Setzer96

I have a 94 Pickup and the idler arm (steering arm) is giving me problems. I broke one while off-roading and replaced it thinking it was probably factory and was worn out 1week late I go mudding again and it snaps again luckily could return it and get a new one but I don't want to have to drop 50 bucks everytime I decide to go mudding. My torsion bar is raised so I don't know if that is putting to much stress on the steering components or what but I'd like to hear your thought on what my issue is. Thanks

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

look into the idler arm brace I know there are a few threads here someplace.

It is the arm that attaches to the relay rod that broke ??

Is there play once you installed it ??

Then a bunch of poor parts floating around these days

highonpottery

iTrader: (1)

strongest idler without buying the Total Chaos idler, is the beefed up one with brass bushings inside, and a brace. SDORI sells the bushings and they fit the Autozone FA5040, McQuay-Norris FA5040, or Kragen/O'Reilly FA5040 idler arms only.

There are a few places to get idler arm braces, or make one yourself.

I would make sure everything else in your IFS is still tight, because likely this is not helping if it is loose somewhere (like no dampening from stabilizer). If you were on the original idler, then it's possible you have original tie rods, ball joints, steering stabilizer shock,etc. If you freshened up all that stuff, and put on the new beefier idler, you should be in good shape.

also, what size tires do you have? mud tires in the 33"+ size are significantly heavier and put lots of stress on parts designed to run >31" street tires.

Robert m

iTrader: (2)

Might be the loose nut behind the steering wheel thats causing it. Try checking that.

But seriously, how hard are you driving this thing?

Setzer96

nut behind the steering wheel like as in directly behind it?
what major steering components should i be looking for play in

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

Wow that went right over there head !!!

Check all your steering parts for being worn out.

highonpottery

iTrader: (1)

^^clever clever.

look at everything connected to the steering and check for wear/play. the toyota IFS steering is fairly straightforward - gearbox, pitman arm, inner/outer tie rod ends, idler arm, and steering stabilizer.

after that, the only other parts in your IFS that would need to be monitored over time are: ball joints, CV axles, bearings, and control arm bushings.

all those parts are where things move in the IFS.

RSR

Check out sdori and blazeland for the parts you'll need.

And if those don't fix it, looks like total chaos time...

OilTrash

A much cheaper rout is to get on line and get a complete steering kit for around $120 including ball joints, idler arm, tie rods exc. Ball joints being out can cause the idler to bend (I've blown the lower drivers side out and drove it home and the idler was trashed) tie rods being slightly bent on the passenger side will do it too. This isn't a permanent solution, but it's a cheep way to put new parts in and diagnose where the problem is. I've had to do it on a couple trucks before. Barbed wire around the drivers side wheel assembly blowing out both ball joints and junking the steering and a buddy didn't see the stump that bent my tie rod also junked the steering after the 120 mile drive home. After you find the problem you have about 18k miles to buy better stuff for in the front and you know it won't just trash out due to some other problem.

highonpottery

iTrader: (1)

IMO those cheap chinese IFS parts kits are one of the worst things you could possibly put on your rig, there have been reports of failures because of bad castings/general bad quality.

spend a little more and buy quality parts. you don't necessarily have to go get Toyota stuff and pay a fortune - you can buy Sankei "555" parts (Japanese OEM) in re-boxed brands at local auto parts stores and it will be just as good as the original Toyota parts. FYI, you can get 555 parts online for VERY good prices compared to local.

One part in particular, the FA5040 idler arm I referenced earlier, is actually superior to the Toyota one.

OilTrash

My last 7 years of experience with driving 4 Frankenyotas out of a junk yard and straight out to the oil patch is this. If your trashing steering components doing what a toyota owner considers normal driving with some light mudding or wheeling thrown in its because something is wrong. Use what ever parts you prefer but changing the idler arm to a better one won't do a thing if the ball joints are shot, a-arm is damaged, wheel assembly is tweaked or bearings are going out causing a bind or the frame is bent. You'll just be throwing money down a pit until something really breaks. Put a jack under the front and bounce her up and down while a buddy turns the wheel and put a 3 foot bar on some stuff to see if it moves in a way it shouldn't. It's amazing what can be wrong on these trucks and have them still drive straight down the road at 75. Good luck and don't be afraid to take it by a shop if your ready to pull your hair out.

RSR

In my experience, most of the Raybestos Pro line for our truck's steering/suspension is 555. It may not be exact OEM, but far closer than chinese crap...

Ball joints, you should definitely go OEM...