JakeFusion

iTrader: (7)

So right now I have 17x9.5 with 275/40-17s up front and run a 275/315 combo on my car. The steering feels good and the suspension is tight with the following mods:

Koni 4/4 Sport Shocks
BMR 1.25" Lowering Springs
BMR 35mm Hollow Front/25mm Rear Sway Bars
BMR Transmission Mounted Adjustable Torque Arm w/ Relo Crossmember
Founders Lower Control Arms with 3-Piece Poly Joint & Relo Brackets
Founders On-Car Adjustable Panhard Bar with Poly Bushings

I am looking to save weight and am interested in running a tubular K-Member with Tubular upper and lower A-Arms and a manual rack. It looks like I'd save around 50lbs with such a setup. PA Racing has a sale going on now for all of that and am thinking of pulling the trigger.

So three questions:

1) PA Racing seems to be a quality piece - anyone ever have issues with them? I know I've seen issues with BMR in the past and the UMI piece looks solid, but if I do a K-Member, it's to save weight, but not at the expense of safety.
2) I realize the 275s will make the manual steering horrible at low speed, but at speed, would it provide better feel or precision over a full power setup?
3) Is it worth it to go tubular for an all-around street car? I had planned on just keeping the stock K-member and PS and going with A-Arms up front to reduce some unsprung weight. I do plan to go with a Mild Steel setup for metal fatigue reasons for a street driven car.

Thanks for your opinions!

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

Couple of things I know off the top of my head. BMRs issues were way, way back. There was an issue, they fixed it, and no other issues that I know of. I've heard the BMR rep admit to that. Considering they were one of the earlier suspension companies for some of our parts, I say no harm no foul. I ordered a PA racing k when they were on sale. It was delivered as promised. It gave me a few fits mating up with my stock arms and one call to PA had it straightened out. When talking lower arms with PA, they admit their arms won't save much weight over stock. Since most companies arms look similar I suspect this is true for most arms. The weight transfer is very nice though. My shipping weight was 17~lbs on the fedex label The Ks are very nice for room to work and see things under the car. No regrets on mine.

JakeFusion

iTrader: (7)

Nice to hear. PA is having a sale for complete A-arm package and the K-member. So that's what's got me thinking...

I was looking at the UMI and it looks beefy as hell. I'm not sure how much lighter than stock it is, but I certainly don't want the K to fail.

As far as install goes, I don't think it's quite reasonable to expect anything to line up just perfect on these older cars, but if it mates to the body cleanly, then it's all good.

As far as the manual rack goes... yeah, I've been doing some research tonight and that looks like a no.

UMI Tech

Thanks for considering UMI.

Our k-member saves approx 25 lbs with an additional 8 depending on arm choice. If you use your factory arms you can count on at least 25.

Our twin tube lower construction stands up to street use as well as being dropped from a wheel stand or carving cones. The road race version is more of a confidence thing than a necessity.

Let us know if you have any questions.

Thx

-- Ramey

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

IIRC the stock K was 55ish, and most aftermarkets are in the mid 20s. One tip, after an alignment, go back and tighten the lower arms tighter then the alignment tech did. The aftermarket bushing/spheres don't have gripper ends like stock bushings do and a stout bump can cause them to shift/move. Your average alignment guy probably wont notice this.

JakeFusion

iTrader: (7)

Good tip.

And yes, Ramey. Seriously looking at a bunch of UMI stuff now.

SuperSport01

Imo UMI is better as far as street/strip k members go, not saying BMR isnt as good, but they're certainly more limited street/drag oriented.
For a daily driver/highway use car I would use UMI road race because its beefy and well braced and still saves ~20lbs.

BMR Sales2

iTrader: (40)

We had some issues with our real early k-members but some design changes were made roughly 7-8 years ago and we have not had any issues since. There is definitely some bad information out there as far as daily driving goes with our k-members. We have had many customers daily driving their cars with our redesigned k-member for over 100k miles without any kind of issue so I wouldn't let the strength of our k-member be a question for you. You would have no issues using one of our BMR k-members for what you are wanting to do.

If I were you I would definitely stay away from a manual rack unless you plan on building a more drag race oriented car that doesn't see much street use. The manual racks are terrible for any kind of handling situation and if you plan on running anything bigger than a skinny on the front of the car you better eat your Wheaties.

The real weight savings is going to be with the k-member and lower a-arms so if your factory upper a-arms are in good condition you can stick with those and save a couple $$$.

If you are interested in using BMR stuff I would be more than happy to see what I can do for you on a custom package so just let me know.

Kyle

1 Slow WS6

iTrader: (1)

UMI For the Win! I even jack the front end of the car up from it with no issues.

Heat Seeker WS6

iTrader: (1)

I had an early BMR k-member from 2002 fail on me in 2008 (broken weld on the pass side box after hitting a 6" deep pothole) and BMR was outstanding in the process of getting a current one. They successfully beefed up their design form the early versions and I've had not a single issue with the new one. I beat my car on the track (road race), deal with Wisconsin potholes and its been great and have full confidence in it- especially when braking from 145mph+ to 35-ish at RA!

BMR Sales2

iTrader: (40)

We definitely appreciate the feedback and glad you are happy with your BMR k-member. Our k-members are plenty strong enough to handle anything that you can throw at them including autocross and road racing. I know some people are hesitant to use them in handling situations due to a few issues we had k-members that were built about 10 years ago but we updated our k-member after discovering the issue and we have not had one issue since. We stand behind our products 100% percent so if there was to ever be an issue we would work with the customer to make sure they were taken care of.

high impact

iTrader: (5)

I love my PA k-member and it bolted right in. I am running a stock power steering rack.

BMR Tech2

iTrader: (5)

As far as the weight savings go, Here is an interesting read to give some hard facts on the gains; https://ls1tech.com/forums/suspensio...nceptions.html

For the steering, manual racks are not all the bad. I have a manual rack on my personal car (granted it has skinnies on the front) and it is not issue to steer. My 5 year old son steers the car while I push it around the shop, so steering effort is low. A friend has one on his third gen with 255's up front and has no complaints about steering effort. His is a regularly street driven car.
Everyone has different "feel" and comfort when it comes to how their cars drive. I prefer the feeling of manual steering. It is direct positive feedback to what the front end is doing. Not to mention many less components in the system for simplicity and the obvious weight savings.

Zmg00camaross

iTrader: (11)

If it's a real deal street/strip car go manual rack, if not keep power steering. Aftermarket uppers really isn't a weight savings. Either way MWC FTW call up Eric and hear his prices.

themealonwheels

iTrader: (20)

I've always thought my car was going toward a manual rack conversion, especially since I believe the tubular kmember I have is from y'all. Now that I'm going to 215 up front, this is even more interesting...

Against a stock rack, how much does yours weigh if I already have a BMR K-member?

BMR Tech2

iTrader: (5)

The rack itself weighs roughly the same. But, you lose the bulk of the lines, pump, reservoir, fluid, etc. So you are talking 7-10 lbs

ssvert99

iTrader: (26)

There is about 8.5 pounds difference between a pinto style manual rack and the oem power rack, plus the weight of the pump and lines. Pinto rack is 11.6, the oem power rack comes in at 19.1 pounds.

Give us a call... We have a awesome full bolt-in manual rack conversion kit that includes a new rack, aircraft grade joints with bump steer spacers, sealed needle bearing steering shaft, and a lightweight powdercoated bolt-in rack adapter. Installs with normal tools, and is very affordable!

Firebirdmuscle

iTrader: (16)

Eric, is your kit a bolt on kit nothing else required? Take oem off and put yours on?

ssvert99

iTrader: (26)

You got it! The MWC manual rack conversion has an adapter that bolts into the oem power rack mounts, no welding or fabrication required. All necessary hardware is included as well so no surprises when you do the install.

BMR Tech2

iTrader: (5)

Just for the sake of fair comparison.

Our RK002 kit is a direct bolt in replacement kit for a stock rack.