Upper Control Arm Camber/Caster Bolts: Loose Bolt/Nut

[celsoglima]

One of the camber/caster bolts/nuts on the upper control arm on my 2000 Ranger 2WD keeps coming loose. It is the bolt closest to the firewall on the driver's side. The one closest to the front of the vehicle is ok, and so are the bolts on the passenger side.

It is not loose enough for the bolt and nut to come off the vehicle, but loose enough to change the vehicle camber. It also makes a clunk sound everytime I go over a bump. Tire is getting unevenly worn on the inner side.

I have been tightening that bolt to the torque spec, but a week or so later, it gets loose again.

I know I cannot take care of the alignment myself, so I would like to see what needs to be done before I take the vehicle to get an alignment. Both upper and lower ball joints are good, and so is the tie rod.

Has anybody had any issue like that before?

 

[Runnin'OnEmpty]

Can't say I've ever had one of those loosen up;
they're fairly large bolts/nuts IIRC.

Maybe try a lock washer on it?
Or some Loc-Tite in the red tube......

 

[robertoa1a]

I had that problem and I believe it was caused by bad alignment. Bad alignment can cause everything to eventually come loose. I did a home alignment by tying a string to my trailer hitch and pulling the string around my rear tire to the front of the truck. When the string just touch the front of the rear tire I tied it off to a jack stand at the front of the vehicle. Then I measured the distance at the front and rear of the front rim edge and adjusted accordingly. The result was better than the job my local tire shop did.

On first test drive it pulled ever so slightly to the left so I adjusted the right tie rod out a quarter turn. After the second test drive on the highway and fine adjustment it drives like a new car.

 

[robertoa1a]

If you don't have alignment issues then an out of ballance tire could cause enough vibration to loosen a bolt.

Good luck.

 

[Fusion213]

I had an aftermarket camber adjuster kit and it came with metal self locking nuts. Maybe your nuts have lost their self locking feature... if they had it.

 

[drothgeb]

I had that problem and I believe it was caused by bad alignment. Bad alignment can cause everything to eventually come loose. I did a home alignment by tying a string to my trailer hitch and pulling the string around my rear tire to the front of the truck. When the string just touch the front of the rear tire I tied it off to a jack stand at the front of the vehicle. Then I measured the distance at the front and rear of the front rim edge and adjusted accordingly. The result was better than the job my local tire shop did.

On first test drive it pulled ever so slightly to the left so I adjusted the right tie rod out a quarter turn. After the second test drive on the highway and fine adjustment it drives like a new car.

Could you explain the alignment method you used again. I need to realign mine and am hoping to not pay $60...