BMR Suspension Upgrades
 

Hello I am looking into doing the BMR Suspension upgrades and wanting some reviews or advice on cradle lock outs, trailing arms, adjustable verses non adjustable, ride quality deference’s, noises any pros and cons ? Thanks

I just recently installed the rear cradle lockout, front (rear) cradle braces and the rear toe arms on my SS 1LE.


I have run two events with them since install (at Daytona) and I consider them a complete win.


So nice to have the toe easily adjustable and gone forever are the eccentric nuts and 'one time use' bolts.


I was on the fence between the ZLE rear cradle bushings and the BMR kit. I went with the BMR because of ease of installation.


Very slight increase in drivetrain noise (gear shifts) and on corner exit after the lockout installed. Hardly noticeable if I wasn't so used to the old sounds.


The instructions talk about pushing in the small 'bullets' into the bushing voids. You may think you can use your fingers to push them in. That was not true for me. I had to Mcguyver a press to get them seated.







Like all BMR pieces, they are far more stout than OEM. If you are looking for weight savings, don't look at BMR. But I think they are excellent value for money.

Thanks ��

thanks Matthew

What does everyone say about any additional crazy NVH with the spherical joints? I'm considering doing all the arms on the rear and already have ZLE cradle bushings to install. I don't mind paying more for the better adjustability for the spherical joints, but I'm not sure I want to put-up with too much more noise if it's not worth it for my case. Will the poly-ends be better? I've used poly-ended arms from BMR before, so I'm comfortable using them now, but am concerned I'll just be irritated by NVH and cost to replace the rod ends.

I probably won't be tracking the car too much (as much as I'd want to, anyways), so that adjustability is probably not necessary for me. I'll do much more strip-time than any track time. Will these joints wear-out faster than the poly-ended arms? I've used BMR arms in the past, but not so many spherical-type joints - at least not so many arms/joints on the same car.

my car is so loud and with the backseat gone now also i dont really hear much haha but its not that bad i just got told to check all the bolts every few months other than that good to go to send it!

I didn't notice much difference in NVH after adding the BMR stuff. But my car is already on the loud side with my exhaust, plus aftermarket DS and half shafts...

Do not use poly-bushed links in the rear suspension! Those links all have to move in more than one plane, but those bushings only allow free movement around their axis (the bolts that hold them in). The result is bind, and you don't want that. The factory rubber allows enough off-axis movement to avoid this, and spherical ends of course allow movement in all directions up to their limits of travel.

I think a lot of people have a mistaken belief that the factory links are somehow not good. All those links react tension and compression forces only, so their resistance to bending and torsion is irrelevant. Moving to spherical bearings will eliminate the squish of factory rubber bushings, but they will be noisier and they will tend to wear out with street use, so you'll be replacing the bearings from time to time. I don't know enough about drag racing these cars to say if you would benefit from them, but otherwise stick with the stock links and put your money into others. The toe links are very worthwhile for those who want to get more rear negative camber than the stock links allow. But you're not tracking or autocrossing your car, so you don't need them either.

+1 on the BMR rear cradle lockout kit. Def helps and makes a difference, easy to install (without complete rear cradle removal) however after having driven a ZLE on track I'll be switching to the ZLE aluminum bushing inserts this winter. I would say the BMR kit gets you halfway between stock and a ZLE

Are you all rod ends then? I have stock exhaust, so noise is a bit of a concern. I know I'll have to put up with some, but if there's chunking and clunking and rattles, I just can't deal with that, LOL.

I get what you're saying. That all makes sense. Where I'm concerned is I'm on DRs and with a 2650. No - a 2650 will not hit as hard from a dig as a 1740, but, let's just say there's going to be more torque available than what the stock 1750 calibration allows. So - because the stock parts are all designed around a power limit (that's already limiting), I'm wondering if when those limits are reduced, if those stock parts will put up with what I want to dish out.

I'm still trying to figure out the benefit proposition. I'm not trying to make this a weekend warrior. I don't street race - I'll mess around, but I don't race in Mexico. I'll go to the strip (eventually) but I'm not sure I'm willing to put up with too much in the face of all of that. I feel like the ZLE bushings will do a lot in keeping the cradle from dancing too much, and that seems right up my alley. Is that grand going to hurt or help me?... That's what I'm hoping to glean from you guys.

Thanks for the comments. I am reading them.

i have a full spl parts kit afe power swaybars adjustable endlinks and mcs 1 way coilovers and camber plates and the ride is smoother than when i was lowered on stock shocks and lowering springs haha

The stock links are more than strong enough to handle any amount of force you can dish out. Power is almost a non-factor here. Traction is really the limiting factor. If you put DRs on an otherwise stock car, that will add far more acceleration load to the rear suspension links than adding 100hp. Remember, the same links are used in ZL1 cars, which have a lot more power.

The bushings may - may - be another story. I would think in your case that involves drag launches primarily, the semi-trailing links would be the bushings to focus on. Again, though, do not use poly bushings in the back. I do think the cradle bushings would be an area to focus on. I meant to write that earlier. Not only will that help keep things pointed the way they are supposed to, but it might be a useful defense against wheel hop. The fact that GM puts aluminum bushings in the cradles of ZLEs probably means they matter.

Just the toe rods have the rod ends. The other pieces use poly bushings.

I’d consider the BMR stuff mandatory at >700 WHP. At 650 WHP and below the stock stuff hung on ok but got a little squirrelly with DRs. As I hit 800 WHP the car was getting scary at times and the BMR stuff helped tame it down big time. As I near 1K WHP I couldn’t imagine still being on the stock stuff... no way.

Like Krops, I also have full spl suspension with all rod ends as well as some chassis stiffening stuff from bmr. Its a ZLE however so a little stiffer and noisy from the factory. Noticed no difference in NVH and Carl feels even more solid. Car has headers now so I can't hear anything anyways