BMR 4-Point Chassis Brace Analysis & Review (CB006)

[BobJ]

Anything is better than Steeda!

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[SteedaTech]

The biggest issue with the steeda brace is that it doesn't fit. At all. Not even close. WAY off.

if your having a issue with the 4 point steeda brace we will provide the two point brace to you. Sorry for the inconvenience. pm me and i will get it taken care of.

 

[greg hazlett]

Curious as to who this person/company is posting this and what their credentials are; are they are rival company of BMR? Seems odd that someone that joined approx 1 year ago, has 35 posts and then comes out with the review of the BMR part has an agenda...

And if this is a company and you are going to critique another company in public at least have the balls to post who your company is...

 

[zuki_dan]

I got in on the first group buy for this brace and it made a noticeable difference in how composed the front end feels. I didn't realize how much the front sub-frame flexes until I installed this brace and took a spirited drive.:hail:

I was going to purchase the Steeda brace until this was announced and no loss in ground clearance.

[MENTION=9985]BMR Tech[/MENTION]Kelly, thanks for the package you sent. I will give you a call to talk about car setup when I get a chance and catch you before you guys close.

 

[Satan]

So, let me understand correctly...

You bought this product just to make a review and not test for it on your car? Just throw out some fancy terms and shock words to try and deter people from purchasing it? Really doing the community a service.

 

[DivineStrike]

Interesting review. I'm not sure if he works for steeda or not but he is certainly a staunch supporter of them. Seeing as a majority of his posts are in steeda related threads. Take from that what you will.

 

[Coaster]

I had one of the first BMR braces. I previously had the Steeda on my car for 9000 miles and I've put 10,000 on the BMR so I've had plenty of time to compare.

I've done nearly everything you can ask out of the car (and more than you probably should) since the BMR brace has been installed. AutoX, drag racing, crushing mountain roads, and some extreme long distance driving.

This includes traversing "paved" roads that are in such bad shape is was basically 70 miles of driving like you were offroading. Picking a line and crawling over the damaged sections at the limits of the cars clearance. To the point that the car was lifting a wheel several times. Drug my jacking rails, exhaust, and the nose all several times. The BMR never touched the ground and I know from experience I would have been dragging the shit out the the Steeda.

My BMR brace is still in perfect shape, just much dirtier.

Which one of these braces is stronger. I don't think you need to be a mechanical engineer to figure that out.

 

[Satan]

Seeing that the only time you post is about kneeling to steeda or anything involved with them, one would think your intentions here are semi bias.

 

[T-S550-X]

Anything is better than Steeda!

Really ? First post and that's your contribution to the discussion ? Troll......

 

[stoli]

Can we say sock puppet?

 

[xXANCHORMONXx]

Can anyone guess what the OP has in common with a porter potty?

 

[ford20]

A) Who the fuck are you to make any sort of engineering analysis? Name, company that you work for? B) Why should we listen to to an obvious Brand S nuthugger

 

[BMR Tech]

[MENTION=18941]roadracergt[/MENTION]

Since you are unhappy with your CB005 brace and it does not meet your standards, I will gladly pay to have the part shipped back to our facility...and will refund you the full amount.

You mentioned the 2pt was the better solution. Well, we have those too. CB007 is the part #.

I have a sweet deal for you! Call me to order the CB007, or order it from our site. Make another analysis and review, and afterwards I will refund 100% of your cost on the new brace....regardless of how your analysis is worded.

Free 2pt brace for you my friend. Deal?

 

[wildcatgoal]

As I was telling a customer on the phone earlier, who, ironically, is the owner of the hammertone brace above in the OP's post - we cannot please 100% of people. But we will do our best to try!

Actually, Kelly, that is not my hammertone brace. That is not my photo, mine showed worse damage. I was not involved in this review. But, yes, that was me speaking with you this morning when you said to me that BMR can't please everyone.

Since I was referred to in this thread in the tone that I was, I will speak up.

I agree with this review and am appreciative that it has been posted. I think BMR makes great products, but this brace needs refinement, at least at the control arm mounting point. The bolt hole should not be any larger than the bolt used to mount it, otherwise the brace is at risk to shift, as it has done on my car in only about 5K miles inclusive of two aggressive mountain runs.

I called today looking for your thoughts about the creaking noises I have that, as I described, were observed slightly after the brace was installed and amplified exponentially immediately after the BMR brace was removed (and obviously the control arm bolts were re-torqued). This noise, as we discussed today, have been isolated to the passenger side control arm, where this brace mounts, using process of elimination and ultimately something I was told is called a "chassis ear" (hopefully I got that name/nick-name right).

As we discussed, there are witness marks on the control arm mount that this brace was shifting and, despite proper torque application on all bolts per your instructions, the rear grade 8 bolts had to be re-torqued, indicating the forces exerted on this brace are causing it to move at the rear mounting point, perhaps because of the leverage on the rear mounting point the OP eluded to.

I have had to replace the control arm bolts because (at least) the washer was damaged from shifting and digging through the control arm mounting point hole. That did not solve the creaking noise. That bushing has been clocked and re-torqued with weight on the car. That solved nothing. I am now going to be replacing the control arm in dire hope that the noise goes away. If it doesn't, well... I guess I live with it? Like I said, I'll let you know what happens after that is replaced. I hope it's good news, because, as I discussed with you, my front suspension has been replaced (struts, springs, CC plates) and serviced (sway bar bushings lubricated, sway bar end links verified as okay - still get this noise with them totally off the car). All in an effort to get rid of this noise - the noise remains. And all of it now professionally installed - the noise remains.

This issue has cost me a lot of money and a lot of time. Hopefully nobody experiences the same... I hope they won't.

Y'all can blame this on me, fine. I know folks are very loyal to BMR, especially when compared to Steeda in many cases, and will look at my signature, see the parts I have, and call me a Steeda fanboy/plant. I'm not. Frankly I plan to switch my springs to Swift Spec R shortly. Fact is, I chose what I chose for how I drive my car and paid for it all. Funny, though... Steeda is helping me solve this issue even after eliminating all Steeda parts as a possible cause. BMR (Kelly) has basically told me that I should have aligned an oversized bolt hole that I can't see during installation - so I installed it wrong? Right.

But odd that I came to derive the same conclusions as did the OP independently and went directly to Kelly with my issue weeks ago, never intending to post here because I really have no agenda against BMR and actually liked how my car felt with this brace installed - it works. But, then I'm mentioned in a post the same day as the last contact I had with Kelly during which I even offered to send my brace to him for review so he could see it in person, hoping doing so would help come up with a solution. Didn't ask for a refund, wasn't offered one either. Instead, more less it was implied earlier that was somehow involved with the original post by providing a photo, which I did not. Again, I was not involved in this post and I don't see why I was referred to in the tone that I was.

Here's MY photos:

 

[yellowstangatl]

Those bolt holes are huge and it looks like the washers are too small.

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