I have a busted control arm stop, the question is, should I be worried?

Here's the story - I bought this 95 993 in March with 118,000 miles and no history. Black Forest in San Diego does the PPI and it is pretty clean. In May I take the car to Becker's Service in Naperville Illinois for new front tires and an alignment, front and back. During the alignment Jim Becker calls me up and says " in the rear suspension, you have a busted cam stop but don't worry, we were able to pry it into position". Now, Jim Becker is a respected guy so I take him at his 'word' and (as he wants me to) assume this is previous owner damage. This weekend I am doing other stuff and happen to see what Jim was talking about - to my surprise the busted cam stop looks like a new break, like Jim Becker did the breaking during the rear end aligment.

Before I start screaming I need some help.

1. Does this break look new? Consider that I drove this car back from San Diego to Chicago (thru snow and rain) and it was a daily driver from March to July.

2. Should I be worried about that single bolt holding position of the control arm without the aid of the eccentric cam stop? The car is a daily driver with maybe some DE events if my son has his way.

Here are some pictures of it:



Any help would be appreciated.

John Hejmanowski

 

I cant comment on if it looks new or not, but running the car like that would make me feel uncomfortable. I would replace it.

 

imho... it looks very fresh (fresher than may). just my uneducated 2¢

would not drive either...(other than slowly to a nearby shop)

alot of miles too though.... was the bolt/nut torked correctly?
(had the same bolt pop loose (giving play to the wheel) seems it was tightened too much... had it replaced & no prob since)
looks as though there may have been some 'play' before the break. (see area under bolt? seems older wear).

makes me wonder if the nut did not lock down or worked it's way loose then popped the arm.

bol w/ the fix... have another rep. shop take a look -or- take it back to your guy (if he is good) ... cooly explain the situation & see what he'll do.

 

It certainly looks new, but I'm no expert. But I do know this: your alignment is screwed up right now. Really really badly. You can see that the entire control arm is like 0.25" off-- the eccentric bolt should be up against the stop with none of that clean metal visible. Looks like the control arm is about to come totally loose if it hasn't already.

 

(ot) eric ~ your nb looks so friggin' tough in that avatar. love your ride-height (measurments?), splitters & rs skirts.

 

I can't help in the pointing fingers dept., however I agree with the others - get it fixed asap!!

 

(ot) Thanks rich. I believe I'm about RS height (approx. 25" at the fender lip).

 

Eric, I am thinking the eccentric was 'over' rotated against what little nub of a stop was left after the real stop broke off. The bolt and arm felt solid tho I will take a torque wrench to it this weekend.

Question - who is the best guy in Chicago area to take this to? I am not so keen on Becker at the moment.

 

John-
I'd highly recommend Andy at Eurocar 847.455.1006. He does LOTS of 993s and rebuilt my engine last year. Anyway, expect a pretty good bill wherever you go, because you'll probably need a new subframe and maybe more. I don't know if you could weld that back together but I'd doubt it. I see two main possibilities here:

1) The car was damaged in an accident, but your shop got an alignment done. You'll need all new suspension components becuase as you see in the pic, everything is all screwed up. The eccentric bolt needs to be up against the stop.

-OR-

2) Your shop broke the subframe. En route home, the bolt started sliding out of place and your alignment went all wacko. So your components are ok but the subframe is broken out.

 

p.s. Andy is in River Grove, kinda near Ohare.

p.p.s. I wouldn't think you'd break that just by rotating the eccentric bolt. I think the hole is slotted and should allow full rotation.

 

Looks as though this corner whacked a curb or a car hit the wheel. Does the wheel look newer than the others?

I agree that its position is way out of where it should be. Cruise eBay for replacement subframes as they appear from time to time. These eccentrics rely on some amount of surface area for friction retainment. Get it replaced..

 

I have to agree with the others here. That break looks pretty fresh to me. I would fix it ASAP. This is nothing to mess with.

 

It is quite possible that the car is correctly aligned, despite the damage: look at the working radius from the center of the eccentric bolt to the inner stop. That distance appears to be within the maximum radius of the eccentric washer affixed to the bolt - so if the control arm were jimmied into position by a pry bar and securely torqued down, there is no reason why a good setup could not be achieved.
There are two caveats to this ... that the bolt did not slip since the alignment, and that it will not slip in future.
Pull the alignment sheet and look for symmetry in the rear settings as delivered - and that they are within spec: secondly, it would be worthwhile to run it back on the rack to confirm the rear settings to be unchanged. Lastly, a second opinion from a knowledgable suspension mechanic would be desirable to assure you that this arm cannot move in service despite the fracture of the inner stop. If that piece is non structural, the car would be safe ( ie, the outer stop may only serve to make the eccentric function correctly - otherwise, push the arm around with a pry bar).

 

Garth, I am thinking your reasoning is right on and your caveats are exactly the issue (aside from the fact of a busted part). I need a "knowledgable suspension mechanic". There has to be on on this board somewhere.

I am checking with the previous owner for background info (last rear end alignment, any rear end accidents, any knowledge of this problem). Also I am checking with Jeff at Black Forest. In Jeff's PPI he noted "missing r/r control arm plate plastic panel". I would think he would have seen this break if he was looking that closely.

Thanks everybody for your help.

Who is a good suspension guy to ask?

Thanks again.

John H

 

Could the metal look freshly cut because your local shop had to "pry" it into position? Not taking the shop's side, just playing devil's advocate here. PPI's don't always catch the obvious things.