I've messed with this multiple times and have had 3 alignments done and the camber keeps going out - negative.

I replaced the 46 year old upper control arms with new powder coated items with new ball joints and bushings - the old ones were totally shot.

Since then, the alignment would last maybe a mile or so, the last drove I felt it, I came out with a left hander from a stop...I felt the thud and then the tires started screaming.

I'm currently rebuilding the old UCAs with new ball joints and bushings. Since its the only thing I've changed, I'm wondering if the new UCAs just wont work....and before everyone asks, yes they are for B Body, I measured both of them twice and compared them with the old UCAs, so, yes they are correct for the application.

I've wasted more time and energy in this one thing...I redid the rear suspension and accomplished more in less time than this front end stuff.

ANY thoughts? I'm ready to farm this out, that's how frustrated I am right now. I'd REALLY like to drive it before Halloween...
especially since it sat for 12 long years before I got the divorce done and back in my hands....

when you felt the thud and the tires started screaming , did the alignment cams turn? or are they in the same place as it was aligned? make sure your lower control arm inner bushings are good , they are very important for alignment and they get missed cause they're a pain to change.

I would say something is not being torqued properly. Or as mentioned, LCA, strut rod bushings or balljooints

The upper control arm cam bolts need to be torqued to 65 ft-lb. You can't use a box wrench and call it good, you need to get on there with a torque wrench and make sure you get to 65 ft-lb.
If not, exactly what you described will happen.

Bob

I'll check the cams again, they didn't appear to move, I'll mark them and check again. They were torqued, it was a pita, that's for certain. I make sure everything is set and on the ground before it's tightened.

The comments above are correct as I do classic Mopar alignments at work. There are a few things you can do to keep the cams tight. I like to put some good grey moly lube on the bolts and the inside of the bushings where the bots go through.
De-burring all the cam surfaces and removing the paint from the body where the cams ride also assure once they are torqued they will stay put. I use extra long box wrenches and box end crows feet to ensure everything is tight.
Just remember you cant compress painted surfaces correctly!!! Guys always complain about things coming loose on their cars and I can assure you it's usually because they don't clean the painted surface down to bare smooth metal

Gus

Cams not tight enough. Make sure there's no rust either. Rust can torque down OK but it will turn to powder and then things get loose again.

I agree. The same are moving. Especially if the car had it's underchassis painted that could have paint build up there.

Could the flat be rounded off on the inside of the removable cam washer be flat contribute to that? I don't really think so, but I always try to pick my tightest fitting set.

njdevil2, do you have a home setup to check caster and camber?

I have seen the same problem with cars that had a broken mount in the K member where the lower control arm shaft is mounted. The welded area is not very beefy there. The weld breaks loose, then the hole surrounding it starts to elongate. It is because of this that companies like Firm Feel came up with structural repairs to avoid it. Large washers are welded around the mount to spread out the loads, and the problem is likely to never occur again. Also, worn lower control arm bushings can shift things around sending the camber extreme negative when going forward, but then returning to normal by backing up the car.

Nah, I don't have a home shop anymore since the divorce.

It's only strange since I removed the old UCAS and bolted the new ones in. I had no trouble before this. It's a driver and I didn't paint anything and used new bolts and cams. Even with the new stuff it still happened and that's the frustrating part. There definitely isn't any rust there, the bolts were rusty as we're the UCAs.
LCAS and new strut rod bushings were in the plan, but I wanted this done first.
I know LCAS are a pita, and that's one thing I'm not doing on the floor of the garage.

I did all of my car work on jackstands for many years. Certainly not optimal, but I didn't have a car lift so I just did what I had to do. The worst? A financially impaired buddy enlisted my help with a motor swap some years ago. The car was on gravel. We had to lay plywood down so the engine hoist could roll. The steel wheels kept punching through the plywood, making it a real pisser. The rear axle was out, so we couldn't simply move the car fore/aft.
Now I am fortunate to have a 2 post car lift. Yeah, it makes things much easier but I'm still able to "flat-back" for repairs if necessary. It all is a matter of doing what you have to do to get the job done. Good luck to you.

Where did you get the upper control arms? What brand are they?
Just a possibility, but if the bushings in the aftermarket arms are too short you could be putting a lot of torque into distorting and bending the UCA brackets on the frame, and not getting good clamping on the bushings.

Since we don't know what you're working with, you should probably compare the bushing length to the stock ones.
If that's OK, then everything said above is the best advice.

Bob

I got the arms from a rebuild in the Midwest.

The bushings were the same length and fit snug when installed, again, measured and compared before I installed.

I'll check it this week....