Camber Eccentric Repair

[the_engineers]

I took my car in to a well-respected local shop to get an alignment.

During the course of the alignment, the passenger side UCA must've bound or , because the pocket the camber eccentric sits in got splayed flat by the camber washer.  The shop says it happens "all the time" and should be repaired by bending the ears back into place and laying down a weld bead behind them.

Has this happened to anyone else?

[73EStroker]

If everything pivots freely and they only undo the bolt a little to make an adjustment I would say this is impossible to damage those ears. Sounds like the shop tightened the eccentric washer down in a position where the washer was accidentally overlapping the ears because they loosened the bolt too far. I take mine to a shop where I stand around and help them as they need guidance nowadays because the younger generation techs are not used to our old products.

[the_engineers]

Well, to be honest, the Firm Feel UCA's were pretty tight when they went in. Mild tapping with a rubber mallet was required.

I guess I'll be pulling the UCA and opening the mounts a little.

[72bluNblu]

It's not uncommon at all for those ears to get bent. In fact, its not uncommon for the entire UCA mount to get bent, damaged or even crack at the frame. The factory welds left a lot to be desired on a lot of cars.

I'd straighten everything out and lay down some welds to reinforce them as the shop suggested. No big deal.

[HP2]

Can't say I've ever bent these or seen them bent. Their repair method will work but leave weld scars behind.

[Chryco Psycho]

The worst part is getting the bolt out once it siezes in the bushing so I have always generously coated the bolts with anti sieze , usually the arm should move freely with the eccentric bolt fi ti doesn't lift the car a bit & get some weight off . the ears shoudl take the load if you are careful .

[Gumby]

I remember reading an article in Mopar Action not long ago, by Rick Ehrinberg. He stated that the beauty of the Mopar suspension, was that it was concieved in a way in which absolutely no welds were used. This made the entire system impervious to fatigue or failure due to welds. I would question a shop that bends your original metal to the point of having to "repair" it with a weld and try to tell you that "it happens all the time". I wouldn't accept that for an answer. Sounds like they screwed up and are trying to cover up? Maybe I'm not conceptualizing what you are talking about correctly.

[barracuda7199]

rick is talking about welds on control arms and such. there will always be welds where it all attaches to the body of the car. rick has a very strong opinion on several things with mopars and he doesn't mind sharing them whether you want to hear them or not. but he has a vast knowledge on alot of things.

[grimmey71]

Mine broke too, but I think my broken piece is just gone. Anyone have pics of them repairing this sounds fairly simple

[the_engineers]

This is the issue in question in case anyone is confused.

[dutch]

you can fix that by bending it back and weld behind it, but if it were my car ,I would cut off the whole thing and weld another on.  Grease is the magic word I guess...  I think that took some brute force too.

[the_engineers]

Any ideas on where to source the eccentric? AMD only sells them as part of the frame rail set-up for $450 per side...

[brads70]

Someone parting out a  B/E Mopar should have one?