K-member hell

[Saleen91]

So after smashing everything up after 4-5 hard landing wheelies the car stopped going straight. I took the car to B&B Automotive for an alignment and was shown how my k-member was bent/twisted. TO date I have replaced the camber/caster plates, k-member, and a-arm (adjustable w/ heim)... oh and this is now my 3rd oil pan of the season.

The old k-member was a D&D POS that has a removable center section so that you can remove the oil pan with the motor in the car. That bolt together design has a tendency to twist. Mine did. The passenger side, where the a-arm mounts, was lower than the drivers side. Additionally the motor mounts on the K were bent from my smashing wheelies.

I decided on either a PA or a Team Z k-member. Team Z returned my call first so that's who I went with. Excellent delivery time and it's a quality piece. It does make my motor sit about 1/2" higher, but this could be due to the bent motor mount pad on my old k-member which caused the motor to sit lower. This caused alignment issues with my mid plate, tranny, and tranny mount. I fought this SOB for 12 hours straight yesterday. It's not the K-s fault, it's my bent up older D&D k's fault that everything was originally lined up with. Additionally my turbo piping (cold side and down pipe) went through the k-member and now it doesn't line up anymore as the Team Z k-member is built to allow for larger long tube header clearance and the side openings on the k-member is smaller. Overall I'm pleased with the swap, I just hope I never have to do this again because changing the k-member has a lot of ripple effects on how everything else mounts/lines up. It's been a royal PITA re-lining everything up. I wish I had the Team Z k-member from the get-go. Even though I got the "matrix steel" (mild steel) version, it's several pounds lights than the pos D&D I had, Oh and the silver painted part on the new Team Z k is from me welding on a tow strap/tie down mount. The Team Z k member was done in that crinkle powder coat that's super tough/scratch resistant.

I took some pics of the 2 k-members lined up next to each other and found the differences quite interesting.

307530763077

[63T-Bolt]

I have PA's in both my cars, very happy with the build quality.


However........ if I ever have to replace the one on my radial car. Its getting a custom unit built. Still bolts into the stock locations, but with a few added bonuses that from what I have seen make a big difference.

[red95gts]

Wow! That removable center section looks like it was poorly designed from day 1.

[Redsnk95]

Dave Zimmerman at Team Z makes great stuff! Jason at PA Racing is great as well but Dave has top notch customer service.

[White90GT]

Did you get a discount with Team Z? I've seen him advertising on HC5.0 and Corral discounts for those boards. What was the cost if you don't mind sharing?

[Saleen91]

Nope no discount. It was about $850 for the K, adjustable a-arms, a bolt kit, and a travel limiter kit....shipped to my door via Fedex ground. It would have been about $75 cheaper w/out the bolt kit and travel limiter kit. In the end I won't even use their travel limiter kit because of how/where it mounts because it won't clear my turbo piping. I'll go back to the setup I was using previously.

[Saleen91]

new cold side pipe is done (again). Had to hack up the last one to clear this new k-member. Also doing an aluminum down pipe since my steel one is rusting away.

[Saleen91]

new down pipe "tip"

[NiteRida]

Ben,
Team Z is definitely quality stuff. Do your front wheels stick out further now? In the first pictures it looks like it's wider overall.
Jon.

[Saleen91]

Yes they do, but I think that may be due to me. The a-arms have adjustable heim joints. I counted how many turns to get one completely out of the a-arm, and then made sure all 4 (2 on each a-arm) were all turned the same length, making them halfway out. There is adjustment to bring them back in, but as long as it clears the fenders, I'm fine with where they are.

The only complaint I have on the Team Z stuff is that it raised my motor up about 1/2" from where my old k-member had it. This caused all kinds of alignment issues with everything else (turbo piping from the firewall, mid plate, tranny mount, etc). I got it all lined back up but it took a couple of days to do. However, it does look like the plus side of this complaint is that my oil pan is now raised up higher and is not the lowest thing on the front of the car anymore.