Effects of substituting La, Y, and Th for U (up to 20%) in UCu4Pd and
UCu3.5Pd1.5 have been studied Via magnetic susceptibility, low tempera
ture specific heat, and electrical resistivity. These two heavy fermio
n compounds, identified previously as candidates for non-Fermi-liquid
ground states, have markedly different response to alloying. A partial
replacement of U by an element M in UCu4Pd results in a decrease in t
he low temperature specific heat, normalized to a mole of U, independe
ntly of the size and chemical nature of M. The alloying-caused changes
in the specific heat and magnetic susceptibility Of UCu3.5Pd1.5 can b
e correlated with hybridization strength as measured by U-Cu or U-Pd d
istance.