I’m down for one
Awesome! That makes six, four more!I’m down for one
First, they decided to use gussets to connect the front tube that the steering rack mounts to, and the boxed portion of the k-member (shown below). Even though the front tube on the BMR unit runs in at an angle to support the boxed section, I question whether such a small gusset is adequate. On the phone, Dion@BMR claimed the gussets added a substantial amount of rigidity. However the MM and Steeda units both use a tubular connection in that location, and Steeda even went as far as using an integrated gusset and tubular connection. From research, I do know that tubular chassis support is more resistant to torsional loads, which is what you’d want in this location, and is why you find it on the MM and Steeda unit. But BMR decided to use a small gusset in a location that will be subjected to extreme cornering loads.
The pic below is an old one of the OP’s car I found while searching something unrelated, but it shows what cornering loads the chassis, and therefore k-member can be subjected to.
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Not only is the gusset small, it is also short. It is welded mid-way between the front and rear a-arm mounts, whereas the Steeda and MM unit provide support through the rear a-arm mounts. You can buy BMR’s ‘a-arm support brace’ for an additional $69 to help with this, but it’s already incorporated into the Steeda and MM design.
Second, they chose to cut the rear of the boxed chassis section to allow for header clearance. Header clearance is great! But what’s not great is that piece of thin, flimsy metal they welded in place. Where the embossed logo is, you can see literally see a bend in the metal from it simply being too thin, and this is with no load on the car. I don’t suspect this would be an issue if a thicker piece of metal were used. What’s worse is there is an a-arm tab welded to this piece of thin metal on the backside of this cut portion. I don’t know what type of loads run through this section of the k-member, but neither the Steeda nor MM unit uses such thin gauge metal anywhere in their designs.
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Also, the upper and lower a-arm mounting holes are extremely close together. The thinness between those two mounting holes just make me scratch my head. This is also apparent at the edge of rear subframe mounting tab where only a marginal amount of metal is there at the end of the tab, along with a tear in the supporting gusset. Surprisingly (or not), issues with thinness is not evident in neither the Steeda or MM unit, as visible in the pics below.
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Lastly, the overall weld quality appears to somewhat mediocre to me. The powder coating they use helps mask it, but the Steeda unit had vastly superior welds. Some of this is because the Steeda unit it TIG welded which produces small precise welds. However, the MM unit is not TIG welded (I emailed them and confirmed). Theirs is MIG welded and looks as good, if not better than Steeda’s TIG in my opinion. This is likely a non-issue so long as the welds penetrated, but it certainly speaks to the overall quality, design, and other concerns I’ve noted above.
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I recommend anyone looking at the pics to either save them and view them on your phone, or zoom in on your phone and look at the detail. These are all minor details that aren't individually significant, but become significant as a whole in my opinion. These are tangible design and quality concerns that are apparent just from studying published pictures on BMR's site, and comparing them with other pictures posted in past Steeda K-Member threads. I think BMR's idea of a boxed, gussets, and triangulated design is great, but as of now I personally want another shot at the Steeda unit.
Thanks Joe. I'm unsure of how much the BMR brace would help with the BMR K member, but I do know that the MM brace is a benefit on K-members that retain the stock brace mounting points.
MM did testing on this when designing their K-Member and concurred with Ford that not only was it needed, but that the mounting locations were correct based on where support was needed. If that's the stance that both Ford and MM took from what they learned in development, I won't be the one to argue.
Thanks Joe. I'm unsure of how much the BMR brace would help with the BMR K member, but I do know that the MM brace is a benefit on K-members that retain the stock brace mounting points.
MM did testing on this when designing their K-Member and concurred with Ford that not only was it needed, but that the mounting locations were correct based on where support was needed. If that's the stance that both Ford and MM took from what they learned in development, I won't be the one to argue.
Steeda has confirmed with me that they would. This was in two separate conversations long after the BMR unit released. I think those of us who want a Steeda K-Member refuse to settle for less, and end up with a BMR unit. BMR has had years to develop their unit, and our chassis is old as dirt. After looking at the clear design flaws, and other issues, I personally wouldn’t accept a BMR unit for free. I hope the people who do buy one end up happy in the end.
For everyone else interested in the Steeda unit, unless we can get to ten units, we’ll need to suspend this group buy. I still want one as I’m sure others do, but Steeda was explicit on hitting 10 confirmed units to restart production. If anyone not listed in this group buy wants one in the future, please post up and we can see if we can re-spark interest.