Going to have to pull the rear axle and weld in new part of upper control arm bracket

Vtx531

Vtx531

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Nov 17, 2020
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Kalamazoo, MI
For some reason my axle that I swapped in a long time ago (at least a decade ago) came with slotted rear upper control arm brackets. One side is perfectly fine but the other side is wallowed out in the up and down direction so bad that it isn't making a good strong connection on the bushing sleeve when tightened down.

This is the type of old Jeep repairs that I don't enjoy.

Can't get my photo to upload
 
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Now it's working to upload the photo. Here is the problem:

At least the repair cost will be almost $0. Just a bit of labor.

356BBFE9-4F07-4620-BB86-B4C6BDCC1B87.jpeg
 
Last edited:
kalom jones said:
nice job there
Click to expand...

Edited my post above to remove confusion. Still need to do the job - that is the current photo of the problem. There is too little of the metal bushing sleeve in contact with the bracket so the sleeve and bracket hole edge is deforming and yielding when it gets tightened down.
 
spread the bracket just a bit and slip a washer inside. torque it all back down.
 
someguysjeep said:
spread the bracket just a bit and slip a washer inside. torque it all back down.
Click to expand...
I had that same idea! I used a bolt inside as a spreader.

Tell you what - that bracket is stiffer than it looks. I was able to get a washer on one side of the bushing but not both. Wasn't to my liking.

I also thought about cutting the bushing sleeve down by 1/8" each side or whatever thickness the washers would be.

All good fixes, but in the end I think I am preferring to pull the axle and repair it back to how it was originally.
 
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