mitchntx

iTrader: (14)

I spent the last couple of days at Motorsport Ranch doing the road course thing.

My car has a TR220 on a 114, FLPs, a lid and some head work. It's by no means a power station. And I shift it at about 5500. I don't like buzzing the motor. So, I drive it like an old man ....

Everytime I have had a handling issue, as soon as I have replaced the BMR components, things got better.

The last piece of BMR junk I had on my car was a poly/poly adjustable Panhard Bar. I mean, what difference could that make, right? It broke!

The outer sleeve that houses the poly bushings tore apart. It literally ripped open. The only thing keeping the rear diff from coming completely out was the fact that the inside of the tires were bubbing against the inner fender.

I'll post a pic of the broken part tomorrow.

Damage caused by this failure was minor, thank God.

But those of you running BMR suspension have bolted a time bomb onto your car. The $20 or $30 you saved is the price you've put on your car.

Price? Maybe ... Quality?

As promised ...

Ferocity02

iTrader: (60)

Bad luck I say

Mike K.

Man that is some bad luck, I'm still ok with my BMR stuff here. Hopefully it holds up.

felton316

Was that what was causing your tire rubbing problem? It seems that every BMR part I bought, had to be modified for it to fit right. I spent this weekend trying to get their boxed SFC to fit well enough to weld them.

DONAIMIAN

iTrader: (18)

Only think I would use from them is a STB

akaceril

no bad luck with mine.
but I don't RR or Auto-x

trackbird

iTrader: (4)

I have their STB on my car....everything else is "outta here". The heim joints on mine were absolute "toast" after 1 year. The teflon liners were falling out or gone completely. I wound up building my own and I spent more on my rod ends than BMR spent on the whole part (of that I am sure). They use about a $5.00 rod end and they aren't any good when they are new.....

Mitch buddy, I'm glad to hear that there was no damage and that you are in one piece!!! I guess that explians your tire rubbing. I started to suggest that the side that was rubbing would place the PHB in tension (so flex is not an option), I guess tension only works when there is some.....Wow.

SScam68

iTrader: (20)

who's stuff would you guys recommend?

redz_02

iTrader: (4)

trackbird = lgmotorsport. Nough said. I don't auto cross so i'm good with my bmr's, but if i was paying high dollar i would say lg, or global west.

mitchntx

iTrader: (14)

I don't think you understand the jist of my post.

It happened on a road course, yes. But I in no way hammer the car. I never come close to FTD. I'm not making monster power, I granny shift at 5500 max ... I was in turn 5 at Motorsport Ranch, a sharp left hander taken at about 45mph.

These communities are all about sharing experience and helping a brother out. I would hate for someone's rear diff to beginning shifting back and forth at hiway speeds in freeway traffic.

Is just "good enough" really all that great?

BADZ

iTrader: (5)

We sell MADMAN's lca's and phr's and THESE WORK. These are on his car and on PAINS forumla...

mitchntx

iTrader: (14)

I understand. I'm not discounting the MADMAN line.

But after this incident, I think I've had my fill of non-mainstream parts. The $20 or $30 price difference is just not worth the risk of wadding the car up because of some silly crap like what happened to me.

LGMs parts were designed and run on Lou's World Challenge Championship Z28, not a drawing board somewhere. There is something to be said about R&D on a car under extreme conditions.

SSixspeed

I can vouch for this...

I saw this part when it came off the car.

It's not 'bad luck' that this broke. It's the very low quality of BMR products. It's just good luck for the guys using BMR stuff that it hasn't broken YET.

Vents

iTrader: (9)

the Madman PHR i have, is absolutely wondermus.. ;D no problems, and it never works itself loose. very nice sturdy piece, spherical rid ends, and i have no issues with it at all. huge diffrence in handling as well.

as far as the BMR stuff being crap, i dont know i'd say that. how long have you owned that specific PHR, and was it used or new when you bought it? if used, what did it's previous life entail? IMO, BMR makes some great stuff, and i've never known anyone else to have broken one of their components. i personally have 0 BMR parts on my car, but i wouldnt hesitate to use their stuff, i just never run across it, and im not spending the money to go out and but it. ;D

"silly crap" as you put it, happens to everyone. you're not the only one. shoot, i've broken parts that have been deemed "un-breakable" and even so, it's just a constant cycle of breaking and re-pairing stuff. (or maybe its just me?)

Jorday

Man, I can't believe that thing just came apart like that. I have BMR PHR and LCAs on my car.

Jordan

mitchntx

iTrader: (14)

You make some great points and I appreciate your input.

I bought the part new and it's been on my car several thousand miles.

If the part wore out, that is one thing. But catastrophically breaking under the driving conditions I outlined is another.

Everything in life is about risk and the price one puts on it. I just don't think the risk over a very few dollars is worth it.

I truly hope this is an isolated case. I've heard of others who have broken BMR PHBs and LCAs in this fashion. If you had been in the car with me when it happened, you and I both would've GLADLY paid $30 just to get the damn car back underneath us.

SPANKY LS1

iTrader: (24)

What proof? OMG! A BMR part broke, they suck! I guess the people who have broken T56s should lead us to believe that T56s suck. And those who have hurt a LS1 engine...... Seriously, name any part and I can probably search and find an example of one that broke, and somebody who now thinks that part "sucks". As far as "My car has a TR220 on a 114, FLPs, a lid and some head work. It's by no means a power station", the loads on a PHB are not really affected by HP. A 200 hp car shouldn't exert any more force on a PHB than a 1500 hp car would.

A couple of days on a road course is hard on parts.

Exactly. Looks like the metal fatigued and broke, nothing more, nothing less. No offense to you, but it really irritates me when I see people crying about breaking parts when racing. Sure it sucks, sure it would be nice if it didn't happen, but thats not the nature of our sport. Stuffs gonna fail, stuffs gonna break, if you're not prepared for it, you probably shouldn't be racing, IMO.

To me, poor quality is a part that doesn't fit properly, a part that is damaged to begin with, or a part that is made with obviously poor engineering (poor welds, poor design, poor execution, etc) I have several BMR parts, and I consider them to be high quality. How long were they on your car? From the looks of them, quite a while.

Just my .02.

mitchntx

iTrader: (14)

1st ... wasn't racing. It was a fun day.

2nd ... 45 mph doesn't seem to be too extreme

3rd ... sorry this irritated you

Everyone has a threshold of what they individually consider acceptable. This was beyond mine.

SPANKY LS1

iTrader: (24)

1st ... a "fun day" on a road course can be hard on parts.

2nd ... 45 mph isn't extreme.....in a straight line. What kinda turn were you in at the time? 45*? 90*? 180*?

3rd ... Didn't irritate me, just stating my opinion that, if you race, you are gonna break stuff, and it seems obvious to assume so.

If this was "beyond your threshold", I hope and pray that you never break a motor, transmission, or other non-$100 part.

Vents

iTrader: (9)

thanks.

looking at your pictures again, it's apparent how this piece was manufactured. it's a press rolled section thats welded on to the threaded collar. "IF" BMR would have used rolled steel here, instead of a stamped piece, this absoluely would not have happened. definately a manufactured defect, and dissapointing that a company like BMR would manufacture anything so poorly.

i'm a pragmitist, i like things that work. everyone likes to save a buck, but if your going to claim quality in your product, you have to put quality into a product. seems that somone thought that this was "good enough" at the manufacturing time, sadly, it's not good enough in the real world.

now, that aside, plug this information into your next purchase, and incorperate the fact that parts construction, dispite the name on a piece, is key. i personally could care less what name is on a piece, so long as it was constructed with the task i have in mind for it. some things get by with "good enough", and others are purpose built.

i stil do not think that labling BMR as "crap" would be appropriate here. more ideal would be labling this thread as, "lookie, i broke another BMR part, & i dont like these."

BMR = good parts IMO, but your case has shown that even those held in high esteem, make mistakes.