Jason94z

iTrader: (3)

I'm ordering up my kmember with stands for LT1. Chrome moly is 3-4 lbs lighter and $100 more. Worth it?

ZFreie

Worth losing a few more lbs and spending $100 more? Then yes lol

93M6Formula

I can take a **** and lose 3-4lbs, not worth $100 extra dollars to me unless you have money to burn...

duh

iTrader: (16)

If you're building a dedicated car and every ounce is important, then get CM. if its a driver and you're not overly concerned about the weight, then don't worry about it. It's all a matter of if you want to pay for the lighter parts.

nitrous2fast

iTrader: (2)

I believe the cm is stronger. If you are pulling the tires off the ground pretty hard you might want to get the cm. Also if you are doing a lot of autox then you should also get the cm. But just trying to save some weight get the mild steel.

Jason94z

iTrader: (3)

Thanks guys
I guess all the 3-4 lbs added up between 10 things is ultimately 30-40 lbs...
CM it is.

ZFreie

This is a very smart line of thinking.

garage_queen

iTrader: (3)

Someone once it explained to me that CM was lighter and stronger but in the event of an accident it would be more likely to break. Mild steel would be more likely to bend under the same circumstances. Take it for what it is, I'm sure even mild steel will break if you hit it hard enough.

I have an old CM k-member from PA Racing. No complaints but I haven't tested it's breaking strength either...thankfully.

joelster

Chromoly is not any lighter than regular steel. A given volume of it weighs exactly the same as the regular stuff. Chromoly is stronger which allows you to use thinner walled tubing than you would normally use with regular steel. That is where all of the weight savings come from, there is physically less metal used in building whatever part. For a k-member it is worth the extra cost, because of how much tubing is used and how much weight is saved. I've heard that it saves near 8-10lbs on a k-member. That is a good deal for $100. On the a-arms i've seen lowers go for an extra $100, and in my opinion, it isn't justified for the weight savings which would only be 1-2lbs. Maybe if you could find a package deal like many of the vendors run around x-mas time and get the entire setup in chromoly it would be worth the money. There MAY come a time down the road when you get serious with your car and you'll be looking to save weight wherever you can, and you'll kick yourself for not spending the $100 extra. A rollcage is another item that is very beneficial in going with chromoly. Typically it will cost $200-$300 more for the material but you'll save 20-30lbs easy.

I've heard the exact same things regarding the strength. I've heard that chromoly is not as forgiving as regular steel. I'm pretty sure all of the NASCAR cars use regular steel, so they must do it for a safety reason.

BMR Sales2

iTrader: (40)

Man I couldn't have said it any better. CM is good for somebody building more of a dedicated track car that is looking to save every little bit of weight they possibly can. Here at BMR we don't build any k-members out of CM because most of our customers spend a lot of time on the street with our stuff and the CM just isn't ideal for street use. We use DOM mild steel which has better fatigue characteristics than the CM because it will bend under extreme load rather than break like the CM will.

If you are going to drive the car on the street a bunch I would stay away from the CM just because it won't hold up all that well to pot holes or even in the worst case a accident.

Kyle