surfrig

So I get some new 32's and I know I need an alignment. They say before they do the alignment I need a new idler arm for $140. Do I???

1. The old 31's wore pretty evenly.
2. New Bilsteins were added and changed the camber a bit.
3. Went wheeling a few times and truck started pulling to the right a bit.
4. Old front tires showed wear on the outer edge and right front showed scalloping. (Good excuse for new tires, right?)
5. 32" BFG AT's go on and no more pull. Truck drives straight and smooth. Too early to tell about wear patterns.

So do I put the new parts in and have the alignment done? How do I check the idler arm for myself? Am I missing other possible problems or solutions?

Thanks for the help guys,

J.D.

Bumpin' Yota

Do not pay the full 140!! Rebuild the idler arm, there is a very detailed wright up in the tech section on how to rebuild it. An idler arm shouldn't cause any wear patterns to my knowledge...

surfrig

I have searched and can't find a write up on this job. Any hints?

thanks

Robinhood150

http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/maintenance/idler/

PistonSlap

1 and 4 seem to contradict each other.
2 is irrelevant because shocks will not change your alignment and even changing the camber a little will not cause wear.
5 is not an indication that everything is ok. Your truck can be horribly out of alignment and still drive and track perfectly straight.

In any case, seeing scalloping on the outside edge is a clear indication of an alignment problem. Seeing play in the idler arm is the reason that it would need to be either rebuilt or replaced. Idler arm replacement is fairly straight forward. Easily accomplished with a decent set of metric wrenches and a ball joint seperator. You can not align your truck with worn suspension parts. Well, you could but as soon as it moved it would be out of alignment. You don't want to see tire wear before getting it aligned. Once your tires start to wear, they will continue to wear in the same spot.

surfrig

Thanks Steve for the link. I'm going to do the job in the next day or two and go back for the alignment.

Piston, the list was intended as a chronological set of events leading to my current set of problems, so you're right that the patterns changed. I'm going to replace the bushings and seals and go back for the alignment with solid parts to avoid the situation you describe.

oly884

Make sure that it isn't bent! I was going to rebuild mine, but nope, it was bent pretty good, and I HAD to buy a new one.

Brendan

You should be able to find a cheaper idler too if you need to buy a new one. Up here, Canadian tire sells idler's with lifetime warranty's for $135 cdn.

Leo

Your idler arm could be bent too, I would replace the whole idler arm and also invest on a Downey Idler arm gussett. I have a buddy that's doing a SAS swap, he might sell you his idler arm and gussett. E-mail him directly, its audiorat1@yahoo.com

This is his idler arm with the Downey gussett. http://home.earthlink.net/~audiorat1...m%20gutset.jpg

Marc P

I recently rebuilt mine--$13. in parts from the dealer, and took about an hour. One of the best things I have done to my truck--no more vibrations/wandering.

surfrig

Thanks guys. I really appreciate all the tips. I'm really just starting to get into doing this stuff myself so the advice is welcome.

Leo, I emailed your buddy so we'll see how that goes. I'll post again when it's done.

nofilter

i bought the parts to "rebuild" mine, but the bushings were cherry, and the ball joint end was what was sloppy. so i replaced the whole thing. JME.

surfrig

I just bought an idler arm and downey truss from a guy on the board. Hopefully the tire shop diagnosed correctly and this is the only part I have to replace.

Anyway, I'm doing the rebuild and replace myself before they do the alignment, so if something else is loose I'll either find it before then or they'll find it when they do their work. Are the symptoms of a bad ball joint any different?

nofilter

what i meant was the ball joint end of the idler arm. this is where the tapered stud meets the "arm" of the idler arm. basically, what i found when comparing mine with the new replacement is: when the idler arm is off the vehicle, the tapered stud should have some stiff movement when you try to bend it around. on my worn out idler arm, i was able to swing the stud around in a 1" circle pretty easily. kind of like you might imagine a u-joint was inside there. (there isn't).

additionally, when the idler is on the vehicle, you can jack up the front end, and wiggle the the right front tire, and see if your play is happening right there.

i used a 5-piece pickle fork from kragen with a 2lb mini sledge. the sledge was the KEY tool to use.

good luck.

surfrig

Won't that be one of the bushings I change? That's probably a dumb question. I just haven't been under there to really look at what I'll be doing and I don't know much about this stuff yet. Should be interesting doing this job... The good news is I need to buy a big hammer and some other tools. I saw a pickle fork kit that I'll probably get since I don't know the correct size and I may need other sizes for other jobs anyway.

It's cool. I'll still spend less than I would have paid someone else to do it and I get to learn something and keep the tools.

Thanks for your help.

J.D.

anthony1

iTrader: (1)

Hey surfrig,
I'm using a tie rod puller to pul it off. it's like a c device that goes around the tie rod then there's a screw shaft that you turn to push it off the tie rod. It's much easier than the BFH way.

surfrig

I like the sound of that. I know so little about this stuff it's sad. Beating it with a hammer sounded fun, but not real smart for a rookie. Thanks again. Your dough is on the way.

nofilter

the bushings are on the long shaft that rides in the mount that bolts to the frame. the truss or support also goes here. then the arm comes off that, then there's the tapered stud that goes to the tie-rod. this is the wobbly part that i had.

i have heard a tie-rod puller is the way to go. but 2 whacks with the hammer is all it took to pop the tie-rod off. so true, anyway, you'll save money and know how to do it for in the future jobs.

surfrig

Thanks once again for all the info. I'll know a bunch more about this after I get this done.

On a seperate note, how easy was changing the hubs? That's next after the idler arm.

anthony1

iTrader: (1)

I got a Warn set forsale too...
60.00 and it include the shipping.