[Mr. Rager]

I have hammertone non adjustable upper and lower BMR trailing arms coming from Summit. Will install when I do the rear 1le sway bar in a week or two. Also ordered new bolts for the trailing arms from that gm parts guy since they are supposed to be single use. The enginerd in my blood won't let me reuse them.

Hopefully that will settle down the rear end. If not I will get the rear alignment checked, and probably pick up the cradle lockout kit.

BMR Tech, does the car need to be at curb height before I tighten up the trailing arm bolts to keep from preloading the bushings?

[bpang1234]

Obviously, I am getting the sway bar setup. But I also want to eliminate or at least control the movement when I launch...does that make sense? Would be nice to have a straight launch at the start of an autocross run or off the line from a light. Right now, it is a bit of drama depending on whether or not the back end moves.

[Paully104]

Originally Posted by bpang1234

Obviously, I am getting the sway bar setup. But I also want to eliminate or at least control the movement when I launch...does that make sense? Would be nice to have a straight launch at the start of an autocross run or off the line from a light. Right now, it is a bit of drama depending on whether or not the back end moves.

I would recommend giving BMR a call to see what they could package together for you, also they are pretty knowledgeable and that's how I ended up with my parts. I know you would benefit from the upper control, lower trailing, upper trailing, and the toe rod lockout. I'm rocking those at the moment and I basically spin in place if I put my foot all the way down now.

[BMR Tech]

^ Indeed, give me a call and I will put together a package for you and go over options for your needs.

As for the bushing loading, this is required for any of the factory bushings, such as where they attach to the spindle. Our poly bushings and rod ends free float in rotation so they do not bind. They can be tightened while unloaded. But anywhere you still have a factory rubber bushing will need to be torqued with the car loaded

[Mr. Rager]

Does the upper control arm have to come off to do the upper trailing arm? The directions were a bit unclear on that point. If it does i may as well just order that too before i start.

[BMR Tech]

It is possible to do it without removing the upper arm, but it does make your life easier to remove it

[locktyght]

Just finished my first 30 minute track session. Saying this thing is on rails is an understatement, I am actually going to have to try....and try hard to find the limit on this car today. BMR FTW.

[Mr. Rager]

Trailing arms showed up yesterday, really nice quality parts and attention to detail on the fabrication. Hammertone finish looks great as well. Might have to fully make the jump from UMI for future projects. I can tell you guys have put some real effort into tooling and process to be able to make things that clean. I work with prototype parts all the time that we spend crazy money on... they aren't ever half as nice.

I would already have the trailing arms on but UPS screwed me by deciding they weren't going to deliver my bolts today even though they were in town by 3am. Scheduled delivery info not available... what is that supposed to mean its 70 and sunny and you need a short route today?

[Mr. Rager]

Got the rear sway installed, not a lot of fun to do by yourself, gets hung up on everything and is generally unwieldy 18-20lb and 5ft long like a big steel broom handle. Get one of those tools/pliers for pushing off rubber exhaust hangers, unless you're impossibly tough.

The trailing arms also took quite a bit more effort than I thought they would. The upper control arm has to come out on one end no two ways about it. I suggest a blunt/short punch to get the bolts holes aligned and do the body side first then work the knuckle into position. For whatever reason my factory ones had some twist in them that made it a huge pita to get them off and the bolts out, the factory bushings were loading the bolts in any position. The BMR stuff took about an hour or so to get in and greased and torqued up. I used a jack with a hockey puck under the rotor to put the assembly at curb height (UCA near level) before tightening down the rubber joints.

I will say this though to anyone considering DIY install on the rear sway. If you're considering getting a catback ever just do the sway at same time. The front is a cakewalk by comparison. That huge suitcase npp muffler was the biggest pita. Its sharp and so are the heat shields, and there is near zero room to swing a wrench on the sway. Also if you have NPP there is a pita upper stud bolt with a harness clip on it that is its own brand of sorcery .

If you're working on the floor/jack stands the trailing arms will be no fun to install. Hard to get 80ft lb on the shorty tq wrench with a 200lb gorilla that is in an awkward position but that's all that would go. You will have to hold the nuts while you tq it or the stuff will turn. Wish they would have made the body brackets bolt on and used a weld nut through the trailing arm.

This weekend I will report what I think of the trailing arms. Although based on all the binding in the factory trailing arms/bushings I am going to have the rear alignment checked before too long. Didn't matter what I did they were just bound.

Total time for everything about 4.5 hours.

[Mr. Rager]

Noticed I had no meetings on the calendar and took the day off today. Put 100 or so miles on the car with the windows down on my favorite winding country roads. The wheel hop is all gone and the rear is now as tight as the front. The suspension actually works now instead of flexing all over hell, and i think the car takes bumps better as a result.

The car still wags a little to the right on a launch but the feeling of the car is night and day different. Now the wag is minimal enough that I can just drive out of it with confidence and it's a lot of fun. If I lose traction a little bit of steering and she tucks back in and rolls out. The difference is pretty amazing.

Next for me will be a tire when the stockers are done probably next spring. Need to find something in the stock size for the rear with more bite.