Busted control arm stop. Need help!

john hejmanowsk · 07-06-2006, 01:17 PM

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.

I have put this message on Rennlist, just hoping someone here could help.

Thanks.

John Hejmanowski

AFJuvat · 07-06-2006, 07:50 PM

IMO. this looks like it was broken during the alignment. (I work at a shop)

The metal around the break is too clean.

This car is NOT safe to take on a track. You can continue to drive it for a while on the street, but it is not recommended. Do not expect the alignment to stay put..

AFJ

john hejmanowsk · 07-07-2006, 05:32 AM

Mr. Juvat, you are telling me what I expected but did not want to hear.

The $64 question - if your shop, or any respectable shop, had busted this part when working on the car, would you replace the part, or claim you can't be responsible for old parts?

Thanks for your time.

John H

kurquhart · 07-07-2006, 06:35 AM

My $.02: the shop should not be responsible for an old part that breaks, unless their negligence causes the failure. They definitely should not be trying to pass it off as a pre-existing condition, however.

AFJuvat · 07-07-2006, 06:44 AM

Well, I know my shop would replace it if we had in fact broken it.

With a broken adjuster that had to be pried to proper position, your tire wear on that side must have been terrible. If your tires aren't wearing funny, that is more evidence that the break is fresh.

The proper response if it had in fact been broken when the car arrived at the shop is to cease all work immediately, photograph, and contact you for instructions.

This is not something you mention in passing after aligning the suspension with broken components. That, more than the clean breaks tells me the shop knows more than they are saying.

If it had been a case of loosening the bolt and a chunk of metal comes falling out i.e. broken but held together - it can and does happen usually as a result of overtightening the adjustment bolt. You then contact the customer as stated above.

Usually, in a case like that, you as the shop you still have a responsibility to make some of the repair correct. Something like "You buy the part and I will install it and align it for free" or I buy the part and you pay for me to install and align it.

Simply put, you as the shop were the last one to touch it, and your relationship with that customer will be tainted from that point on if you do not.

AFJ

john hejmanowsk · 07-07-2006, 11:31 AM

Well, armed with my pictures and fortified with all the help from this board (and Rennlist), I went over and talked with Jim Becker about this problem. Jim's thinking is that the eccentric cam does no actual holding of position, that the bolt does all the holding. Jim did not think the break was an 'unsafe' condition. Jim did volunteer to repair the break at no charge. The repair will heli-arc weld in a fill-in piece that will include a cam stop. So, I think we have an amicable settlement.

Thanks for the help. This board has been a great resource.

John H.

AFJuvat · 07-07-2006, 12:11 PM

Nice to see that everything worked out as it should.

AFJ