I had a hell of a time installing my factory f-body lower control arms into one of these. I had to knock the horizontal bushings back from their seated positions, different amounts driver/passenger side to get all 4 control arm bolts in. Not too happy having to run it that way. Have yet to have the car aligned, so we'll see how that goes. Also, there was less space for a turbo downpipe than the factory k-member, and they advertise it as having more clearance for downpipes. I had to have a fab shop cut the vertical passenger engine mount bar, and weld it in a different position in order to run my turbo kit. And then pay a powder coat shop to re powder coat it. All in I probably have over a grand just to make the damn thing fit my car. Would not recommend their k-member to anyone....
Yeah ive had all sort of issues trying to make their products work. I paid more for the R&D/support IMO than the actual product. none of witch ever did exists. i should have fabricated them and charged the labor.
I didn’t see you mention anything about fitting the rack in there… that’s when it gets Really frustrating… I also have issues on mine keeping the bolts on the control arms from moving and maintaining the alignment
LOL, yeah i filmed some of that process too. just didnt post all the bash videos. lots of colorful words. it felt like the entire time that there was NO R&D, and i wondered how i was the only one to have ran into this willing to provide feedback. oh no, the just dont give A. got it all done, and it was nice. but i could see the fight with the A arms, i added knurled hardened washers to help. the client never broung the car back after tuning and alignment. unfortunately. super frustrating.
those are actually part of the factory lower control arm bolts. the new k member is provisioned for them, or a grade 10 that you can order with the kit.
I’m sure you found out pretty quickly that adjusting the rod end with the new spacers you were gripping about was extremely difficult. The factory leaves a gap there, as does UMI and some of the other companies that make these, for a reason.. Without the gap, making adjustments for alignment on a car that’s already together is damn near impossible without removing the LCA. Use a washer as a shim and make your life 5x’s easier. Then you wouldn’t have to make a video bashing a company about their quality part because of your lack of experience. Videos like these are a stab in the back to manufacturers or any business that makes parts. How would you like getting a permanent demotion and a pay cut for the rest of your life? That’s what ends up happening to the manufacturer in the long run. Imagine when a customer leaves a bad review or a rant video about your shop, even though you went out of your way to make things right. It doesn’t matter if you made things right. The negative remarks are there for the world to see and at the end of the day you still lose potential customers. I’d suggest deleting this video from existence if UMI went out of their way and fixed the problem. Its out of good faith.
yesh they have them on the website as an extra drop down when you order the control arms. id search for control arm bolts. they say they are grade 10, but they looked like grade 5 to me. . . its super frustrating trying to deal with all the BS over hardware.
@@bigxbudxbudda that may be the case, or the ones who did just forced the bushing. I dont know. this video was actually sent to UMI for internal review, and was never really intended to gain viewership traction. is what it is. i fought several issues all along this project with both UMI and BMR. i try to do things right, and address what i see. im not one of those slap stick cookie cutter shops. not sure what else to say. . .
I heard you mention that the torque arm didn't come with hardware. However, i saw you had a 3003 hardware kit on your table. That belongs to said torque arm. Also, depeneding on which torgue arm you purchased (2205, 2198 or 2199) they each come with their own set of hardware that should be wrapped with the part. A few of them even come with the small mounting plate which is a 2215-g if you happen to need one in the future. I hope your issue was handled accordingly
I will reiterate my point here. Put the hardware kits in the component packages as a standard. If it increases you total bill of materials so much that you need compensation for the hardware, increase the total cost of the part package. Making us (builders and consumers) order the hardware separate from the kit, is out of line. it causes so much added stress, and logistics. This is the ONLY company i have dealt with that does it this way in all my years. And even some of the hardware kits are incomplete. Its Ludacris. Did i get handled accordingly? that's a vague way of saying it. . . No i was basically told nothing to worry about here, and the twisted brace never did get replaced. After wanting to do business with these guys for years and years, im pissed i did, and wish there was more i could do. but alas. swept under the rug, and they moved on. I got stuck dealing with it, as i always do. Try to explain this to the client wanting a low cost and build time. HA! thats life, thats customs, and i dont anticipate many companies standing behind their product, like i do. Wonder why there are so few left doing full customs and body and paint, in house. This, and these are many of the reasons why.
I cant speak for UMI Products as I've never used them. But my BMR K-Member and Adj A-Arms on my 97 Comp T/A fit like a glove. I'm not sure if UMI uses a robot welder or if they're welded by hand. But if they've been using the same jig for years without issue. I'm wondering if during the welding process the material built up to much heat and got some warpage.
i have a 78 Malibu with a bunch of UMI parts and i live in Minnesota. Home of Viking shocks and QA1 yet I still got UMI parts on the whole bottom of the Malibu. The whole world seems to be falling apart and we just watch and want to do something or anything but what are we to do? i don't even have a dog she took him too so I'm really down to nothing left to lose. maybe I can't beat them and they hate me, my gas car, my 9mm, and the way of life i used to have, Sorry not sorry for holding your hand and making sure you got a trophy. like I said nothing to lose and running that Malibu may be gone soon too so I think my neighbor has a ford for sale. Gran Torino, anyone buying?
i was actually talking with them directly. this was filmed for them, they reviewed it and got me a new set of A arms and a custom set of bushings sent out. we had a lot of other problems with multiple products, i found them to be less than helpful.
@@RideRevival_Outdoor eh youre just a hater. you likely fucked the mounts up throwing them onto tables and having zero fuckes. to me you seemed to have utterly been incapable of such a job. who ever brought this car to you should get a refund
I just bought a BMR kmember for my camaro, totally a peice of crap alignment issues shouldn't be if it's jig built ,wishing l had a stock kmember to install
it really is total crap, and the way they act when you bring up the problems. Ive had parts for unibody rock crawler jeeps fit better out of the box. i hope it goes well for you.
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
thanks for the insight!
Glad it was helpful!
I had a hell of a time installing my factory f-body lower control arms into one of these. I had to knock the horizontal bushings back from their seated positions, different amounts driver/passenger side to get all 4 control arm bolts in. Not too happy having to run it that way. Have yet to have the car aligned, so we'll see how that goes. Also, there was less space for a turbo downpipe than the factory k-member, and they advertise it as having more clearance for downpipes. I had to have a fab shop cut the vertical passenger engine mount bar, and weld it in a different position in order to run my turbo kit. And then pay a powder coat shop to re powder coat it. All in I probably have over a grand just to make the damn thing fit my car. Would not recommend their k-member to anyone....
Yeah ive had all sort of issues trying to make their products work. I paid more for the R&D/support IMO than the actual product. none of witch ever did exists. i should have fabricated them and charged the labor.
I didn’t see you mention anything about fitting the rack in there… that’s when it gets Really frustrating… I also have issues on mine keeping the bolts on the control arms from moving and maintaining the alignment
LOL, yeah i filmed some of that process too. just didnt post all the bash videos. lots of colorful words. it felt like the entire time that there was NO R&D, and i wondered how i was the only one to have ran into this willing to provide feedback. oh no, the just dont give A. got it all done, and it was nice. but i could see the fight with the A arms, i added knurled hardened washers to help. the client never broung the car back after tuning and alignment. unfortunately. super frustrating.
What’s the washers called that hook to the little hole on the lca bolt
those are actually part of the factory lower control arm bolts. the new k member is provisioned for them, or a grade 10 that you can order with the kit.
What did they do to resolve this? I just got my k member and I'm going to be getting tubular control arms as well and torque arm
they sent out replacement Arms, and custom machined misalignment spacers. we are in good shape now.
@@RideRevival_Outdoor nice! Good to know, can't wait to see the build done and what's to come
@@RideRevival_Outdoor how can i get some ? do the offer them on their site ?
I’m sure you found out pretty quickly that adjusting the rod end with the new spacers you were gripping about was extremely difficult. The factory leaves a gap there, as does UMI and some of the other companies that make these, for a reason.. Without the gap, making adjustments for alignment on a car that’s already together is damn near impossible without removing the LCA. Use a washer as a shim and make your life 5x’s easier. Then you wouldn’t have to make a video bashing a company about their quality part because of your lack of experience.
Videos like these are a stab in the back to manufacturers or any business that makes parts. How would you like getting a permanent demotion and a pay cut for the rest of your life? That’s what ends up happening to the manufacturer in the long run. Imagine when a customer leaves a bad review or a rant video about your shop, even though you went out of your way to make things right. It doesn’t matter if you made things right. The negative remarks are there for the world to see and at the end of the day you still lose potential customers.
I’d suggest deleting this video from existence if UMI went out of their way and fixed the problem. Its out of good faith.
the bolt you have shown at the beginning of the video and @1:26 , where can I find these? I need them
yesh they have them on the website as an extra drop down when you order the control arms. id search for control arm bolts. they say they are grade 10, but they looked like grade 5 to me. . . its super frustrating trying to deal with all the BS over hardware.
@@RideRevival_Outdoor go watch the 100+ other videos of these installed on youtube.... no one else runs into the same issue you did
@@bigxbudxbudda that may be the case, or the ones who did just forced the bushing. I dont know. this video was actually sent to UMI for internal review, and was never really intended to gain viewership traction. is what it is. i fought several issues all along this project with both UMI and BMR. i try to do things right, and address what i see. im not one of those slap stick cookie cutter shops. not sure what else to say. . .
I heard you mention that the torque arm didn't come with hardware. However, i saw you had a 3003 hardware kit on your table. That belongs to said torque arm. Also, depeneding on which torgue arm you purchased (2205, 2198 or 2199) they each come with their own set of hardware that should be wrapped with the part. A few of them even come with the small mounting plate which is a 2215-g if you happen to need one in the future. I hope your issue was handled accordingly
I will reiterate my point here. Put the hardware kits in the component packages as a standard. If it increases you total bill of materials so much that you need compensation for the hardware, increase the total cost of the part package. Making us (builders and consumers) order the hardware separate from the kit, is out of line. it causes so much added stress, and logistics. This is the ONLY company i have dealt with that does it this way in all my years. And even some of the hardware kits are incomplete. Its Ludacris. Did i get handled accordingly? that's a vague way of saying it. . . No i was basically told nothing to worry about here, and the twisted brace never did get replaced. After wanting to do business with these guys for years and years, im pissed i did, and wish there was more i could do. but alas. swept under the rug, and they moved on. I got stuck dealing with it, as i always do. Try to explain this to the client wanting a low cost and build time. HA! thats life, thats customs, and i dont anticipate many companies standing behind their product, like i do. Wonder why there are so few left doing full customs and body and paint, in house. This, and these are many of the reasons why.
I cant speak for UMI Products as I've never used them. But my BMR K-Member and Adj A-Arms on my 97 Comp T/A fit like a glove. I'm not sure if UMI uses a robot welder or if they're welded by hand. But if they've been using the same jig for years without issue. I'm wondering if during the welding process the material built up to much heat and got some warpage.
I understand the alignment issues can be frustrating but bolts? Cmon those 4 bolts are existing bolts that should be on the car to begin with.
reusing factory bolts on a build like this. No, id prefer new hardware all the way.
i have a 78 Malibu with a bunch of UMI parts and i live in Minnesota. Home of Viking shocks and QA1 yet I still got UMI parts on the whole bottom of the Malibu. The whole world seems to be falling apart and we just watch and want to do something or anything but what are we to do? i don't even have a dog she took him too so I'm really down to nothing left to lose. maybe I can't beat them and they hate me, my gas car, my 9mm, and the way of life i used to have, Sorry not sorry for holding your hand and making sure you got a trophy. like I said nothing to lose and running that Malibu may be gone soon too so I think my neighbor has a ford for sale. Gran Torino, anyone buying?
Mine has the same issues
you would think they could fix the jig. . .
@@RideRevival_Outdoor stock bolts just arrived lets see if this helps
how'd it come out? trying to pull trigger on this or something tubular asap *just for header clearance* :D ...@@1pimpmuke4life
I would talk to UMI they put if on there car see if its an issue.. they test and race there stuff..
i was actually talking with them directly. this was filmed for them, they reviewed it and got me a new set of A arms and a custom set of bushings sent out. we had a lot of other problems with multiple products, i found them to be less than helpful.
@@RideRevival_Outdoor eh youre just a hater. you likely fucked the mounts up throwing them onto tables and having zero fuckes. to me you seemed to have utterly been incapable of such a job. who ever brought this car to you should get a refund
Вы молодцы!!!)))
thanks!
I just bought a BMR kmember for my camaro, totally a peice of crap alignment issues shouldn't be if it's jig built ,wishing l had a stock kmember to install
it really is total crap, and the way they act when you bring up the problems. Ive had parts for unibody rock crawler jeeps fit better out of the box. i hope it goes well for you.