Anyone ever had a BMR A arm snap in half?

[Mustangfreak]

Wow, thats fucking crazy.

This is why I have a backup car. If my 07 goes out, I have my 96 GT, and a 97 F-250.

 

[TurboPete]

Here's something else to consider. How many guys out there are using the a- arms on cars that are on skinnies vs cars that ride on 9" wide street wheels.
I would think that big street wheels and tires would create more stress on the arms because of the weight and grip . Your going to take turns faster on street wheels then if you were on skinnies as I am.
Either way the part should not crack . I cant imagine doing 140 in the 1/4 and the arm crack on me . Makes me very uncomfortable next time I go out to the track knowing this happened .
Ive never seen nor heard of any other manufacturer having an incident like this.
Maximum Motorsports builds k-members for handling packages that go thru alot of stress and Ive never heard of a part cracking .
I hope BMR looks into this and figures out a solution or if a re-design is needed I would need to change mine out for peace of mind.

If not Im going to replace mine with stock arms.


Pete

 

[BubbaRATM]

my POV is that they advertise the product to be streetable and this is the first known failure so how many people that dont surf forums have cracked ones that we don't know about and people that may have cracked ones on their car and don't know it yet. The company should step up and atleast acknowledge there has been an issue but not take immediate responsibility and open an investigation on the issue to quickly resolve it with either a recall or a re-design if needed.

 

[ClassJ]

I agree. That tubing looks pretty thin for the application. Also welding (especially mig welding) can create local work hardening from the heat application unless applied correctly. Metal choice, filler material, process, etc all is important. My guess is that stress is concentrating at the end of the gusset due to the design, and there is a possibility that there was localized cracking around the weld area after it was performed that radiated from the weld.

 

[scramblr]

Any updates?

 

[hangon]

If only I had seen this thread sooner Ive got a new CA sitting next to my tool box that Ive been waiting to but on (Im lazy lol). Im glad you got it fix though and seen this thread before I bought the BMR Front CA's for my DD

 

[TurboPete]

Well I was concerned and asked my Buddy Willie at MAK Performance to call Lee at BMR. Willie said that apparently there were some earlier models that had issues'but the arms have been corrected for sometime now . They haven't heard of any issue's since then.
Hope this helps , Ive never had any issue's in the past and love there products .


Pete

 

[BMR Tech]

Sorry to not have seen this earlier....I was told buy one of my customers of this thread here on the board

We have not been active at all on the boards lately with the release of the 2011 Mustang and the following R&D development.

The arms have been updated since the production of this arm and have been without issue.

If the OP can contact me here at the office and we can look into this matter....

Thanks,
Lee Spicher
(813)986-9302

 

[klaw]

Sorry to not have seen this earlier....I was told buy one of my customers of this thread here on the board

We have not been active at all on the boards lately with the release of the 2011 Mustang and the following R&D development.

The arms have been updated since the production of this arm and have been without issue.

If the OP can contact me here at the office and we can look into this matter....

Thanks,
Lee Spicher
(813)986-9302

Lee:

Can you post a picture of the updated arms? What design changes were made?

 

[Gray Ghost GT]

I talked with a local drag racer / mechanic and mentioned to him that I was thinking of tubular a-arms and he was dead set against it on a street driven car. He told me that they are not strong when it comes to turns and that he doesn't trust them at all. He said on a strip only car they would be fine.

I heard and read the same thing which is why they will not be installed on my car that goes on the road courses - stay with your OEM a-arms if you plan to place a lot of lateral stress on them.

 

[GoneFord]

Has anyone heard of problems like this with tubular K-members?

 

[BMR Tech]

Lee:

Can you post a picture of the updated arms? What design changes were made?

Sure can will try to get the images up today for you-

Interestingly enough some of your comments I read from you are some of the changes we already implemented-

• Tubing thickness and material have changed
• Gussets are different on the updated versions

The previous design still are not without merit. They where used on all 5 of the Mustang pace cars used in the now defunct CART series for 2+ years without issue (they used all of our products including our K-members) and where abused regularly every weekend.

Thanks,
Lee Spicher

​

 

[JeremyH]

Sure can will try to get the images up today for you-

Interestingly enough some of your comments I read from you are some of the changes we already implemented-

• Tubing thickness and material have changed
• Gussets are different on the updated versions

The previous design still are not without merit. They where used on all 5 of the Mustang pace cars used in the now defunct CART series for 2+ years without issue (they used all of our products including our K-members) and where abused regularly every weekend.

Thanks,
Lee Spicher​

Hey Lee, called today and talked to Kyle he said you were in a meeting, so I left a message. I will be leaving work at 130 so after that i wont be at the number I left you. PM me for email or cell if you can today.

The a-arms were used with the stock k-member for almost 10 months, just a daily driver, no road racing, seen the drag strip once with them.

I was lowered with frpp k springs and 18x9 wheels up front with 255/45/18 Nitto invos.

Thanks!
Jeremy

 

[DiMora]

Sure can will try to get the images up today for you-

Interestingly enough some of your comments I read from you are some of the changes we already implemented-

• Tubing thickness and material have changed
• Gussets are different on the updated versions

The previous design still are not without merit. They where used on all 5 of the Mustang pace cars used in the now defunct CART series for 2+ years without issue (they used all of our products including our K-members) and where abused regularly every weekend.

Thanks,
Lee Spicher

​

Thanks BMR for stepping up on this.

I am interested in the full K member setup with arms...but I definitely want more information on the improvements and would like to know if there have been any reported breakages with the new design.

Do you guys have any pics comparing / contrasting the old design with the new one?

 

[viciousride]

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.

One thing I noticed is that in your install the aluminum spacers were not utilized between the k-member and the a-arms. Could this have been the culprit? I attached pics taken from another install and you will notice the use of the spacers.

My apologies if someone already pointed this out, but I haven't thread the entire thread.

 

[JeremyH]

One thing I noticed is that in your install the aluminum spacers were not utilized between the k-member and the a-arms. Could this have been the culprit? I attached pics taken from another install and you will notice the use of the spacers.

My apologies if someone already pointed this out, but I haven't thread the entire thread.

Nope no spacers, I used the arms on the stock k-member, not the bmr k.

 

[viciousride]

Nope no spacers, I used the arms on the stock k-member, not the bmr k.

Hmm, interesting. Are the A-Arms parallel to the ground (as in the pics I posted), or angled downward from front to back? I'm just wondering if there was a need for the spacers in order to maintain the correct geometry, therefore reducing the stress to that area. Obviously this is just an assumption.

 

[JeremyH]

Hmm, interesting. Are the A-Arms parallel to the ground (as in the pics I posted), or angled downward from front to back? I'm just wondering if there was a need for the spacers in order to maintain the correct geometry, therefore reducing the stress to that area. Obviously this is just an assumption.

They are level on the stock k, no need for spacers. The bmr a-arms bolt right on to the stock k member. (the mounting point locations of the bmr a-arm are identical to that of a stock a-arm, the only change really is the tubular design and bushings the over dimensions/angles of the arm are not changed).

The spacers are only needed when using the bmr a-arms with the bmr k member, due to the redesign of the k member itself. (you only get the spacers from bmr when you buy the k-member.)

 

[JeremyH]

Well talked to Lee today! turns out i have the first version from early 07, and the design has been revised twice since then. The warranty on them is up, but he is sending me some new a-arms of the latest design! Was very helpful and easy to talk to, definetly a standup guy! Thanks BMR!

 

[TonyN]

Well talked to Lee today! turns out i have the first version from early 07, and the design has been revised twice since then. The warranty on them is up, but he is sending me some new a-arms of the latest design! Was very helpful and easy to talk to, definetly a standup guy! Thanks BMR!

That's awesome man. I told you to call them the day it happened...lol.