Well, i think my current setup actually is enough grinding. In kind of an admitted brain fart moment during this i realized when driving the car again last night that I haven't checked the end links tightness in awhile (especially considering the TSB for stock endlinks). Listening to the sounds it was making it also wasn't as bad of a rattle as when the bushing broke. So when i got the car on the lift at home to my delight the end links were loose! They are now tightened, but i didn't drive again, so i will find out today on the way to the track.
This reminds me to bring up another point. No fault to BMR on this as the bar is clearly much stiffer and this should be expected. The stock front endlinks will break with the bar under hard track use. Get aftermarket ones right away. Stock rears have been fine.
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Originally Posted by kropscamaro16
hmm im going to have to check my afe power bushings next time my car is up in the air lol
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You would hear a very bad rattle if they split, but please post back here if you see any issues or not.
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Originally Posted by TrackClub
Yep, you have rightly spotted a bit of sarcasm there 
And i agree that OEM may offer a degree of compromise, which at times depends on a specific model. And hence some models absolutely do better with aftermarket parts for all out performance (such as your car).
Yet many folks dont realize, that many aftermarket parts, even those sold widely by big names, are conceived in somebody's garage and "tested" by a few willing amateurs getting parts for free.
To make matters worse, very few, if any, post about failures. So, good on you to post about your experience.
Who cares if BMR "gets mad at you"?! They took your money, haven't they? I say, they should now refund it prompty and willingly, or offer you a free fix asap. Clearly, they must be well aware of this issue?
Anyway, you may wish to try Strano perhaps? He's been making bars for a long time now. Dont know anything about his Camaro solutions per se, but his Vette bars have been solid and very popular based on feedback ive heard from many. He also tracks his car - as far as i recall. Mind you this was a few yrs back.
One way or another, hope you'll get it fixed soon. Cheers! |
BMR is aware of the issue, I emailed them last year about it and they tried to sell me on the machined aluminum bracket of the same width with the same bushings. I didn't fall for that and told them i thought it wouldn't work because the bracket was still narrow. Well Badmojo proved they didn't work because he had them. All BMR would send me for free was a new set of originally supplied bushings and brackets, so at least I had extra bushings to play around with leading me to my own solution.
I think if they would make the Delrin bushings for the Camaro bar that would be a winner with the machined brackets, but they are charging $200 extra for those in the Mustang fitment!
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Originally Posted by Mountain
Strano does not have a bar for the 6th Gen Camaro's. He isn't, at least so far, looking to invest into making one either. There was a FB post in the "1LER" group about him playing with some GM sway bars on the SS 1LE, but his view was that the car is setup pretty good from the factory and he was trying to see if a GM combo would suit him, first. He seemed to be of the opinion, for his driving style, the front FE4 was fine and the rear might need attention. He was playing around between the FEA and FE4 rear bars.
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FYI guys, Sam totaled his 1LE at a time trial event. He posted about it on FB some kind of brake failure causing a hard pull into another car and an ensuing spin/airborne barrel roll, so not sure if he will be buying another one or if he will get away from our platform now.
Before that he was talking about only changing the rear bar, but his driving style must be way different than mine because he wanted a softer rear bar. Hence why he was going to try the FEA rear.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TRZ06
I am of the opinion that if you are a performance shop and manufacturing performance parts, you should damn well be doing rigorous testing on said parts in track setting environments.
Especially a big name like BMR and for parts that will see performance driving duty. The number of performance shops out there these days that care just as much about the quality of the stuff they make as they do about the bottom line are becoming very rare indeed.
It is for this reason I try to stay with OEM or OEM specced performance parts.
Before I got my ZL1 1LE solid cradle bushings, I went back and forth between their lockout kit and while I know there have not been issues with those, I ultimately went with OEM performance parts for this very reason.
I have had more headaches than I care to remember when dealing with the aftermarket, from spacers, to coilovers, to sway bars. It is hard to sway from the OEM performance parts (if they are offered for your particular vehicle) because they have to meet certain quality and have more R&D into them.
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I agree and can't fault you for that. I have no doubts that BMR did test this setup on track and they probably went out there and lowered their laptimes, as i did. However they must not have tested the long term reliability while continuing to chase laptimes and that is where the fault comes in.