a drag racing incident, neither do insurance companies.

If our car was a manual trans car, it would have welded tubes. It is an auto though, and I don't feel we need to weld them. So far, I am correct, thankfully.

 

[rednek01]

It's the risk we all take drag racing.

Lawyers don't get involved in a drag racing incident, neither do insurance companies.

If our car was a manual trans car, it would have welded tubes. It is an auto though, and I don't feel we need to weld them. So far, I am correct, thankfully.

So, while you suggest everybody who drag races should really consider and weld their set up and now it looks like pin it as well.

You thought it was important enough and serious enough to campaign through a thread you started and have show what happens when you dont.

Yet you still refuse to apply this to your own cars?

Maybe I am not understanding. I love your products and I'm not trying to start anything I just dont understand how you can advocate something so much then make a ton of excuses why its not needed on your own vehicle.

 

[BMR Tech]

So, while you suggest everybody who drag races should really consider and weld their set up and now it looks like pin it as well.

You thought it was important enough and serious enough to campaign through a thread you started and have show what happens when you dont.

Yet you still refuse to apply this to your own cars?

Maybe I am not understanding. I love your products and I'm not trying to start anything I just dont understand how you can advocate something so much then make a ton of excuses why its not needed on your own vehicle.

Imagine that you own BMR.

If you did, and you were to engineer, build, and offer an axle brace for an S197 Mustang...would you want to promote said component on your very own test mule, with welded and pinned tubes?

Just wondering.

 

[rednek01]

Imagine that you own BMR.

If you did, and you were to engineer, build, and offer an axle brace for an S197 Mustang...would you want to promote said component on your very own test mule, with welded and pinned tubes?

Just wondering.

Well that makes a bit more sense, I didnt see where you said that you were using an axle brace. I may have missed that part which is why I asked and was trying to understand.

 

[BMR Tech]

We have built, and been testing 3 different designs.

I am still a fan of a properly welded set-up, over any bolt-on bracing, but the demand for a BMR Axle Brace has been overwhelming.

Unfortunately, I do not have an ETA on when ours will be available.

 

[SSPSTANGBANGER]

This is precisely why I did this before ever going to the track!

 

[skwerl]

I'm going to go one step further on the diagnosis of this picture and lay my head on the chopping block by claiming that the terrible welding is most likely the cause of the failure. On the axle tube as it comes from the factory, there is no inherent weak spot right where the pumpkin sleeves end. The tubes slip through and are pinned inside the sleeves. I think that not only did the welder not get penetration on the pumpkin with his crappy weld, but he also overheated the tubes creating a weak spot right where he was attempting to reinforce them. The break was right along the edge of his shitty weld and therefore I think having the axles welded improperly (as the images above show) does much more harm than good. I'm not 100% certain but my assumption is that the axle tube may not have failed at that point if it had not been weakened by the heat from the welder.

 

[19COBRA93]

The pictures BMR added on Facebook actually reinforce my theory that the failure wasn't from a twisted axle tube.

Especially because of the hard impact on the wheel on the LH side, and the skid marks from the RH tire (sorry Kelly, I stole these pics):

 

[Riptide]

Our 2011 GT cuts 1.3 sixties, with our LCA Brackets.....with no welds on the tubes. We also have the stock 2-piece DS. We typically don't fix or replace something until we break it.

Let me get this straight.

No bracing. No welds. And relocation brackets installed.

Hundreds of passes. 1.3 sixtys.

No failure?


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