BMR LCA Bearings & Steeda LCA difference ?

[Fridge]

So I'm looking to buy some LCA bearings because I can't stop buying suspension parts for some reason

I understand the purpose of a spherical LCA bearing but it looks like the approach is a little different from both companies.

BMR's kit has more pieces but the price is almost double

Steeda's looks like it's literally just two bearings, which is what I think all I need and half the price....hmmm

Can someone explain the reason for the other pieces in BMR's kit and why it's almost double the price.

If it's worth it to pay for BMR's kit vs Steeda's kit I'd like to see what y'all think.

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[Coyote Red]

Spherical vs polyurethane bushings I understand, as you increase torque & hp the spherical are stronger. I am currently buying the "Lockout kit" by BMR and the J&M bushings for the subframe.

 

[SteedaTech]

So I'm looking to buy some LCA bearings because I can't stop buying suspension parts for some reason

I understand the purpose of a spherical LCA bearing but it looks like the approach is a little different from both companies.

BMR's kit has more pieces but the price is almost double

Steeda's looks like it's literally just two bearings, which is what I think all I need and half the price....hmmm

Can someone explain the reason for the other pieces in BMR's kit and why it's almost double the price.

If it's worth it to pay for BMR's kit vs Steeda's kit I'd like to see what y'all think.

The Steeda LCA arm bearing is Nickel plated for lifelong durability. We had this bearing built to our spec for the ease of installation. Furthermore, our kit includes the tool to install the bearing. On sale for approximately 140.00 today

 

[BMR Tech]

Our BK055 Bearing kit was designed to be the best design possible.

Our Billet CNC Bearing housing features a thick retaining lip on the front side, with a heavy duty lock ring on the aft side. This ensures the bearing is perfectly located when pressed in, and also ensures a tight and snug fit to prevent movement of the outer bearing housing under extreme loads. In the past, we have seen issues with steel pieces pressed into aluminum under extreme abuse. (slop within the mount from the assembly shifting)

We also use the largest bearing in the industry for this application. We use a 1" Spherical Bearing to our spec. The larges bearings are stronger, they last longer, and they are typically better for NVH.

To top it off, we use bulletproof black anodized 7075 Billet bearing spacers with more surface area than any others. This design ensures slip free mounting and helps to strengthen the entire mounting system.

When we designed this kit, we considered making more of an "Econo" design...but we really like to offer products that we feel are the best. I am sure all of the available bearing kits work great - we just like to know ours cannot be improved upon.

We are also running a sale right now, with 15% off and free shipping on this product. ;)

Whatever your choice, good luck and enjoy!

 

[SteedaTech]

The Steeda LCA arm bearing is Nickel plated for lifelong durability. We had this bearing built to our spec for the ease of installation. Furthermore, our kit includes the tool to install the bearing. On sale for approximately 140.00 today

Further update from Engineering:

Our bearing housing is nickel plated but our bearings are high quality stainless steel Teflon lined pre-loaded pieces. Also, our kit comes with the removal/install tool. Lastly the housing only uses 1 retaining ring and a machined stop at the backside minimizing the chances of a retaining ring failures and ultimate strength, period. The reason our kit includes more and is less is because it's made in house. So we pass the savings on to the customer.

 

[tj@steeda]

The Steeda #20 Race Car finished 1st in its class today at Sebring ... won with the Steeda LCAs!

Steeda parts are Designed | Engineered | Manufactured | Track Tested & Backed - we can truly say we race what we sell!

Here is an article on Mustang 360 if you want to read about the build http://www.mustangandfords.com/news/1609-steeda-autosports-s550-road-racer/

Best Regards,

TJ

 

[Doctor Fishtail]

Our BK055 Bearing kit was designed to be the best design possible.

Our Billet CNC Bearing housing features a thick retaining lip on the front side, with a heavy duty lock ring on the aft side. This ensures the bearing is perfectly located when pressed in, and also ensures a tight and snug fit to prevent movement of the outer bearing housing under extreme loads. In the past, we have seen issues with steel pieces pressed into aluminum under extreme abuse. (slop within the mount from the assembly shifting)

We also use the largest bearing in the industry for this application. We use a 1" Spherical Bearing to our spec. The larges bearings are stronger, they last longer, and they are typically better for NVH.

To top it off, we use bulletproof black anodized 7075 Billet bearing spacers with more surface area than any others. This design ensures slip free mounting and helps to strengthen the entire mounting system.

When we designed this kit, we considered making more of an "Econo" design...but we really like to offer products that we feel are the best. I am sure all of the available bearing kits work great - we just like to know ours cannot be improved upon.

We are also running a sale right now, with 15% off and free shipping on this product. ;)

Whatever your choice, good luck and enjoy!

I am looking at this for near future. The engineering quality of materials and well thought out product is why BMR is on the top of the mountain.

 

[IvanCRF]

I am looking at this for near future. The engineering quality of materials and well thought out product is why BMR is on the top of the mountain.

I agree it is a well thought out product. With the built in lip and giant snap ring at the opposite end, it sits where it needs to and it isn't going to budge.

It was a great fit as well. They got pressed in with a 6 ton press without any trouble. I froze my Ford Racing bearings to aid in the install and didn't even consider freezing these because they measured correctly.

 

[SteedaTech]

Our Billet CNC Bearing housing features a thick retaining lip on the front side.

The retaining ring on the other brand uses about 320 degrees or 85% of the bearing surface. The one Steeda uses supports 360 degrees or 100% of the bearing surface - a much stronger design.

Steeda also uses the largest bearing in the industry for this application. We use a 1" Spherical Bearing ... also using 1" bearing as well.

We do not use 7075 Aluminum spacers in our 1” bearing.

Steeda uses much stronger 1018 Nickel Plated Steel sleeves for more strength and less chance of deflection in our 1’’.

 

[wildcatgoal]

The fact of the matter is, both companies will spar over who has the best solution. And the even greater fact is, both of the solutions are quality parts that will do what spherical bearings do - reduce deflection across suspension parts that affects handling and alignment.

You can pick based upon loyalty to one brand, or pick based upon features you think best suit what you need. Or price. In the end, you'll have a quality LCA bearing where one should have been all along (at least on the performance package variants). This is a must-do modification, IMHO.

I chose Steeda's LCA bearing and I'm very happy with it. The reason I ultimately went with Steeda's is for two reasons. (1) Steeda made the process easy by installing the bearings for me in new LCAs. I don't think they don't normally do this (like... you can't go to Steeda.com and do this) but if you want to go this route and keep stock LCAs, I suppose you could call Steeda and ask for the same treatment. I had to pay shop labor for the bearing install, as you would if you took your LCA to have the bushing pressed out and bearing pressed in at your local mechanic or machine shop. Now... of course, you don't need new LCAs, but I did (don't ask, but had nothing to do with Steeda). The most important reason I chose Steeda, though, is that Steeda's bearing doesn't use the black aluminum spacers that the BMR bearing (same as their spherical vertical links) uses and I'm not worried about the Steeda bearing walking out of the race, although the BMR C-clip design is piece of mind-educing absolutely. I preferred Steeda's steel spacers that bridge the gap between the bearing itself and the mounting point. I suppose there's nothing technically wrong with BMR's aluminum bearing spacers, but I'm more comfortable with the Steeda spacer design connecting directly to the center of the bearing vs. being there simply to bridge a gap "the rest of the way". I've held both in my hand, as well (no, not at or because of Steeda... before certain people start jumping on that point). Both are quality parts. I came to prefer the Steeda unit.

Look, both LCA bearing solutions are going to work - and I recommend getting one of them, installing it, and reaping the benefits as soon as possible. The reason people avoid this and get all the other parts from Steeda or BMR is because of how invasive installing this bearing is, but after installing it you'll realize you probably should have done it first. Also, while you're down there, install an FRPP toe arm bearing - easy (albeit frustrating) process that involves a universal ball joint press (rent the one with lots of attachment cups, not the smaller kit) and said ball joint press parts falling on your toe while you're wearing sandals... which is not a good idea working on a car.

I have a thread about my bearing install with my observations about each LCA bearing. here.

 

[Rebellion]

Look, both LCA bearing solutions are going to work - and I recommend getting one of them, installing it, and reaping the benefits as soon as possible. The reason people avoid this and get all the other parts from Steeda or BMR is because of how invasive installing this bearing is, but after installing it you'll realize you probably should have done it first. Also, while you're down there, install an FRPP toe arm bearing - easy (albeit frustrating) process that involves a universal ball joint press (rent the one with lots of attachment cups, not the smaller kit) and said ball joint press parts falling on your toe while you're wearing sandals... which is not a good idea working on a car.

Exactly, too much of a hassle to put on this part. BTW, if you don't mind, what was the price of the LCA preloaded with the bearing?

 

[BMR Tech]

This post intrigues me.

-We use a retaining lip and a heavy duty locking ring on BOTH the bearing into the cup, and the housing into the LCA mount. This ensures the strongest mounting method. Since this post is comparing the two, that would make the BMR design stronger. We didn't see the point in only giving it 50%.

Steeda uses much stronger 1018 Nickel Plated Steel sleeves for more strength and less chance of deflection in our 1’’.

-It is mentioned above, that Steeda uses "much stronger" 1018 Steel bearing spacers to mount the bearing assembly to the IRS subframe.. [MENTION=25806]SteedaTech[/MENTION] can you clarify your claim with some more detail? I just want to ensure that the readers are informed thoroughly and accurately. We use 7075 T6 Alloy for ours, and I assume you use a 1018 Carbon Steel?

-Remaining on the bearing spacer topic, the BMR design features a significantly higher/larger surface area on the mating flanges to the IRS Cradle. This ensures that the clamping force and mounting of the bearing assembly to the subframe have the best and strongest mounting - to reduce chances of shifting or slip within the assembly.

As for winning races, we rely on our customers to prove how well our products perform.

As I type this, the BMR LCA Bearings have been the most proven on the drag strip and the road course - by a long shot.

Steve Kent, Jr., in the No. 00 XLR8DieselTrucks Ford Mustang, set the fast time for TA4 with a time of 2:17.349, beating out rookie Brian Kleeman, who turned a 2:17.483 in the No. 07 DWW Motorsports Ford Mustang, for the class’ top spot.

The 2015+ S550 Mustang independent rear suspension quarter-mile world record has just been reset by Mo Makki and his turbocharged 2015 Mustang GT.

This beast of an S550 features a JPC Racing turbo kit using a Precision 8685 single turbocharger, GForce Engineering bolt-in 9-inch fabricated independent rear suspension kit, Viking shocks, the entire BMR Suspension catalog of parts, TH400 transmission, and 17-inch drag radials.

All done on products that are proven to be suitable for daily driven S550 Mustangs in all environments.

When quality, design and performance are on the line - BMR components cannot be beat.

 

[BMR Tech]

We do not use 7075 Aluminum spacers in our 1” bearing.

Steeda uses much stronger 1018 Nickel Plated Steel sleeves for more strength and less chance of deflection in our 1’’.

Can you please show the data behind this statement?

 

[Voodooo]

I'm gonning to throw a wrench into this thread.
Customers can also choose Full Tilt Boogie Racing and Cortex. They also offer LCA bearings. What I like about Cortex is they also offer front LCA bearings. Neither Steeda or BMR offer those.

Here's the Cortex rear LCA bearing

 

[Voodooo]

This is the front Cortex LCA bearing.

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