Quote:
Originally Posted by Stephen12ZL1
OK...I retract the adjective "spurious" because I didn't know your background. Are we OK with "a single post" vs my original post descriptor? You have to believe the bolt quality or original factory torque of the TTY fastener is to blame. Your "flaming" of BMR is a bit intense as bolts (even new ones) can fail. A 20yr seasoned machine shop/aviation person such as yourself should perfectly understand that BMR did nothing here to cause your bolt failure. Your post is "spurious" because it is a single instance of many factory bolts which have been retorqued without incident. Even you had a 3 out of 4 success rate with retorquing the factory bolts. Sample size dictates your incident is random and beyond explanation. Replacing the factory bolts is likely ideal, but your single failure shouldn't define the entire future installs of this kit. All of us have bad days including myself.
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I think you'd be surprised how much you and I have in agreement. But, the word spurious implies that I'm making this up or that I misused or did something wrong on purpose for the sake of defrauding BMR.
I also think you're confusing the business product with the business practice. Clearly, BMR makes some fantastic after market kits otherwise they wouldn't have the reputation that they do. Their products work as advertised by virtue of my experience yesterday driving my car for the first time since the kit was successfully installed.
The problem comes from the following.
Facts:
-The kit states that you re-use the OEM bolts
-GM's maintenance manual states that the bolts on '17 and up model years are TTY "one time use only"
-A TTY bolt, by design, is elongated and undergoes deformation when it is installed
Would you use a bolt you knew to be deformed to hold a critical piece of suspension in place regardless of whether it was a grocery getter or track car??
The reason for my posting any of this is the fact that had BMR told me up front that the cradle bolts were TTY, I would have
happily bought a set of OEM bolts to use on install. In this case, both the product description and directions state that you can re-use the factory hardware. That is the ONLY thing that I take issue with and why I brought it to the attention of the forum. I am not 'flaming' BMR either, I simply brought the issue with their business practice to everyone's attention. If another member of the forum had a bad experience with a business practice I would expect to see it on here (see multiple thread entries for Hennessey) and likewise companies that have great reputations are talked about in here is well (i.e. Tony Mamo). People come on here to learn from each other on our experiences and insights.
Another thing I learned working in my dad's machine shop was that when you screw something up- own up to it and make it right. If BMR were to reach out and agree to
help make this right, I'd be the first MF'er on here to talk about how great they were. That isn't the case, I got the "not our responsibility" firewall thrown in my face before I could talk to the owner, who hasn't returned my call.
Quote:
Originally Posted by viurniel
IMO the installer (OP) is equally responsible, even if BMR said that one could reuse the bolts. OP states that he "felt the bolt stretch and stopped, I did not get 120 ft/lbs on it."  and there lies a big issue. I don't blame you 100% OP, but you are partially responsible. If that ever happened to me I would stop and ask a lot of questions: why is it stretching? never got 120ft/lb. is it safe?
Nevertheless, BMR should proactively reach out to their customers to tell them about the oversight. In this case, I believe they should split the repair costs with OP, and anything outside of that is unacceptable.
Anyways, BMR has an excellent reputation and their stuff is top notch. |
Could not agree more.