Jag rear upper control arms

Dopey

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Hi.

I recently replaced most of the warn ball joints on my 2005 LS. After endless research I wanted to go all Moog, but they don't have a rear upper control arm or rear stabilizer bar. For the stabilizer bar I went with Delphi TA3054, which at the time was listed only for the S-type, but after contacting Delphi for reasons (long story short) & months of headache, it is now listed for the LS because it's the same damn part.

At the same time, and even more exhaustive research, I determined Moog RK622865 and RK622866 to be also interchangeable between the 2 vehicles. Before installing them, I measured them, compared them with the old ones....Identical.

I then got an alignment & the tech told me the rear camber shouldn't be -1.7* and wasn't adjustable. I didn't think much of it...thought the car had negative rear camber cuz it's cool.

Unfortunately, 3,000 miles later my inner rear tires are wrecked. My tire wear was perfectly symmetrical & I had wonderful tread life prior.

It seems clear that I am incorrect & these control arms are too short.....but I am CONVINCED that the rear components for these 2 cars are the same. I have emailed Moog & we will see if they care, but I have to solve this before I demolish a brand new set of tires.

Do I:

A: Put the old pieces of garbage that have been melting away in the rain back on just to prove to myself that the negative camber goes away? (you can see it...it's pretty obviously there :rolleyes: I just thought it was normal) Which is a ton of work I don't want to do just to be redone again immediately.

B: Bite the bullet & order some other parts that are actually made for the car? Can't seem to find a Lemforder model & don't really want the other crap that's on the market.

C: Anybody got a lead on a rear camber kit? I feel like they were available when people actually cared about this car.

D: What??

Thank you so so much to anyone who takes the time to read this & weigh in
 
Rockauto wholesale closeout


Screenshot_20230128-122136_Chrome.jpg
 
I did not know about wholesale closeout. That's a great resource.

I got excited there for a second...but I do not see anything for the rear. Am I missing it?
Thanks!

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No worries. Any & all feedback is appreciated.

Anybody know the factory camber specs for the rear? I’m assuming it’s just zero?
 
I would go with another alignment and make sure that all bushings are torqued with the suspension loaded. I have plenty of negative camber and have never had the inner tread wear down, that is usually from toe being out of spec.
 
This was my 2nd alignment with the setup. I had to replace one of the stabilizer bars (part of the longer story) & that’s the tire I first noticed the issue on, so It seemed the toe was out & that was going to be the end of it…
Toe was perfect & camber was -1.7 both times.
I did have the tech (reputable shop) pay particular attention to the issues & he checked torque & inspected everything. He pointed out that the other tire was like that as well, just not down to the cords on the inside like the first one quite yet
 
Also meant to mention: I can physically SEE the camber with the naked eye. It’s pretty extreme. I just thought it was normal & it wasn’t as apparent before it was brought to my attention. Unfortunately I don’t remember what it looked like with the original arms because I never thought to pay attention to it. But I did have perfect tire wear previously
 
I can always see my rear camber, it is very obvious. It almost seems as if your rear tires are toed-out. I had a Marauder brand new that ate the insides of front tires, due to a factory toe spec of out. So both front wheels were pointing apart from each other. Setting toe to 0 worked and eliminated the wear.
I would not think that -1.7 degree of camber was excessive.
 
That’s excellent info. Thank you
It’s just odd that I had even wear previously & long tread life & then this happened in just 3,000 miles. Granted the tread was extremely low…but based on previous wear I was expecting 10,000 more miles of continued symmetrical wear

Also, the front tires are dead vertical visually. Zero degrees there. Making the rear look especially odd in contrast. Is this consistent with how yours looks? Do you have any alignment data?
 
Sagging/weak rear springs can cause excessive toe. Worn rear toe links can cause it too.

Also... the bushings in the rear lower control arms wear out... causing the same issue.

Best practice is to replace suspension components in pairs. If you replace the upper... replace the lower. If you do one rear corner... do the other one too.

Other than being damaged/wrecked... most of the suspension parts wear out at the same time.
 
Interesting. Makes sense.
I have been questioning that about the struts/springs. And lower control arm bushings are next on the list..
 
It's worse than that. Go to the top of the page and use the search function.

Type in " rear lower control arm bushing replacement" (without the quotes) and see what pops up.
 
Ugh. Brand recommendations? I’m ok with $150 each, but no more. & this is a problem because I’m apprehensive about Mevotech & the like

Was thinking a shop that does this sort of stuff on the regular wouldn’t have a problem pressing them in…but the likelihood of getting the correct parts for this car are low
 
It all depends on milage... and how long you want to keep your LS.

I don't have the time any more to go the hard way... so I just buy the replacement part... and install.

I can tell you I tried torching out the rubber... so I could use an air chisel to cut the bushings out.

All I will say... is good luck with that.
 
thanks (there was a laugh emoji here but it didn’t post) (& it wasn’t sarcastic, I enjoyed your “good luck with that”)

What brand arms would you buy?
 
sounds good.

I’ll letcha know how the struts/springs & lower arms go

Little research I was able to do today on these upper arms just reconfirmed that they HAVE to be correct. Cross referenced several other part #s from other manufacturers that are identical arms between the LS & Jag
HOWEVER…I also found what appeared to be a discontinued Moog part # for an upper rear arm for the LS. So that’s confusing

State of things currently: this is absolutely the CORRECT rear upper control arm, but it is simultaneously WRONG
I feel like a crazy person
 

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