Stupid Relo brackets..

[46Tbird]

I had issues getting my BMR relo brackets to line up. I refuse to drill out any suspension part, as that is asking for exactly the failure the OP experienced.

In my case, the passenger side bracket moved the wheel ~3/4" forward in the wheel well. I loosened both sides, rotated the axle, and retightened several times but there was never a meaningful correction of the alignment issue. I reported the issue to BMR and they suggested the same process. I removed them, and sold them to a guy that installed them with no issues whatsoever.

I finally tried a pair of Boss 302S relo brackets and everything lined right up on my car. I'm running them with the CHE LCAs and I'm happy with that combination on the street. Haven't had a chance to make any passes.

I'm not knocking BMR, as obviously the issue is either with my car or my installation. The parts are beefy and I'm always glad to spend a little more to support American products and jobs. Just relating my experience.

 

[BMR Tech]

^ Thanks for sharing.

To clarify, you were able (after some tedious work) to get the holes lined up and the brackets installed, without grinding. It threw the axle off center. Then someone else installed them, with no issues. Is that correct?

I see some very odd situations being in this industry. We have had people return parts, that I opened up and took directly to our RD facility and bolted them right onto our car, with nothing more than my bare hands. Yet, themselves, Ford Dealerships, and performance shops could not get them to install. This is not common, but has happened. The parts that this has happened with are Upper Control Arm Mounts, Relo Brackets, and A-Arm Support Braces.

 

[Gremlin85]

^ Thanks for sharing.

To clarify, you were able (after some tedious work) to get the holes lined up and the brackets installed, without grinding. It threw the axle off center. Then someone else installed them, with no issues. Is that correct?

I see some very odd situations being in this industry. We have had people return parts, that I opened up and took directly to our RD facility and bolted them right onto our car, with nothing more than my bare hands. Yet, themselves, Ford Dealerships, and performance shops could not get them to install. This is not common, but has happened. The parts that this has happened with are Upper Control Arm Mounts, Relo Brackets, and A-Arm Support Braces.

I like seeing companies recognizing this and not blame user error on fitment issues. Every car is different in some way or another and, like you said, in the industry nothing is really unheard of anymore lol. Anything can happen.

 

[BMR Tech]

We do our best to design our products around user error. I know it sounds funny, but it is the truth.

For example - we revised our relocation brackets recently.....due to some people having issues getting everything aligned properly. I was spending 30+minutes on the phone with each customer, that had the issue - so we revised them to work better. Now, no more calls or threads about it. There is a very good thread, that goes in depth, about this on svtp. I even show the readers myself, installing multiple versions - and how I correct the issue (without modding/grinding/etc)

As for Upper Mounts - those things are a PITA. I would say 50% of the time, the fitment issue is "tolerance" related....and the other 50% is simply our fault. Occasionally, (especially this year) our welders will pull those off the jig prematurely, so they will "draw" and cause a headache for the installer. Now please keep in mind, we sell a lot of parts.....so when I bring these happenings up, I am talking like maybe 5-10 occurences for every 300-350 parts (we usually build batches of 300-400 of our S197 parts)
We have a meeting about this Upper Mount issue today - so you will likely see a revised Upper Mount from us soon. lol

It never stops!

 

[klaw]

I recently installed BMR relo's and they lined right up and bolted in fine - then we welded them. I've seen lots of guys try to assemble things over the years put one bolt in and tighten it down before trying to even start the next bolt, etc. The process usually results in frustration. I try to get all bolts started, then snug them down in some kind of balanced pattern, then tighten/torque them as required. It's also possible that ill fitment of relo's could be due to a twisted axle tube. There are other threads on here that have covered that issue extensively.

 

[46Tbird]

To clarify, you were able (after some tedious work) to get the holes lined up and the brackets installed, without grinding. It threw the axle off center. Then someone else installed them, with no issues. Is that correct?

You got it.

I've seen lots of guys try to assemble things over the years put one bolt in and tighten it down before trying to even start the next bolt, etc. The process usually results in frustration. I try to get all bolts started, then snug them down in some kind of balanced pattern, then tighten/torque them as required.

This is how I assemble everything - get all the fasteners started, then tighten/torque appropriately.