Tubular K Member

[Bithand]

Does anyone know of a manufacturer of an affordable K member for a 69 Charger

Magnum Force and the like all want $3000.00+ for theirs, ridiculous

Bowtie and Ovals can get the for $1000 and less. Seems like mopars are being punished for being superior

[Budnicks]

Mancini use to carry them {they were CAP Automotive Products} who are now QA1, they are I think start at like $1495 for the K-member or complete for $3,800, there is also Reilly Motor Sports like $3950 for a coil-over & K-Frame complete kit, then the Magnun Force kit starts out at like $3,500 before upgrades...

[HPP]

Sorry, that's how the cookie crumbles these days. Unfortuantly, so many mopar guys have demonstrated a willingness to pay that much for those parts that this price has become the defacto standard.

Ditto control arms for $300-700 a pair. Chevys can pick up tubular arms for $80 a pair if you shop around. Only solution is to swap brands, make your own, adapt alternate makes, or pay up.

[Bithand]

For that $$$ I can buy a tig machine and ruin a lot of 4130 tubing to get it down

[thedodgeboys]

I am sure that if you could get more people to mod there mopars the prices would come down.

Its supply and volume just like motor parts 2 to 3 time more than the GM guys can get stuff for.

you have to pay to play, 

[Bithand]

I figure on getting it all sorted out building a jig and offering them to forum members at slashed prices

Maybe,  it's a good thought

[redmist]

I plan on building my own...

[Patronus]

So you're going to make upper and lowers too? A bit much going on to offer it at an affordable price. 
RMS is the best IMHO, spend your money, leave your time for something else...

[HPP]

That sounds like a good idea until you sell one to a dimwit who installs your stuff, crashes his car, and decides you're his meal ticket to the million dollar liability lotto. Of course, if you set yourself up as a business, you may be able to avoid all that. I trust you know all about the steering angles, roll center location, ackerman requirements, and what not to fab up your own piece that is capable of safely operating on the street?

Not to discourage you, but there is more to it than just welding some tube together. Ultimately when it comes down to it, all these units do is save 80 pounds of weight off the nose and allow rapid spring rate changes with the coil over set up. If you don't specifically need those two benefits, everything else they do can be duplicated with the stock system with a little effort.

[Budnicks]

That sounds like a good idea until you sell one to a dimwit who installs your stuff, crashes his car, and decides you're his meal ticket to the million dollar liability lotto. Of course, if you set yourself up as a business, you may be able to avoid all that. I trust you know all about the steering angles, roll center location, ackerman requirements, and what not to fab up your own piece that is capable of safely operating on the street?

Not to discourage you, but there is more to it than just welding some tube together. Ultimately when it comes down to it, all these units do is save 80 pounds of weight off the nose and allow rapid spring rate changes with the coil over set up. If you don't specifically need those two benefits, everything else they do can be duplicated with the stock system with a little effort.

It really depends on whos you buy & what options you choose... Also allows the use of many different, steering  options, header options, oil pan options & clearances too, some of the tubular K-frame systems don't have to be used with coil overs, they also have some that you can even use the stock steering boxes & torsion bars still...

[Rolling_Thunder]

I plan on building my own...

Same here....     

[HPP]

It really depends on whos you buy & what options you choose... Also allows the use of many different, steering  options, header options, oil pan options & clearances too, some of the tubular K-frame systems don't have to be used with coil overs, they also have some that you can even use the stock steering boxes & torsion bars still...

Not really, IMO. The only three offerings still out there all use R&P steering, so not much choice there. A rack is much lighter, but its reduced travel requires alternate steering arms to maintain adequate steering angle, so again limited choice. Headers and oil pans are either designed to fit the stock chassis or open style dragster chassis. No one make tubular frame sets of either. If it fits in the stock chassis, it will fit in a tubular chassis. Granted, the tubular units do provide mucho more room, so any marginal fits with the stock K will be an easy fit in a tubular unit, but with a little trimming, a stock K can fit a lot of combos.

IIRC, only Cap Products offered a stock steering box, torsion bar capable tubular unit and they are no longer in business. I also believe Cap is the one vendor who suffered at least one catastrophic road failure that was plastered over a number of sites.

[Budnicks]

It really depends on whos you buy & what options you choose... Also allows the use of many different, steering  options, header options, oil pan options & clearances too, some of the tubular K-frame systems don't have to be used with coil overs, they also have some that you can even use the stock steering boxes & torsion bars still...

Not really, IMO. The only three offerings still out there all use R&P steering, so not much choice there. A rack is much lighter, but its reduced travel requires alternate steering arms to maintain adequate steering angle, so again limited choice. Headers and oil pans are either designed to fit the stock chassis or open style dragster chassis. No one make tubular frame sets of either. If it fits in the stock chassis, it will fit in a tubular chassis. Granted, the tubular units do provide mucho more room, so any marginal fits with the stock K will be an easy fit in a tubular unit, but with a little trimming, a stock K can fit a lot of combos.

IIRC, only Cap Products offered a stock steering box, torsion bar capable tubular unit and they are no longer in business. I also believe Cap is the one vendor who suffered at least one catastrophic road failure that was plastered over a number of sites.

OK maybe I should have said they "use to" anyway... You could be correct, I'm not sure of that... Caps is now owned by QA1 & they just say direct bolt on, nothing about the steering &/or torsion bars mounting as of yet...  It's been 5+ years now, since buying any... I have run all three brands mentioned & have had no failures with any, street, mountain roads, track or road course/auto-cross, as for a catastrophic failure it could have been installed incorrectly, a crappy shade tree tech., something left loose or not torqued properly, a bad weld/welds, bad workman ship, parts failure, brake failure, tire failure, many different things could have happened, I am not familiar with the catastrophic incident, your referring to... Maybe that's why they are sold to QA1... Also I never said there were any "pre-made" tubular chassis headers or oil pans readily available, I just said/meant "more room for headers &/or oil pans options & clearances" or that is the jest of it any way, if you read the post... Any way, My favorite of the 3 is the Reilly Motor Sports set up...

[HPP]

Maybe I'm just splitting hairs. Tubular K members are nice, but pricey. That alone has kept me from picking one up. If you have the coin and want the benefits, go for it.

[Budnicks]

Maybe I'm just splitting hairs. Tubular K members are nice, but pricey. That alone has kept me from picking one up. If you have the coin and want the benefits, go for it.

[redmist]

So you're going to make upper and lowers too? A bit much going on to offer it at an affordable price. 
RMS is the best IMHO, spend your money, leave your time for something else...

but my time for something else is building stuff...   

[Supercharged Riot]

So you're going to make upper and lowers too? A bit much going on to offer it at an affordable price. 
RMS is the best IMHO, spend your money, leave your time for something else...

I 2nd that.
Mostly because I dont know how or have the right tools to fabricate.

I'm looking to get the Alterkation kit.
Any testimonials from you guys?
I havent seen anyone give any for a b-body install yet which gets me worried.
Maybe no one bought it for a reason?

[dangina]

^Had a guy here put the alterkation into his dart - complete bolt -in, easy to install, loves it. Maybe someday i'll do the same...

[thedodgeboys]

Im running the alterktion in my challenger and love it. Great ride and handling, plus I can always go back if I want to as it just bolts in.  

yes I beat on it...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0s8QTgQJ8f0

[Patronus]

We have an RMS in an e body as well. Never a problem. Between that and the big brakes that car will hurt you..

[myk]

Wow those suspension packages are a dream come true.  So, if you buy one of those they're realy bolt-in?  No fabbing, welding or any of that fancy stuff?  If I were to piece this one at a time could I run stock brakes on this until I had money for those pizza pie sized brake systems, along with the stock steering box, etc.?  

[thedodgeboys]

Wow those suspension packages are dream come true.  So, if you buy one of those they're realy bolt-in?  No fabbing, welding or any of that fancy stuff?  If I were to piece this one at a time could I run stock brakes on this until I had money for those pizza pie sized brake systems, along with the stock steering box, etc.?  

The alterktion is 100% bolt on.
No it uses a mustang 2 spindle but you can find used cheep brake parts for them.
It uses a rack and pinion steering no stock boxes.(why would you want to do that?)

[myk]

As I said I was wondering about piecing it together.  I like the Firm Feel boxes and would like to get one of those along with the K-member kit but every dollar I have counts.  Then again, it doesn't make sense to buy the K member setup, tear the car down the install it, then go through all of that again when the steering box comes in.  Anyway, so I would be buying brake parts for a Mustang II?

[thedodgeboys]

As I said I was wondering about piecing it together.  I like the Firm Feel boxes and would like to get one of those along with the K-member kit but every dollar I have counts.  Then again, it doesn't make sense to buy the K member setup, tear the car down the install it, then go through all of that again when the steering box comes in.  Anyway, so I would be buying brake parts for a Mustang II?

The stock steering box will not work on the alterktion it and I think the others all use a rack and pinion setup.
So the firm feel box won't work ether. Part of the reason for the upgrade is the better road manners the R&P offers over the factory setup. 

You need brake parts that will fit on a mustang II SPINDAL, it's very popular in the street rod world so there are lots of options for brake setups new and used.

You could buy it in sections or parts, but not install it or drive it untel it's all assembled into a compleet working unit.

[HPP]

but every dollar I have counts. 

Best bang for your buck would likely be a Firm Feel stage 2 or 3 steering box ($350) and an XV Level 1 suspension kit ($1500).  This gives you a substanlially stepped up suspension package that will achieve 95% of the same things that a coil over kit will get you for less than half the price.

As I said further above, if you don't need the big weight reduction and ability to quickly change out springs, the stock set up can be manipulated to achieve almost all of the same performance of a coil over set up. You don't NEED coil overs and rack & pinion to significantly improve road feel, feedback and suspension performance. They do make it much easier, but they aren't a requirement by any means.