UCA mounting bracket damage

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plymouthy

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Livermore, CA
Pulled the Duster in to swap the drivetrain and when I crawled underneath to start unbolting things I noticed that the front mounting brackets for the upper control arm are split where they meet the frame (both drivers and passenger side). Has anyone repaired this kind of damage? What causes this - curbshots? This car seemed to "wander" driving down the freeway, could this have been the cause? I guess I will be rebuilding the front end while swapping the engine. Thanks,
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3144/3091276429_2458157bf0.jpg?v=0
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3078/3091276257_89a6143425.jpg?v=0
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3078/3091276257_4b87d7dc7c_o.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3144/3091276429_40bb29afa3_o.jpg
 
Howdy,
Can't really see the damage, the photo pulled up about 1"x1"...
C
 
Yeah the thumbnail pic dont help :)
I can imagine metal fatigue and tairing there.
You'll need to pull it back together if possible and weld it up.
Aditional scab pieces might be possible too.
 
I can see it if I expand my screen to 400%

Yes, that can cause the wandering.
As to the cause, its anybodys guess.
It will have to be pulled back together, after welding I highly recomend a reinforcing plate welded over the area.
 
Pretty common for a bodies to rot at the upper control arm mounts.
 
Bigger pictures would definitely help, but either way you're going to need to reinforce the area with more steel. If its fatigue the metal has been weakened, and just pulling it back together and welding it won't get rid of the fatigued metal. If its rust you'll need to reinforce the steel thats not there anymore. Plus you'll have a hard time welding it up if its rusted because of all the oxidation already there.
 
ooops, still trying to figure out how to imbed photos. I tried a couple of others, hope they are bigger. Since the metal is torn should the mounts be replaced? Are there replacements available? I want to make sure it is safe, its my teenage daughters project. thanks
 
the bottom 2 pics came thru better.
Now more scary for everyone to see.#-o
I don't thiink anybody repops those parts, maybe they are but I haven't seen them.
But IMO that can be repaired easier than replacing them anyway.
 
If you can get to a welder repairing them shouldn't be that bad. First make sure the mounts are where they're supposed to be, then weld them back together. Then I would overlay the bracket with a flat piece of steel connecting the upper and lower parts and weld around the edge. In the one picture it looks like you could also reinforce the back side with a "L" shaped piece of steel for added strength (connecting the mount with the upper surface of the frame). Just welding the mounts back together won't make them strong enough as I mentioned earlier, the metal around the cracks is highly fatigued, the welds would just break again over time (or rather, the metal would break away from the welds). The plate would probably take care of things, but I like overkill. Also, it looks like the mount may be damaged just below the A-arm bolt too.

You might be better off getting a piece of steel channel or "L" (1/8" or 3/16", measure the thickness of the original) and just re-creating the mount, although you'd obviously have to take a ton of measurements to make sure that your suspension geometry ended up right if you went that route. If you did your homework and spent some time making the part it could look close to stock, the plate repair obviously wouldn't. But the plate would be a ton faster.

3091276257_4b87d7dc7c_ocopy.jpg
 
72blunblu, thats exactly what I was going to try to do, (I am still trying to figure out how to get pics to show up in the posting.... agh). I think the repair is going to be easier than the replacement, not going for a stock look - just something safe. I'm trying to get this all done this Christmas break (engine swap, new exhaust, interior repairs, repair mounts and rebuild front end) so that we can drive it to Mopars at the Strip.

This site is awesome, I had a couple other people tell me to junk the car and get something without these problems. That's like telling someone to get rid of their kid - (actually some of my kids have more problems). This will be a good reason to get a MIG welder now - early Christmas present maybe. Thinking of a Lincoln 110vac (don't have 220 in the garage, not sure the wife would allow an extension cord from behind the dryer down the hall....)

Thanks again guys, I feel alot better about this repair now.
 
Welding and reinforcing that area should be fine. Great pix & instructions 72blu :cheers:


plymouthy.....This is how I post pix.....others have different methods.

Hit the "Post Reply" button just below this message on the left. Type what you want to say.

Scroll down a little to "manage attachments". Hit that and a new window opens that allows you to browse your pictures.

Pick the one you want then don't forget to hit "upload".....wait a few seconds and close the window.

Hit "submit reply" or "preview post" if you want to see it or edit before posting.
 
I`ve never seen those break like that, generally they rust out at the top of the frame rail. That car probably did wander, wow! 72blunblu has a good plan for repairing that steel bracket.
 
I would say stress fractures on both of those, not rust related. Either a weak design or just a hard life.

I spent my formative years in British car resto shop, so I did a lot of frame patches. Also have a background in aerospace engineering, so I did some frame design/construction in school. Also where I picked up a few photoshop skills ( not a lot, but a few).

Repair will be easier than replacement, and likely just as strong if you do it right. I just didn't know if you cared that it wouldn't look stock so I thought I'd throw out all the options. If you go with replacement you'd have to spend some time getting it all lined up right to maintain the geometry.

As far as posting pictures, you just need to have
.

Or you can click the little box with the mountains on it and paste in the url.
:-D
 
Boxed the ones on my car, after moving them up. Just seemed like a weak point that needed to be addressed.

More mods have since been done to other areas.

7-18 updates 003.JPG
 
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