K-member Hairline crack
08-04-2005, 07:11 PM
#1
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K-member Hairline crack I was under my car today and noticed a hairline crack on my BMR K-member on the weld between the front bar and the box that contains the front mount for the lower A-Arm. Anyone else have this or is this a big deal? Its real small. I hit a big pot hole a few weeks ago could this have caused it?
08-04-2005, 08:32 PM
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Don't know if your vehicle is a daily driver, but from what you mentioned above, it must be. From my experience, a tubular K-member is one of the last things I'd ever want installed on my vehicle if it's a daily driver, or if it's used for AX or RR.
You might definitely want to talk to the manufacturer about what happened. From my experience of having an aftermarket tubular k-member (brand undisclosed), even though it was designed to tolerate the rigors of daily driving to road racing, my front end had lost much of its stiffness, then one day when I hit a speed berm that I couldn't see, I heard a lot of noise on the way home afterwards. When I looked the next day, there was a noticable crack on part of the tubing, so I decided to switch back to my stock stamped steel K-member and the tubular went to the scrap heap.
Just my extra 2 cents for the latter comment.
You might definitely want to talk to the manufacturer about what happened. From my experience of having an aftermarket tubular k-member (brand undisclosed), even though it was designed to tolerate the rigors of daily driving to road racing, my front end had lost much of its stiffness, then one day when I hit a speed berm that I couldn't see, I heard a lot of noise on the way home afterwards. When I looked the next day, there was a noticable crack on part of the tubing, so I decided to switch back to my stock stamped steel K-member and the tubular went to the scrap heap.
Just my extra 2 cents for the latter comment.
Last edited by Foxxton; 08-04-2005 at 08:43 PM.
08-05-2005, 08:53 AM
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If the piece is still hanging together then -now- is
the time to find yourself a mechanic whose welding
you trust, and get that piece reinforced. Though you
might want to get in touch with BMR and see if they
want to do anything for you like send you a new one
(hey, it could work...).
If you can take pictures of the weld fail site I would
be interested as I have a BMR K myself and am wanting
to get an idea of the common fail points to try beefing
up on mine.
the time to find yourself a mechanic whose welding
you trust, and get that piece reinforced. Though you
might want to get in touch with BMR and see if they
want to do anything for you like send you a new one
(hey, it could work...).
If you can take pictures of the weld fail site I would
be interested as I have a BMR K myself and am wanting
to get an idea of the common fail points to try beefing
up on mine.
08-05-2005, 03:46 PM
#6
Originally Posted by Carbed4thGen
That's kind of scary, a big company like that and it's welds are breaking?
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08-05-2005, 04:28 PM
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This K-member came with the car when I bought it.
Here is the pictures
this first one is the from the front of the car looking at about 45 degrees up.
This next one is from the ground looking at it straight up
Here is what it looks like on the opposite side of the weld.
And finally here is the big picture for A Mr. JimmyBlue
Here is the pictures
this first one is the from the front of the car looking at about 45 degrees up.
This next one is from the ground looking at it straight up
Here is what it looks like on the opposite side of the weld.
And finally here is the big picture for A Mr. JimmyBlue
Last edited by Spenser309; 08-05-2005 at 04:31 PM. Reason: images messed up
08-05-2005, 08:04 PM
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the k-member was on the car when you bought it? so WHO knows exactly what broke it,I PERSONALLY have had a BMR k-member on my car for over 2 years and never had a problem,but there are some people (not saying you)that can and will break everything(have a friend like that 
) have you tried to contact BMR yet? besure to they have great customer service compaired to my personal experiences with another suspension company,won't say who not wanting to put on the flame suite just yet!! my .02.......buy the way as far as I can tell from the pictures it looks like the tube is torn behind the weld not a crack in the middle of the weld maybe a better picture would help?
) have you tried to contact BMR yet? besure to they have great customer service compaired to my personal experiences with another suspension company,won't say who not wanting to put on the flame suite just yet!! my .02.......buy the way as far as I can tell from the pictures it looks like the tube is torn behind the weld not a crack in the middle of the weld maybe a better picture would help? Last edited by sikws6; 08-05-2005 at 08:14 PM. Reason: because i can
08-05-2005, 08:11 PM
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Originally Posted by Cal
There has been a lot of this with BMR K members. Doesn't anyone do any research before they buy these things? Even the GOOD suspension companies haven't come up with a strong K member that is any lighter than stock.
08-05-2005, 08:32 PM
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You need to get it fixed or replaced before the
hairline turns into "my crank pulley is resting on
my sway bar". How long that is, can't say. But
could be one pothole from now. It's on borrowed
time; once the crack starts, propagation gets
easier and easier.
Good news is, stock K-members cost almost
nothing. Bad news is the labor. Looking at all
day to do the job, probably; mine went into
overtime with the poly motor mounts.
Since it's not lost its geometry or totally broken the
weld yet I think it could be fixed on-car, add some
meat to make sure it stays put and that's maybe
an hour or two on the lift; chop-saw, hammer,
torch and MIG, a few bucks worth of 1" flat stock.
But I wouldn't wait for it to get worse because once
it comes loose and bends it won't be repairable IMO.
hairline turns into "my crank pulley is resting on
my sway bar". How long that is, can't say. But
could be one pothole from now. It's on borrowed
time; once the crack starts, propagation gets
easier and easier.
Good news is, stock K-members cost almost
nothing. Bad news is the labor. Looking at all
day to do the job, probably; mine went into
overtime with the poly motor mounts.
Since it's not lost its geometry or totally broken the
weld yet I think it could be fixed on-car, add some
meat to make sure it stays put and that's maybe
an hour or two on the lift; chop-saw, hammer,
torch and MIG, a few bucks worth of 1" flat stock.
But I wouldn't wait for it to get worse because once
it comes loose and bends it won't be repairable IMO.
08-05-2005, 08:51 PM
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Originally Posted by jimmyblue
Since it's not lost its geometry or totally broken the
weld yet I think it could be fixed on-car, add some
meat to make sure it stays put and that's maybe
an hour or two on the lift; chop-saw, hammer,
torch and MIG, a few bucks worth of 1" flat stock.
That sounds like a good idea even b4 the k-member goes in
08-05-2005, 09:41 PM
#16
Originally Posted by sikws6
To say that you mean "alot" would be suggesting that you know the number of failures to the total number of k-members they have built and sold over the past 5 years....... example 5 out of 100 or 5 out of 1200 BIG difference I agree in a perfect world the only number of failures that is acceptable is 0 but hey since when is it a perfect world??
So sorry, too bad ... mine is OK, so tough ****.
nice
Funny, one never posts about a stock K-Member breaking ... does this mean stock is BETTER?
08-05-2005, 10:44 PM
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Originally Posted by mitchntx
Funny, one never posts about a stock K-Member breaking ... does this mean stock is BETTER?
out of it to save mass and gas mileage. They also know the loading environment better than anyone else and they also know
the fatigue life it needs to sustain. Every K-member thread you ever see has someone complaining about front end
shudder as well. I don't care how good a fabricator is, you don't want them making a lightweight version of such a
major structural component of your car. Inspect those welds often.
08-13-2005, 01:09 AM
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Originally Posted by BJM
The OEMs have nothing to gain making a part heavier than it needs to be. They have every reason in the world to carve weight
out of it to save mass and gas mileage. They also know the loading environment better than anyone else and they also know
the fatigue life it needs to sustain. Every K-member thread you ever see has someone complaining about front end
shudder as well. I don't care how good a fabricator is, you don't want them making a lightweight version of such a
major structural component of your car. Inspect those welds often.
out of it to save mass and gas mileage. They also know the loading environment better than anyone else and they also know
the fatigue life it needs to sustain. Every K-member thread you ever see has someone complaining about front end
shudder as well. I don't care how good a fabricator is, you don't want them making a lightweight version of such a
major structural component of your car. Inspect those welds often.
Originally Posted by CANNIBAL
It's not worth the potential catastrophe for street duty cars.
. The k-members, tubular a-arms, etc are all race only where weight is critical. To run them primarily on the street, is flirting with disaster. Other than the people that buy the parts
for their intended purpose, 95% of the time, people get googly-eyed over the "weight savings" and how
much faster there car will be.
