Seized camber and caster adjustment bolts?

Tiny
MIKE1961
  • MEMBER
  • 2003 CHEVROLET SILVERADO
  • 5.3L
  • V8
  • 4WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 180,000 MILES
Hi! I was recently told by a garage that I totally trust that the camber and caster adjusting bolts on my truck listed above 1500 4WD are totally seized. They say that I will need new control arms and eccentrics to fix this problem. I have never heard of this. Is this a real thing that happens, or is it total bs? Nothing else on this vehicle has ever "totally seized" on me before. Has anyone ever heard of this before?
Thank you for any input!
Mike1961
Do you
have the same problem?
Yes
No
Thursday, September 22nd, 2022 AT 10:47 PM

1 Reply

Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 12,883 POSTS
A very common problem with those parts. What happens is that the bolts pass through steel sleeves inside the rubber control arm bushings. When new or only a year or two old those bolts will still move in the sleeves. However, add in a few rainstorms or worse salt and snow or running in a salty area like near the ocean and the rust starts to form. Inside the sleeves the rust bonds the two parts as solid as welding. The methods of removal then become brute force and a torch. The end result is that you cut the bolts off or burn the bushings out or both to get them apart. That means replacement is the only option if you need to do an alignment and things have rusted enough that they won't move. One benefit though is that it also means you now have new bushings, ball joints and adjustments with the new parts.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/lower-control-arm-bushing-replacement

Is the process if you have nice rust-free parts. However, in the case of the sleeves being rusted to the bolts this is the more common type of approach.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VsiQTsHjxg

That is a different design but still the same problem of the bolt being rusted into the bushing sleeve, on a much newer vehicle.
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Friday, September 23rd, 2022 AT 3:02 AM

Please login or register to post a reply.

Sponsored links