This last weekend was time to do an oil change on the ole' Camaro again. It's been about a year since it's last oil change considering I drive it less than 1k miles a year at this point in life.
I'm not sure when this happened, or how long it's been this way. But while taking my time underneath and looking things over, I found this nice little surprise....




Not the best picture, but what you're looking at is on the drivers side, rearward mount where the control arm bolts up.
The weld joint between the bracket and K member broke, and looks like it's been like that a while.

Has this happened to anyone else, or am I just lucky?

Either way this doesn't bother me too much, just thought I'd share for others to maybe keep an eye out for.
I have plans this summer to pull out my L03 to replace some very leaky seals, and do some front end work at the same time so it's something I can address at that time when it's all apart.
Probably the best solution would be to unbolt the K member, have it sand blasted, and put some nice welds on ALL the bracket mounting points.

P.S. Before the comments get posted about putting any money into an L03, it runs good but smokes/leaks enough oil to the point where I don't enjoy driving it. Plus it's ready for a clutch master/slave replacement.
So I'd like to enjoy my car again while I save for/gather parts for my LS/T56 swap.

 

Thanks for sharing. I'm putting in new A-arms and will definitely look mine over in light of this.

 

My 88 had similar shady welds by a shady welder in that area. Made a horrible crackling sound. Welded it up. All good.

 

Are you sure the weld is cracked and it's not just slag? Lots of slag on them welds, I tell you what.

 

Nope, definitely broken. I should've grabbed a flashlight when I took the picture because its a big enough gap to see clear through the other side.
No doubt those welds look like poo, though.

Interesting, I wonder what the chances are that the same person is responsible for both of our crappy welds.
I definitely have a creaking noise when braking though. Time for me to pony up for a decent welder and pull it all apart!

 

My passenger side has a crappy weld but the driver side looks okay. Don't see that its cracked but I may grind it down and run a new bead just to be safe.
Thanks for bringing this to our attention!

 

Wow. Great timing for this thread. My control arms are out of the car right now, so I'll be able to get a nice close inspection. Thanks, OP.

 

you guys with the cracks, make sure you can figure out what the cause is before you go just putting it together again. If you hit a pothole or something else hard enuf to break it, what else is hurt? Make sure the A arm isn't crooked, or you just might end up cracking it again even if you re-weld it. Find a straight A arm to use for checking and/or re-welding.