Anyone ever had a BMR A arm snap in half?

[GI Joe]

You can see from the crack that its old...been cracked a while and then you can see the new shiney broken part.

This is the first ever BMR arm I have ever seen break off.

Please let everyone know what BMR says

I wish I had seen the thread earlier I would have given you 2 free control arms....

Dave

 

[Greg Hazlett]

That is true for the broken one but the drivers side is doing the same thing...so that one was a time bomb....obviously there is a defect in the construction of those A arms.

 

[GI Joe]

That is true for the broken one but the drivers side is doing the same thing...so that one was a time bomb....obviously there is a defect in the construction of those A arms.

yep or a bad batch of tubing

 

[BubbaRATM]

subscribe, i want to see what they say about it if they even do.

 

[o0Dan0o]

I can tell you why they failed. Two reasons, first is that tubing simply isn't thick enough. Second, look at the break, on each it starts at the weld. Likely, BMR didn't think about their material choices long enough to realize that the weld was going to weaken the metal, and repeated strain slowly cracked the arm until it gave way.
Dan

Btw noticed the other side was cracked so went ahead and replaced it as well!! Got pics of the broke one and cracked one on the drivers side.

 

[akula52]

failure

Seeing that this is the first failure posted on several forums, I hope it is a fluke! If I was BMR, I would not comment for legal issues. Keep us posted please!

 

[klaw]

Seeing that this is the first failure posted on several forums, I hope it is a fluke! If I was BMR, I would not comment for legal issues. Keep us posted please!

Really? You'd stay silent if you knew there was a problem?

 

[scramblr]

Really? You'd stay silent if you knew there was a problem?

As a company I'd say that we'll look at it, but sure as hell wouldn't own up to anything until everything has been checked out. Not dogging on the OP, but BMR doesn't know if it was installed properly or not or any other factors that may have to be considered, i.e., accidents, curb jumps, etc.

 

[Greg Hazlett]

Really? Is there a way to put them on wrong? C'mon man, they broke/were breaking in the exact same spot....sheesh.

 

[mds08]

Their is a guy in Hampton that some rear suspension parts broke on his car. The parts broke when he was turning. Not sure if is the same company or not. I will check and post back.

 

[scramblr]

Really? Is there a way to put them on wrong? C'mon man, they broke/were breaking in the exact same spot....sheesh.

No disagreement here...however, a company doesn't want to just jump in there without having all the facts.

 

[klaw]

No disagreement here...however, a company doesn't want to just jump in there without having all the facts.

They don't want to stick their head in the sand until someone gets hurt either. Could turn a bad problem much worse.

 

[WARstang]

Well, got a call from ford today and they said they cant work on it because there is "aftermarket" suspension on the car. I told them its not warranty work just i want a stock a-arm put in. She said "we cant do the work". WTF! I had my cars aftermarket components replaced (mish rad and bilstein strut) at another ford dealer when i had a small accident. Anyways... This is more bullshit, car sat there for 2.5 days just to tell me they wont do the work.

Good news, buying an a-arm from the same ford dealership and having towed again to TonyN's shop where he gonna swap it out for me.

After its out I will take pics.

I'm not defending BMR or anything, but you stated that you had a small accident and a strut had to be replaced? The strut is bolted to the A-arm, dont you think this could have had an affect on it?
I don't know why everyone is freaking out here, its not like there has been a ton of failures. Sometimes stuff breaks... just my 2 cents, flame away..

 

[Greg Hazlett]

That could affect one side but not both.

 

[Racingtheburg]

That could affect one side but not both.

Possible for both. When you hit one side the other tire is still on the ground and shifts the car over as a whole. There would be more weight and stress on the other side that was not hit due to body roll.

 

[Greg Hazlett]

After seeing them in person I guess anything is possible but highly unlikely.

 

[akula52]

Silent

Really? You'd stay silent if you knew there was a problem?

Scramblr said what I meant. Thanks

 

[o0Dan0o]

I'm not defending BMR or anything, but you stated that you had a small accident and a strut had to be replaced? The strut is bolted to the A-arm, dont you think this could have had an affect on it?
I don't know why everyone is freaking out here, its not like there has been a ton of failures. Sometimes stuff breaks... just my 2 cents, flame away..

Looks like a pretty clean cut case of metal fatigue to me. An accident or jumping a curb at 50 would cause problems sooner, but I think what happened is inevitable given the arms design. The stock a-arms are very stout pieces:

Which of the above do you think is stronger? Plus, Fords material choice is likely going to make the arms bend and not crack like the BRM units. Hardened steel is not really the best choice for control arms...
Dan

 

[05stroker]

For me its like this , this is the first set I have seen break or fail besides the early bushings they used . I say any part will have some amount of failure . It just depends on how often they fail .

 

[klaw]

For me its like this , this is the first set I have seen break or fail besides the early bushings they used . I say any part will have some amount of failure . It just depends on how often they fail .

Tell that to the next guy's widow.....


It's clear from the picture that the gusset should at least be extended to the end of the outer tube. Having it stop where it does creates a load concentration on the outer tube right at the point where the inner tube ends. It also results in that same spot being affected by the weld. I would think that the outer tube should be a bit thicker, the gusset should extend to the end of the tube, and the inner tube should be a bit longer (to create an overlap with the gusset to spread out the load). They should also look at the welding procedure to make sure that they're not creating a metallurgical or corrosion problem from heat or disimilar materials.

The mounting flange looks a bit sketchy too. From the pic it looks like one of the mounting holes has been oblonged by quite a bit - likely for fitment during installation. It's oblonged to the outside of the flange reducing the web thickness there. Note that the washer witness marks reach the edge of the piece. Manufacturing tolerances in these cars are good enough these days that bolts-ons should fit like a glove.

I'm a mechanical engineer (although I don't work in the automotive industry) and it's obvious from the pictures that the design is lacking. This may be the only "known" failure so far - I'm betting that there are/will be more.