I'm sure it's happened. I'll be sure to give specific instructions to this shop and convey my concern about it. Most likely I'll want to expose some bare metal (or find some) very close to the work area and clamp on there.

 

Just wanted to mention, I had this happen to me after lower control arm replacement--I messed up and didn't realize the eccentric washers were off center on one side when I snugged them in for the drive to the alignment shop, and they crushed the last bit of the (already quite worn) alignment tab (my shop called it the "alignment dowel.")

After finding this thread and talking to the local LR shop they suggested I weld in some material to hold the washer in place. Here are some pictures showing the problem and the fix.

the problem (kinda obvious once I stared at it for a bit)

Really obvious once I pulled the LCA back off

the back side of the rear mount had the same issue

post fix


I took the truck in for an alignment today and everything came back fine, so although this scared the crap out of me at first (having the shop say "your frame is messed up and we can't align the truck") it was only about two hours of work to resolve (I like any excuse to weld tbh.)
I used the other side of each lower control arm mount as the ground spot for the welder and also disconnected the battery prior. No issues.


Happy alignment after...phew!