Broken BMR Front Lower Arm

[BMR Fabrication]

I am well aware of the issues that arose on our early production arms.

 

Instead of getting into a long novel about it, I will post a link to a post I made on a forum with information regarding the Evolution of our A-Arms:

 

http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/showthread.php?978048-A-look-at-BMR-s-Current-S197-Tubular-A-Arm-Offering&highlight=

 

Contrary to your impression, I care more than you can imagine. If not, I would not put the amount of effort I do into this.

 

There is a reason you will not see another company that has been successful offering these components. To my knowledge, ourselves and Shelby American are the only companies who offer a reliable and excellent tubular OEM replacement FLCA that saves weight and increases performance substantially. Many companies have attempted and failed. Many companies saw the issues we have experienced, and have just completely skipped over even trying to offer a FLCA (they post this publicly)

 

I took over S197 here at BMR in November 2010. You may have dealt with me, maybe not.

 

In 5+ years, things change. At that time, I was brought into my position because we are overwhelmed with the S197 - our S197 segment was just exploding (in a good way)

 

What I DO know, is myself. I know that I would never intentionally blow you off. I also know that if you had the Arms repaired by someone other than BMR, then the communication was likely a mutual agreement as to what would be done - I am not so sure about the repair by Scott Hoag being a last resort because of our failure to work with you. I have had several people repair early model FLCA, and I do not recall a negative experience.

 

If you have any communication trail via Email, etc, I would be interested in seeing it.

 

2011 was the year that you had your issue, and it was also the year that we put a lot of effort into our latest revision FLCAs, as you will see mentioned in the link above that I posted.

 

The issue you had with your A-Arm was likely mentioned in that link above, as well. I am sure that when we spoke, I was likely aware of the version you had and I may have felt fine with you having Mr Hoag repair the portion of the arm that he did. As stated, I do not recall.

 

On that note, I have no need for your current FLCA. The design from 2011+newer has proven to be a work horse, on road courses, drag strips, streets around the world and on every S197 Mustang that goes 200+MPH in the standing Mile.

 

Yes, SAI uses A LOT of our suspension, with excellent results. They chose to use many of our components on the S1000, the Drag Packs, Prudhomme Editions and several others. They are even putting some of our S550 stuff on the new Super Snakes.

 

In the future, if you have any questions or concerns....or want to utilize any of our components for your car - please do not hesitate as ask for me directly.

 

Have a nice day!

 

Kelly

[39Mustang]

Should have used the Griggs stuff they do not break

[Kevin Patten]

Should have used the Griggs stuff they do not break

Not true - I've seen a couple of Griggs front lower control arms break/tear.

[SSGT500]

I am well aware of the issues that arose on our early production arms.

 

Instead of getting into a long novel about it, I will post a link to a post I made on a forum with information regarding the Evolution of our A-Arms:

 

http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/showthread.php?978048-A-look-at-BMR-s-Current-S197-Tubular-A-Arm-Offering&highlight=

 

Contrary to your impression, I care more than you can imagine. If not, I would not put the amount of effort I do into this.

 

There is a reason you will not see another company that has been successful offering these components. To my knowledge, ourselves and Shelby American are the only companies who offer a reliable and excellent tubular OEM replacement FLCA that saves weight and increases performance substantially. Many companies have attempted and failed. Many companies saw the issues we have experienced, and have just completely skipped over even trying to offer a FLCA (they post this publicly)

 

I took over S197 here at BMR in November 2010. You may have dealt with me, maybe not.

 

In 5+ years, things change. At that time, I was brought into my position because we are overwhelmed with the S197 - our S197 segment was just exploding (in a good way)

 

What I DO know, is myself. I know that I would never intentionally blow you off. I also know that if you had the Arms repaired by someone other than BMR, then the communication was likely a mutual agreement as to what would be done - I am not so sure about the repair by Scott Hoag being a last resort because of our failure to work with you. I have had several people repair early model FLCA, and I do not recall a negative experience.

 

If you have any communication trail via Email, etc, I would be interested in seeing it.

 

2011 was the year that you had your issue, and it was also the year that we put a lot of effort into our latest revision FLCAs, as you will see mentioned in the link above that I posted.

 

The issue you had with your A-Arm was likely mentioned in that link above, as well. I am sure that when we spoke, I was likely aware of the version you had and I may have felt fine with you having Mr Hoag repair the portion of the arm that he did. As stated, I do not recall.

 

On that note, I have no need for your current FLCA. The design from 2011+newer has proven to be a work horse, on road courses, drag strips, streets around the world and on every S197 Mustang that goes 200+MPH in the standing Mile.

 

Yes, SAI uses A LOT of our suspension, with excellent results. They chose to use many of our components on the S1000, the Drag Packs, Prudhomme Editions and several others. They are even putting some of our S550 stuff on the new Super Snakes.

 

In the future, if you have any questions or concerns....or want to utilize any of our components for your car - please do not hesitate as ask for me directly.

 

Have a nice day!

 

Kelly

After viewing the linked to SVT Performance article, I'm concerned with the control arms on my 07. They appear to be the older design even though they are only several years old. I would have preferred to have heard about the possibility of control arm breakage directly from BMR. I would think they maintain records of who has purchased their control arms and could directly notify those owners of a potential problem. Especially one as serious as a control arm failure. I track my car every year at speeds up to 150 mph and will be very unhappy if a control should suddenly fail.

[Imatk]

I am sorry to hear about your issue that you had. You are correct, we have revised our designs over the years to meet our customer's expectations on the street, drag strip and road tracks. Unfortunately you installed those arms 9+years ago, and our warranty for items like FLCA is not going to apply.

 

Just like, if your OEM GT500 FLCA cracked, Ford would not cover it almost 10 years later.

 

 

 

 

With an issue like this causing a catastrophic failure and obviously a design flaw Ford would not only cover it... they would recall it.

 

I've not heard of any stock arms tearing like this so if I have please let me know because I'd be very interested... (I have the stock arms).

 

Why do you think they're OEMs spend millions and millions of dollars (them and any other OEM BTW) on recalls... because they want to?

 

This part could potentially cause a severe accident and death... etc.

 

So if you ARE going to compare yourself to OEM then you should certainly offer the revised part to any previous owner at YOUR cost. who knows someone might sue you.

 

That's why the OEM's do it. Of course they have a matrix that allows for death/law suits that determines if they will issue a recall, which is horrible, but it is what it is.

[SSGT500]

 

With an issue like this causing a catastrophic failure and obviously a design flaw Ford would not only cover it... they would recall it.

 

I've not heard of any stock arms tearing like this so if I have please let me know because I'd be very interested... (I have the stock arms).

 

Why do you think they're OEMs spend millions and millions of dollars (them and any other OEM BTW) on recalls... because they want to?

 

This part could potentially cause a severe accident and death... etc.

 

So if you ARE going to compare yourself to OEM then you should certainly offer the revised part to any previous owner at YOUR cost. who knows someone might sue you.

 

That's why the OEM's do it. Of course they have a matrix that allows for death/law suits that determines if they will issue a recall, which is horrible, but it is what it is.

Seems to me it wouldn't be that difficult for BMR to offer to upgrade the older style arms. Any owner interested could send their control arms to BMR and BMR would upgrade them to the new specs. That would involve cutting and removing the old braces and welding in new ones. Alternatively BMR could leave the old braces in place and sandwich new pieces onto the old. It doesn't sound that difficult.

[msb64]

Part of the performance game at virtually any level is that parts break, thats a given.

Frequent inspection of all critical parts is a must, never take anything for granted.

If something breaks, try to determine the cause and always try to upgrade to something better.

I have quite a few BMR parts on my car and they are holding out quite well, but that doesn't mean that I am not going to keep an eye on them.

[Imatk]

Part of the performance game at virtually any level is that parts break, thats a given.

Frequent inspection of all critical parts is a must, never take anything for granted.

If something breaks, try to determine the cause and always try to upgrade to something better.

I have quite a few BMR parts on my car and they are holding out quite well, but that doesn't mean that I am not going to keep an eye on them.

 

Parts break, yes. But when there's an admitted design flaw that causes catastrophic failure and the vendor then compares that failure to a normal warrantied part from the OEM is where I take exception.

 

There's a prevailing attitude in performance that aftermarket is always superior.

 

In some cases it is... in many cases it isn't.

 

But it depends on what you deem superior.

 

The amount of R&D that's done on the OEM level to determine if a particular part is safe and durable is far beyond what any aftermarket company will do. Simply because the OEM has more money, resources, and they're producing in mass quantities.

 

The OEM makes decisions based off of budget so in the case of these control arms I'm sure Ford could have designed a lightweight arm that performs far better than any aftermarket part could even approach because they have the resources to do that.

 

Of course then the part would cost much more and that cost would be passed on to the customer who would likely not want to pay for it. Not to mention does the performance part cause vibration... rattles... etc. that they know the average consumer will not like?

 

So Ford determines what is the best balance and there are so many factors it's ridiculous.

 

People should know what they're getting into when they purchase aftermarket parts and in most cases they don't. Because it's not advantageous for an aftermarket company to say, "Look if you buy XXX part then it will perform better on a track but in daily driving it's much noisier and you may not like it."

 

And they shouldn't HAVE to either BTW. But how many posts have you seen where customer "A" buys vendor "B" parts and then complains that the car no longer drives like stock.

 

Well DUH! You put an aftermarket part of your car... it probably will not drive the same way... isn't that the point??!?!? But most people just want what is "best" and they think that "best" is aftermarket... and in most cases (in their case) it's not.

 

BMR is a great suspension company that has great products. So I'm not trying to bash them in any way. In fact I'm probably going to buy some of their lower control arms.

 

But again... admitting a design flaw and then trying to compare that flaw to an OEM warranty is kind of out there.

[Kevin Patten]

FYI - Ford had Multimatic (in Canada) design and build the S197 front lower control arms and there has been plenty of replacements done as lower front ball joints wore pre-maturely. There are TSBs on this and changes made during the S197 chassis years on both the lower control arms and the ball joints. You will note that the front lower ball joint and the front lower control arm design changed in 2011.

[Robert M]

FYI - Ford had Multimatic (in Canada) design and build the S197 front lower control arms and there has been plenty of replacements done as lower front ball joints wore pre-maturely. There are TSBs on this and changes made during the S197 chassis years on both the lower control arms and the ball joints. You will note that the front lower ball joint and the front lower control arm design changed in 2011.

 

I think oem LCA bushing squeak is also an issue?

 

 

 

 

 

R

[Imatk]

FYI - Ford had Multimatic (in Canada) design and build the S197 front lower control arms and there has been plenty of replacements done as lower front ball joints wore pre-maturely. There are TSBs on this and changes made during the S197 chassis years on both the lower control arms and the ball joints. You will note that the front lower ball joint and the front lower control arm design changed in 2011.

 

Did they fail like the BMR piece by shearing completely off?

 

In my '06 I had to replace the arms after 50k miles but they hadn't broken... just the bushing started to squeak.

[Kevin Patten]

Do you have a picture of the sheared off BMR LCA?

 

Also need someone to post a picture of an OEM 2005-2010 LCA and an OEM 2011 - 2014 LCA arm if you want further the conversation.

 

I don't think that we'll be able to get Multimatic to get in on this post to discuss load dispersion even though I know there is one out there.

 

I know Ford had reason to bond the rear bushing and to have a serrated and bonded front bushing on the front LCA and that most people do not loosen the front bushing bolt (mounting it to the sub frame) and/or repositioning the rear bushing to unload the front LCA bushings when altering the ride height like Shelby did. In 2011 Ford made the change on the front sway bar frame mount bushings by also bonding the sway bar bushings to the sway bar (also changed over to an electric assisted steering rack at that time).

 

A couple of other OE manufacturers tried this same design on front LCA arms - also had issues and changed design - Ford changed it when they came out with the S550 chassis.

[Robert M]

The 2010 to 2011 oem ball joint change was from 18mm to 19mm stud size, right? maybe a little longer also?

 

Are there any other changes to the oem LCA's beyond the 1mm ball joint stud upsize?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

R

[Kevin Patten]

The 2010 to 2011 oem ball joint change was from 18mm to 19mm stud size, right? maybe a little longer also?

 

Are there any other changes to the oem LCA's beyond the 1mm ball joint stud upsize?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

R

Oh yes, yes there is Robert....

[Imatk]

Do you have a picture of the sheared off BMR LCA?

 

 

 

It was linked to the thread on SVTPerformance ealier in this thread.

 

http://api.viglink.com/api/click?format=go&jsonp=vglnk_145632963953511&key=b117ca3a3dae5cb1f2217d057f4297a3&libId=il1128c501000bdy000DLla40dhql&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.svtperformance.com%2Fforums%2Fshowthread.php%3F978048-A-look-at-BMR-s-Current-S197-Tubular-A-Arm-Offering%26highlight%3D&v=1&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.teamshelby.com%2Fforums%2Findex.php%2Ftopic%2F75171-broken-bmr-front-lower-arm%2Fpage-2&out=http%3A%2F%2Fs455.photobucket.com%2Fuser%2Fbmrfabrication%2Fmedia%2FS197%2520A-Arm%2520Info%2FIMG_20110728_185036.jpg.html&title=A%20look%20at%20BMR%27s%20Current%20S197%20Tubular%20A-Arm%20Offering&txt=

[Robert M]

Oh yes, yes there is Robert....

 

What are the other changes?

 

Updated ball joints were all that I had seen mentioned in past FRPP literature, and from what I have read, those arms are 2011-up production Ford pulled and re-boxed FRPP.

 

 

 

 

 

R

[Kevin Patten]

I'm trying to see if I can get some photos of the 2 LCAs to aid in the descriptions. Earlier arms (2005-2010) were 2 piece welded together and the ball joint only presses into half of the hole where as the later arms are one solid piece out at the ball joint and is thicker. The later arms have a metal wrap on it at the bend - it really would be better to explain with pics to show so let me stop and get some pictures before continuing.

 

Robert - (it's kinda like the upper third link that we discussed comparisons on) but I'm not going out and buying a bunch of front LCAs

[Kevin Patten]

 

Let's see if this works.

 

OK - the first one is the 2005 - 2010 LCA, middle one is the 2011 - 2014 LCA, and the third one is the FRPP M-3075-RA unit.

[Kevin Patten]

The 2005-2010 unit is 2 halves with the sides folded 90 degrees and then set together (top and bottom) then welded along the sides and the 2011 - 2014 unit is one flat (thicker) piece with the two sides welded to the single flat center and the front bushing portion wrapped and then welded to the single/thicker center plate. As far as where the rear bushing is attached, the stud welded to the arm is solid on the earlier units whereas the later one is hollow. Yes the ball joints are different 18MM verses 19MM but the spindles are all the same part so all one has to do is slightly spread the hole in the later arm to put on a early car (you do not have to drill out your spindles). The FRPP unit is made for a non-bonded front and rear bushings and an adjustable Howe ball joint.

 

Yes, even the OEM units had to go through changes.

[Imatk]

So if someone wanted to upgrade the control arm on an '07 what would be the best choice from the ones you posted above?

[Robert M]

The 2005-2010 unit is 2 halves with the sides folded 90 degrees and then set together (top and bottom) then welded along the sides and the 2011 - 2014 unit is one flat (thicker) piece with the two sides welded to the single flat center and the front bushing portion wrapped and then welded to the single/thicker center plate. As far as where the rear bushing is attached, the stud welded to the arm is solid on the earlier units whereas the later one is hollow. Yes the ball joints are different 18MM verses 19MM but the spindles are all the same part so all one has to do is slightly spread the hole in the later arm to put on a early car (you do not have to drill out your spindles). The FRPP unit is made for a non-bonded front and rear bushings and an adjustable Howe ball joint.

 

Yes, even the OEM units had to go through changes.

 

What I would like to find is the 2011-up arms as you have shown above, with the mounting tabs on the rear bushing for the TSB retro fit heat shield attachment. The picture you have attached shows that type of bushing (with tabs), but the current FRPP arms that are being shipped do not have this feature. Heat from the close exhaust in the rear LCA bushing area has been said to cause the hydro-bushings to squeak, and the TSB heat shield kit was supposed to eliminate that heat issue.............and then now the 2011-up arms don't have the tabs for mounting the shields..............and the bushings are not sold separately?!?!?

 

Here is a 2011-2014 arm removed from a production car. I have also seen recent FRPP LCA pictures, no tabs. There were tabs on the 2011-up at one point in time, you have the picture evidence shown above.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2011-2014-Mustang-GT-5-0-GT500-Driver-side-LH-Front-Lower-control-arm-Ford-OEM-/151930407574?hash=item235fc20a96:g:2FoAAOSwHPlWgKFY&vxp=mtr

 

^^^^^^^^^^^No tabs for the heat shield mounting............

 

The current FRPP arms for the 2011-2014 are pulled directly from Ford stock and re-boxed "FRPP", and they are the same..........no tabs. If a person can not buy the rear LCA bushings separately, it would sure be nice to protect the bushings that are there from heat, especially since there is a TSB and a heat shield kit from Ford to fix this issue.

 

 

I have the TSB on my desktop, here is a copy and paste of a portion of it...............

 

-----------------------------------------

 

ISSUE

Some 2011-2014 Mustangs vehicles may exhibit a grunt/creak/chirp/squeak noise from the front

lower control arm hydro bushing. These noises may occur over large vertical bumps like speed

bumps, pot holes, rough roads and driveway approaches.

 

------------------------------------

 

 

So if the car is fixed (replacement LCA's) from Ford, and there are no shield attachment provisions, it is only a matter of time before there could be an issue again, and the arms are serviced as assy's., with no bushings sold separately. Like I said, it would be nice to find a set of the 2011-2014 LCA's you have shown above and gain the updated ball joints and arm features but "also" protect the rear bushings from heat.

 

I did some research on this arms also, about 6 months ago. I had a squeak in the right front of my Super Snake which turned out to be a sway bar mount in need of grease. But during my quest for "possible" front LCA replacement, I check into what was offered. If I could have found a set of the 2011-up that you have pictured above, I would have snatched them up, for the future if nothing else, but I don't want to go backwards in rear LCA bushing protection because my factory 2008 arms have those tabs.

 

___________________________________________________

 

I also researched the FRPP "RA" part number LCA you have shown above, I believe it is BOSS 302LS? I don't remember. It was an interesting LCA set up, the Howe ball joints bolt-in and I believe they are adjustable? My concern with those was the bushing kit offered in poly only...........and possible NVH transmitted to the cabin of a street car, not to mention the original cost of the "RA" control arms...............like $500+ not including the bushings...........and the bushing/bracket kit was like $300-$400 additional? That would be $800-$900 to build out a set of those arms..........OUCH!! Especially when there is really no weight reduction to speak of.

 

 

 

 

 

 

R

[Kevin Patten]

So if someone wanted to upgrade the control arm on an '07 what would be the best choice from the ones you posted above?

Imatk - what is the primary use of your 2007 ?

[Kevin Patten]

 

What I would like to find is the 2011-up arms as you have shown above, with the mounting tabs on the rear bushing for the TSB retro fit heat shield attachment. The picture you have attached shows that type of bushing (with tabs), but the current FRPP arms that are being shipped do not have this feature. Heat from the close exhaust in the rear LCA bushing area has been said to cause the hydro-bushings to squeak, and the TSB heat shield kit was supposed to eliminate that heat issue.............and then now the 2011-up arms don't have the tabs for mounting the shields..............and the bushings are not sold separately?!?!?

 

Here is a 2011-2014 arm removed from a production car. I have also seen recent FRPP LCA pictures, no tabs. There were tabs on the 2011-up at one point in time, you have the picture evidence shown above.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2011-2014-Mustang-GT-5-0-GT500-Driver-side-LH-Front-Lower-control-arm-Ford-OEM-/151930407574?hash=item235fc20a96:g:2FoAAOSwHPlWgKFY&vxp=mtr

 

^^^^^^^^^^^No tabs for the heat shield mounting............

 

The current FRPP arms for the 2011-2014 are pulled directly from Ford stock and re-boxed "FRPP", and they are the same..........no tabs. If a person can not buy the rear LCA bushings separately, it would sure be nice to protect the bushings that are there from heat, especially since there is a TSB and a heat shield kit from Ford to fix this issue.

 

 

I have the TSB on my desktop, here is a copy and paste of a portion of it...............

 

-----------------------------------------

 

ISSUE

Some 2011-2014 Mustangs vehicles may exhibit a grunt/creak/chirp/squeak noise from the front

lower control arm hydro bushing. These noises may occur over large vertical bumps like speed

bumps, pot holes, rough roads and driveway approaches.

 

------------------------------------

 

 

So if the car is fixed (replacement LCA's) from Ford, and there are no shield attachment provisions, it is only a matter of time before there could be an issue again, and the arms are serviced as assy's., with no bushings sold separately. Like I said, it would be nice to find a set of the 2011-2014 LCA's you have shown above and gain the updated ball joints and arm features but "also" protect the rear bushings from heat.

 

I did some research on this arms also, about 6 months ago. I had a squeak in the right front of my Super Snake which turned out to be a sway bar mount in need of grease. But during my quest for "possible" front LCA replacement, I check into what was offered. If I could have found a set of the 2011-up that you have pictured above, I would have snatched them up, for the future if nothing else, but I don't want to go backwards in rear LCA bushing protection because my factory 2008 arms have those tabs.

 

___________________________________________________

 

I also researched the FRPP "RA" part number LCA you have shown above, I believe it is BOSS 302LS? I don't remember. It was an interesting LCA set up, the Howe ball joints bolt-in and I believe they are adjustable? My concern with those was the bushing kit offered in poly only...........and possible NVH transmitted to the cabin of a street car, not to mention the original cost of the "RA" control arms...............like $500+ not including the bushings...........and the bushing/bracket kit was like $300-$400 additional? That would be $800-$900 to build out a set of those arms..........OUCH!! Especially when there is really no weight reduction to speak of.

 

 

 

 

 

 

R

Robert,

 

The heat shields were on 2005 - 2006 S197s and then discontinued. Later on Ford found the issues with the heat from the cats and figured that was the cause thus bringing up the TSBs. The heat shields are available from Ford once again but under a different part number (and a cheaper price than previous - 6.95 vs 17.84ea.). Funny thing is that I've found is that the front LCAs that come on the Mustang GT models had the tabs and the GT500s did not have tabs. I don't know any rhyme or reason for this or why OEM replacements would not have the tabs. I got the pictures from LateModelRestoration's website. I have been using the Whiteline KCA433 kit on most vehicles to get away from the bonded hydro bushings and also to be able to use the heat shields (they have the brackets) along with being able to increase and/or decrease positive caster to find out what there is as far as what the steering feel/feedback is like. The Howe ball joints are not a height adjustment they are an adjustment to compensate for wear. They come very free/loose initially and you'll need to adjust them prior to use. I use a spring scale to set the drag on them.

 

Prothane makes a polyurethane bushing set but they don't last long - the load is too great and it distorts the polyurethane and gets sloppy at the front bushings of the LCA. The FRPP high $$$ rear control arm bushings are not polyurethane, they are delrin which last longer but costs big bucks.

 

I have pulled arms off of a 2013 Mustang GT that had the tabs (last set that I did for a guy). There are differences in the Howe ball joints as well - some have a full circumference groove cut into them around the shaft and some have just a notch cut into them. (Watson Racing units verses Howe website units on 19mm ones) I feel that it's nicer just to have the notch in it to retain strength in the shaft portion of the ball joint and yes, I have seen a fully grooved one break in a racing environment. Key thing is having a serviceable unit since the OEM unit has both sealed ball joints and bushings.

 

Got to go now - more later...

[Imatk]

Imatk - what is the primary use of your 2007 ?

 

Street car only.

 

I don't have any issues with my control arms at the moment but if the bushing goes out like it did on my '06 it would be good to know which one to pick.

[Kevin Patten]

 

Street car only.

 

I don't have any issues with my control arms at the moment but if the bushing goes out like it did on my '06 it would be good to know which one to pick.

I would go with the OEM 2011 - 2014 units. It's one of those things like if you need to replace the two bolts on the front struts or the front sway bar end links on an early S197 you should replace them with the later S197 pieces to update with what the manufacturer did as improvements for the later models on the same platform. JMO

[SSGT500]

Part of the performance game at virtually any level is that parts break, thats a given.

Frequent inspection of all critical parts is a must, never take anything for granted.

If something breaks, try to determine the cause and always try to upgrade to something better.

I have quite a few BMR parts on my car and they are holding out quite well, but that doesn't mean that I am not going to keep an eye on them.

It's not a matter of inspecting parts. It's a matter of how aftermarket manufacturers take care of their customers. Why did I have to learn from a website about possible control arm failure and upgraded parts? BMR and it's dealers know who they sold parts to. I should have received notice from one of them regarding this. They know how to find me to promote new sales but not to notify existing customers of potential problems? On BMR's website it states "All BMR components are engineered to fit with precision, withstand the forces of extreme competition". And yet I need to be concerned about control arm cracking. There is nothing in the BMR installation instructions recommending periodic inspection of their parts.

I encountered a similar situation several years ago with JLT. I installed their oil separators and they never captured any significant oil in them. Then a fellow GT500 owner told me about the inlet screen modification on later separators. I installed the two screens and it made a significant difference. I never received any notice from JLT regarding the improvement. They knew what they sold me and should have informed me. They know how to find me and advertise new parts. To top it off, I had to pay for the screens that were required to make their parts perform as they advertised.

Maybe I'll have to cut and weld some metal reinforcement to make the BMR control arms perform as advertised?

[Kevin Patten]

Does Ford mail you TSBs ? The only reason Ford sent you a notice about the air bag recall is because the government put a gun to their heads and forced them to. I take it that you bought your BMR LCAs directly from BMR and not one of their distributors and/or dealers. You might want to consider in the future to lease not buy and not modify unless directed by the manufacturer to do so. JMO

[SSGT500]

It doesn't matter to me what Ford mails me. After my experiences with my last Ford vehicles, I won't be buying any more Fords. Besides, they're all going to be made in Mexico soon anyway. Is it your position that Ford should not have done the airbag recall? Perhaps it wasn't important enough that people were getting killed by a safety device? If Ford had done the right thing in the first place, they wouldn't of have had to worry about the government gun. The airbag case is actually a perfect example. If Takata had informed Ford sooner about the defect, Ford could have made corrections that might have saved lives. Takata is in deep crap because they withheld critical information from Ford and others. See the similarities? Takata didn't inform Ford and BMR didn't inform me. It also appears to me that many dealers do not stock BMR products but they are drop shipped directly from BMR. All my BMR parts came that way. BMR probably has a good idea exactly who received their control arms. I'm quite capable of making lease/own and modification decisions.

[msb64]

Sorry for trying to help, forgot that it is always someone elses fault.

Carry on with the rants.

[Imatk]

Sorry for trying to help, forgot that it is always someone elses fault.

Carry on with the rants.

LOL in this case it IS BMR who is at fault.

 

BTW all manufacturers have to notify by mail if there is a recall.

 

Hell I got a recall notice for my '91 Mustang almost 15 years after I bought it for a faulty ignition switch that "may cause a fire."

 

A TSB is NOT a recall.

 

A TSB is basically instructions for Ford dealer techs to repair a known problem. It doesn't signify that the problem WILL occur just that if it does occur they give them the instructions on how to analyze and remedy the problem.

 

This particular BMR design flaw would not be a TSB... it would be a recall because there is catastrophic failure... but again it would depend on the OEM matrix of lawsuits > death so you never know when or if they would actually issue one.

 

Which is exactly what happened in the case of Takata.