K-Members..Worth it?
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From: Lake of the Ozarks, MO
K-Members..Worth it? Im looking to lighten my car up as much as possible. Its a street car, Full Weight 3600+. To get any faster and cut better 60s Im needing to loose weight. Would it be worth the weight savings to put a K-member and A-arms in?
What brands does everyone like? Are there any that are stronger than others for street use?
What brands does everyone like? Are there any that are stronger than others for street use?
They are a great mod, but if your 3600+ right now, you have a TON of weigt you can take out for free and still maintain all your options and appearance etc.. Just look over the weight reduction sticky...
I write checks with my mouth that my ass can't cash
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im planning on putting a chromoly the k-member in (no a-arms cant afford it lol) and also a sonoco pin on hood and light weight race battary all at once...netting me a little over 100lb drop if my calculations are correct, right off the nose, hopefully help me with some grudge matches comming up 
...but like said if ur car weighs 3600 u got alot of weight you can remove for free just takes a little time...
...but like said if ur car weighs 3600 u got alot of weight you can remove for free just takes a little time... 
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The PA Racing chromoly is the lightest one that I know of and it's reasonably priced. You can get lighter ones that don't have engine mounts requiring a motor plate, but for a street/strip car i'd go with the chromo pa racing one. FWIW I have the UMI k-member and a-arms and the k-member was 33lbs, the stock k-member was 47lbs, and the pa racing chromo is around 20-22 iirc. The lower a-arms save a nice chunk of weight (usually 8lbs each), and the upper tubular a-arms are a waste of money, since they save nothing.
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Tubular upper arms are actually HEAVIER than the stock stamped ones, they are just stronger.
Back in the day people had some problems with street driving the PA racing kmember (cracks and the like) but they may have resolved those rigidity issues.
Back in the day people had some problems with street driving the PA racing kmember (cracks and the like) but they may have resolved those rigidity issues.
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The additional work room along with the weight lose makes a K-member swap a great choice.
Although we do not offer a Moly version (yet) our standard LS1 K-member with integrated motor mount weighs in at 22#'s which is pretty good considering it's constructed of all DOM tubing.
The motor plate version is I believe is in the low 20# range......
Although we do not offer a Moly version (yet) our standard LS1 K-member with integrated motor mount weighs in at 22#'s which is pretty good considering it's constructed of all DOM tubing.
The motor plate version is I believe is in the low 20# range......
Agree totally with you Lee. I've got y'alls K-member (and damn near everything else you make) and it's all top notch. Definately look to BMR for this stuff! Great to work with!
Take the spindle off the top of your car and try to move the upper a arm up and down. When you see how much it's binding you'll understand. ANY bind in suspension movement, is something you have to adjust around, and can hamper the suspension from doing it's job.
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That's not true. The upper a arms with heim joints take alot of bind out of the suspension and allow it to work mroe freely, and improve the way the car reacts at the hit, and allows the shocks to do their job more effectively.
Take the spindle off the top of your car and try to move the upper a arm up and down. When you see how much it's binding you'll understand. ANY bind in suspension movement, is something you have to adjust around, and can hamper the suspension from doing it's job.
Take the spindle off the top of your car and try to move the upper a arm up and down. When you see how much it's binding you'll understand. ANY bind in suspension movement, is something you have to adjust around, and can hamper the suspension from doing it's job.
They weigh too much, and that is a no-no with me, lol. I can see your point especially if someone was setting their car up for road racing or autocross, but do we really need butter smooth front suspension movement when the tires are in the air? In the rear I could see needing a smooth movement. Just asking here don't flame me, lol.
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I would be willing to bet, that at the speed you're at (listed in your sig anyway) that you would see a difference in your car by swapping. And you're only talking what 5 lbs? Trust me that isn't gonna make or break the car.
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I will probably take you up on that over the winter.
