Seized camber adjustment in rear

Hi folks,

I have a really drastic negative camber on the right rear of my 09 GTI.
If first noticed it while driving across the country last year to relocate and we were towing a trailer that was probably 600 to 750 lbs. In retrospect, I am wondering if the eccentric camber bolt was not tight enough and the added weight of the trailer for that long made it slip to its max negative setting.

Anyway, I took it in for an alignment (finally...) and they said they cannot do the adjustment because the camber adjustment bolt is seized and recommended replacing the ENTIRE CONTROL ARM ASSEMBLY, which would take this from a sub-$100 repair to a several hundred dollar repair. It was my understanding that the main concern was the bolt, and if they torched it, they would melt the bushing on the upper control arm.

Perhaps I misunderstood what they meant, but after looking at the diagrams, it really looks like I could cut out the seized camber bolt and replace the eccentric bolt, washer, and nut and be good to go with factory camber adjustment. Is there any reason to replace the upper control arm in this case? Is the control arm bushing threaded, or is it just a straight tube and is secured by tightening the bolt on the other side?

Second page, numbers 10, 9, 12.
http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/golfgoodies/rear axle.pdf


Thanks!
Neo

Currently dealing with the same problem. The bolt has a channel and I believe because of that, water gets in and the bolt seizes in the bushing.
I was able to remove the nut and washer but the bolt spins with the bushing and arm.
I believe the only way to remove it is with heat.

Heat + Kroil

gti2slow said:

Heat + Kroil

Click to expand...

So basically you DO have to replace the control arm in this case because if you heat the bolt, it will melt the bushing on the control arm?

I wonder if you soaked it in Kroil over night and then smacked the bolt on the end with a deadblow hammer if it would free up from the bushing housing?

Oil and shocking it, a little heat might help. Just enough to warm it up but not melt the bushing. Kroil seems to work great and suck into threads with a little heat.

gti2slow said:

Oil and shocking it, a little heat might help. Just enough to warm it up but not melt the bushing. Kroil seems to work great and suck into threads with a little heat.

Click to expand...

I have to do springs and struts soon anyway. I think I will order a control arm and the hardware just in case, but if I can save the original I will just return the one I bought.

Thanks for the tips.

You don't need a new control arm. Just a new bushing and new hardware.

gti2slow said:

Oil and shocking it, a little heat might help.

Click to expand...

Shocking won't work because it would be absorbed by the rubber. Believe me I tried.