PA Performance K-members
PA Performance K-members Does anyone have any experience with the PA Performance K-members?
I noticed their prices are lower than that of UMI and BMR, however I am concerned about their quality.
Does anyone have any input and/or experience with their products?
I noticed their prices are lower than that of UMI and BMR, however I am concerned about their quality.
Does anyone have any input and/or experience with their products?
No experience yet but I just ordered one for an LS2 conversion into my 3rd Gen and they seemed very helpful and I even sent them my own manual rack and they are going to make it to "My" specs. They will strengthen it in areas you want, especially if it is road raced or daily driven. I didn't like the design of there A arms because there was no cross bracing, so I asked them to brace them and they said no problem. Like I said I will see once it is in the car but so far the customer service has been great. Hope this helps...
Last edited by Kingsize; Sep 6, 2007 at 12:43 AM.
i delt with pa when i had my mustang excellent quality and fitment. Plan on going with them when i get a kmember for my ss. I ran my mild steel pa kmember for over a year on my daily driver on ny streets(15k miles)
Last edited by Ruckus46Gt; Sep 6, 2007 at 01:18 AM.
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I would not trust any of the aftermarket k-members out there except the UMI road race K-member. All of the other k-members that I have seen for the f-body are designed more or less just to "connect the dots"- meaning that there is maybe one or two pieces of tubing running here to there connecting the suspension, body and engine with maybe some attempt at reinforcing here and there. If its a drag-strip only car and you absolutely must save 30 pounds or whatever, thats OK. But the k-member is a hugely critical part of the car and i've seen too many broken k-members to trust one on my street car. If you want to shave some pounds, fine, but do it by removing weight from something that doesnt hold the front of the car together. (fwiw, I find it funny how people add 30 pounds to their car by adding sfc's in an attempt to make it stronger and then put a weak k-member on to save 30 lbs)
The UMI road/race k-member is the first one I've seen for our cars that stands a chace of holding up under racing/daily driving/abuse for the long term. Yes it is a little heavier than the others and it is more expensive than some- but worth it IMO
The UMI road/race k-member is the first one I've seen for our cars that stands a chace of holding up under racing/daily driving/abuse for the long term. Yes it is a little heavier than the others and it is more expensive than some- but worth it IMO
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I haven't been keeping track of the numbers or anything because it really doesnt concern me that much, but i've been poking around the suspension forum on a regular basis for a few years and it seems like every 6 months I come across pictures or detailed descriptions of someone's broken K-member (and I've heard/seen this concerning most of the brands). There are in fact some folks out there that haven't had problems (yet). But I perceive the ratio of unbroken ones to broken ones to be a little high for my tastes. I mean, I figure there are however many thousands of stock k-members out there with however many millions of miles on them (combined) and I've never heard of or seen one fail unless it was in a wreck. Conversely, there are maybe only a few hundred- maybe even as many as one or two thousand aftermarket k-members out there and I hear of them failing regularly. The odds just don't suite me.
aftermarket kmember in a wreck is a scary thought. Of the ones that broke how many were daily driven with a chromoly kmember and not a mild steel, chromoly kmember on the street is asking for trouble. Mild steel is pretty damn strong. Like i said before i had a pa kmember on my daily driver for over 15k with no issues. Ny roads arent the best either a lot of potholes etc. I drove more careful with it though always was afraid how screwed i would be if i got in a head on collision.
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I would only trust the UMI k-member. I have seen the UMI and PA units side by side and the PA just doesnt stack up to the UMI in quality of welds and overall design. The UMI unit is a serious piece of pratical engineering.
Originally Posted by sdbrown84
Interesting. I didn't know so many people had broken their aftermarket K-members.
Personally, I'd go (and probably will go) with the UMI piece after what I have read if its a daily driven vehicle.
