Modded Mustang Forums banner

BMR K-Member Install Impressions

5K views 19 replies 8 participants last post by  BMR Sales 
#1 ·
Tackled this over the weekend and have a couple of things I ran into. Everything lined up almost perfect. Took a little massaging to get the rear four k-member bolts to line up with the chasiss, but we got it there. The motor lined up 100% which was a good thing since it was on a floor jack and would have been a bitch to move around.

Taking off the A-Arms and tie rods from the spindles was a royal PITA. Those things were stuck in there, but nothing 2 BFHs didn't accomplish. Unfortunately, although I did mark the steering shaft, my steering wheel is now turned about 15*. Any hints on how to get it straight again or should I let the allignment shop deal with it?


The below pics are not my car, they're from BMRs site.

In this pic, note under the steering shaft the pointy bolt where the k-member bolts to the frame. You have to use the stock nuts which flare out like a washer. The welds from the k-member did not allow the nuts screw in all the way. Same on the other side. Had to grind the sides of the nuts about 3mm for them to fit. Easy fix.






In the following pic you notice with the k-member brace bolts in. The brace was too wide to fit in there and I had to grind down the sides for it to fit. Although it's a BMR piece as well, it's three years old which may account to the lack of fitment. Maybe the braces they make today have been narrowed a bit to fit. This is the only other issue I had with the part itself.





In the below pic you notice the steering rack bolted on top of the k-member. Well, this is a perfect example of aftermarket parts not working well with eachother. Before installing the k-member, I took off the oil pan and installed the Livernois windage tray which requires a second oil pan gasket. This lowered the oil pan aobut 5mm, enough to where there is only about 1mm clearance between the steering rack and the oil pan. Although the motor is not going to move much with these poly bushings, the lack of clearance worries me, especially during very hard driving, which I do daily.

An easy fix is to use washers at the motor mount points and raise the engine 5mm. Unfortunately the hood already rubs on the hump hose between the T/B and CAI. The only other thing I can think of is to take off 5mm from each of the steering rack mounting points on the k-member which will lower the steering rack away from the oil pan.






All in all it was a simple install. I'm not getting any additional noise in the cabin, but do have increased vibrations. This could be getting transfered from the oil pan through the steering rack. I'll have a true feel for it once I lower that rack.
 
See less See more
3
  • Like
Reactions: IronStomach
#2 ·
If the rack isn't physically touching, I don't think I'd worry about it unless you find evidence of it hitting the oil pan, because if you lower the rack you'll **** up the angle of the tie rods in relation to the LCAs and may get bumpsteer.

As for the wheel being off-center, there really isn't any way to make the shaft off (no need to even mark it) because the shape if the coupler and the splines on the rack won't let it go on wrong (they are trianglular). But, the rack can move maybe 1/8 inch left to right because the holes aren't exactly the same size as the bolts. When I had mine out to do the headers I had this issue, and just kept shifting the rack back and forth untill it was straight. But since you need an alignment anyway, let them straighten the wheel, it's part of an alignment.
 
#3 ·
******* is right about the suspension geometry, if you move the steering rack, but at this point in your build it shouldn't be difficult to get everything squared away with a bump steer kit. You may need it anyways with everything that you changed over on the front end.
 
#4 ·
Put the car on the lift today and the oil pan is resting on the steering rack. Guaranteed that's where all this vibration is coming from. Can't even slip a piece of paper in between. Spoke with Livernois and they confirmed that for daily driving I don't need the windage tray, but since I drag race, it's a must. So this leaves me with 2 viable options.

1) Take out the windage tray. The Canton one will have the same issues as it mounts the same.
2) Lower the K-member.

Took some measurements and the k-member has to come down around 7mm. Looking at putting spacers at the four mounting points and on the rear two bolts of the A-Arms to keep the steering line as close to stock as possible. Also putting spacers at the motor mounts to keep the engine at the same level it is now. I'm having a machine shop make the spacers and hoping to have this done within a week. Taking the windage tray out tomorrow until this is fixe. If that oil pan cracks I'm screwed.
 
#6 ·
Can't raise the engine. Saleen s/c with GT500 T/B, the hump hose between the T/B and CAI is already rubbing the hood. I was hoping the k-member lowered the motor a bit more than the lowered Prothane mounts to solve the hood clearance issue. I'm doing this in a shop and they have an alignment rack, so when we're done screwing around with it, we'll put it on the rack and see if we can get it all aligned.
 
#9 ·
I will.

There's always Plan B : Get a different hood that alows the clearance you need for your setup.
Couple of issues with that. Fiberglass hoods are too heavy and I don't want the extra weight. Plus, having them shipped here isn't worth it. So that leaves aluminum hoods and all are very expensive. May take the aluminum route when I go back to the states in 2012.
 
#8 ·
There's always Plan B : Get a different hood that alows the clearance you need for your setup.
 
#10 ·
Took off the windage tray and second gasket today while the spacers for the k-member are being made. I now have a little less than 1/2" clearance which is plenty. Car feels great. I do notice a slight increase in vibration over the Prothane mounts, but about what I expected. At least I got this figured out. Now to lower the k-member. I'll post those results as well.
 
#12 ·
All done. Being that I race the car, the windage tray has to be in there. Had a machine shop make 7mm spacers for the k-member and 7mm spacers for the motor mounts. This kept the motor at the same height while lowering the k-member. I now have about 1/4 - 1/2" clearance between the oil pan and the steering rack.

Finished this on Friday minus the alignment since we ran out of time and I needed the car to race over the weekend. Car felt great on the track and pulled a best ET of 11.8 @ 117mph. Finished the alignment today, got the steering wheel straight and all is well.
 
#18 ·
Thanks Dennis. To add insult to injury, I went to get the car inspected today and failed due to the LCA relo brackets being welded and the k-member. It's very difficult to modify cars in Germany and although they're a bit lenient on American cars, this guy was just being a dick. He said these parts have to be either DOT or TUV certified. Pissed me off. Screw him...my brother-in-law is a mechanic and TUV certifies cars, so I'm heading to his shop on Monday to get the paper signed off.
 
#19 ·
Well, went to TUV and it cost me $100 for certification. Lucky me, the two guys that were there both race and are mechanics. One has been racing for 30+ years and the other owns a shop by Nurburgring which specializes in Formula 1 cars.

So they gave me the paperwork and I got the car registered. All is good.

Also, the car aligned perfectly even with the spacers lowering the k-member.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top