RLCA Bearing Upgrade: An In-Depth Look at the most overlooked piece of the puzzle

GTPP said:

Does anyone know if the old bushings are flared in one direction? The ball joint press I rented is only large enough to press the old bushings out the same way they were pressed in. I'd like to avoid destroying a set of control arms

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They are not, they can go out either way

I managed to install my bearings fairly easily using a ball joint press and a small bench top vice. Pretty easy install, took maybe 30 minutes and one mildly busted knuckle. Don't let the fear of pressing out bushings dissuade you from doing this mod.

GTPP said:

I managed to install my bearings fairly easily using a ball joint press and a small bench top vice. Pretty easy install, took maybe 30 minutes and one mildly busted knuckle. Don't let the fear of pressing out bushings dissuade you from doing this mod.

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Still, that price from C&D Autotech is actually quite good for what you get.

BmacIL said:

Still, that price from C&D Autotech is actually quite good for what you get.

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Oh, absolutely. Especially considering two control arms from levittown ford are 297 shipped, plus the BMR bearings are 270, and local shops quoted me ~25 per bearing for R&R.

If you can't/won't pony up 600 bucks upfront, replacing the bushings yourself is definitely a viable option

I wanted to share some pics I took. People constantly ask, why such the high price Kelly?

Here is a look at the US Made, to our spec, 1" Spherical Bearing set next to what the industry standard is for a 1" bearing.

Pretty impressive, right? ;)

Bumping this thread for a dumb question - from what I can tell, these bearing kits only replace the frontmost RLCA-to-subframe bushing with a bearing - the stock rearmost bushing is still used. Would be great to see some detailed photos of the rearmost bushing. The frontmost bushing has a lot of "airspace" in it, but haven't seen a good shot of the factory rearmost one, but I imagine it's nothing like the frontmost bushing.

lugz said:

Bumping this thread for a dumb question - from what I can tell, these bearing kits only replace the frontmost RLCA-to-subframe bushing with a bearing - the stock rearmost bushing is still used. Would be great to see some detailed photos of the rearmost bushing. The frontmost bushing has a lot of "airspace" in it, but haven't seen a good shot of the factory rearmost one, but I imagine it's nothing like the frontmost bushing.

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The rear point is already a bearing.

BmacIL said:

The rear point is already a bearing.

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Thanks!

So is there any required maintenance to these spherical bearings? Do you keep them dry, or bother with any periodic sprits of lubricant? I have the BMR double spherical vertical links is why I ask.

Another dumb question.... in terms of just the frontmost RLCA-to-subframe bearing and the stock rearmost bearing. Do you still need to "clock the bushings" on leveled ground? I an assuming the RLCA from BMR don't need to be clocked, but what about the stock rearmost bearing?

Mootang said:

Another dumb question.... in terms of just the frontmost RLCA-to-subframe bearing and the stock rearmost bearing. Do you still need to "clock the bushings" on leveled ground? I an assuming the RLCA from BMR don't need to be clocked, but what about the stock rearmost bearing?

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You only need to clock the rubber bushings - reset them to the new ride height.

MtnBiker said:

You only need to clock the rubber bushings - reset them to the new ride height.

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I believe I don't have any rubber bushings to clock anymore (I think) in the rear. I am in the process of clocking the front bushings for sure (building some wheel crib blocks out of wood).

Parts for our new BK081 are flying off our CNC machine!

This new BK081 RLCA Bearing kit will be more comparable to the non-BMR versions on the market.

We went down on the bearing size to match what is out there, but we have chosen to CNC machine the housings from 303 Stainless Steel and have also gone to 6061 Bearing Spacers instead of the 7075 in our BK055 Kit. These changes have resulted in us being able to pass the massive savings on to the consumer!

More pics to come!

BMR Tech said:

These changes have resulted in us being able to pass the massive savings on to the consumer!

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Beautiful, man! Are you going to have a similar package deal to swap control arms? That will be the way to go for anyone looking to do this mod, as pressing them in can be a challenge.

Working on some things in that arena. ;)

As of right now I tell people:

1: Take the BMR bearing and your RLCA to a shop and let them do the dirty work on their press for very minimal cash out of pocket

2: Acquire a bushing R&R tool.....which is a royal PITA IMO.

3: Contact Chuck at C&D Autotech and take advantage of his services.