Slowstrike

Ok I found my problem I think. On the linkage side of the idler arm (not the side that you can replace the bushings) where it connects to the tie rod, how much play should be here? and im assuming its none. Mine wiggles like a loose tooth. As far as I can understand this cant be rebuilt. Can anyone offer insight before I go buy another one.

iamsuperbleeder

no play should be present there

the length of bolt that extends from the socket joint that holds the idler arm to the drag link is tapered so that the tighter you tighten the bolt on it, the harder the drag link grabs the idler arm

Is that bolt loose like it backed of? Is the cotter-pin missing?

If it's all there and the bolt will not snug down anymore, then yep, a whole new idler arm is needed, as just the socket joint portion is not replacable.



this is 4wd btw... the 2wd have a slightly different setup if I'm not mistaken...

Slowstrike

Oh yeah 4wd 22re, I guess I should have mentioned I took it off, and yes its the socket joint portion where the play is.

Possibly the reason my tires have worn really badly on the inside just a guess heh.

I took it apart thinking I could just replace the bushing on the other end and that would solve the problem but no.

No it wasent backed off its loose at the base in the joint. Loose enough that the tie rod was striking the frame above on full compression (thats my theory so far)


the truck has taken some abuse and I do run 33s so it gets some extra weight.

iamsuperbleeder

oh geez yeah, if the ball-socket part is what's got the play, then yes, it needs to be replaced. that's similar to a ball joint going bad; it'll rattle around, cause tire wear, and can be quite dangerous if it finally lets loose and comes apart

Slowstrike

thanks for the info guess its time to find a whole idler arm assembly.

im doing all this in order to throw on some new front tires and re align before winter.

Im pretty sure the alignment issue was due to this and a really sloppy tie rod elsewhere.

what looseness should a tie rod be trash canned?

hopefully between the two I can get it back to normal rawr IFS...........

iamsuperbleeder

imo, if your not sure, I'd take a trip up to a local parts store and ask if you can take a look at a tie-rod end for your truck

try to move the ball and socket around and get a feel for one. brand new, their pretty stiff. they break in after a lil while and get a lil looser and move easier. but if there's any slop, like the ball portion wiggles around in the socket like a loose bolt through a plate of metal, then their shot and need to be replaced

bad things happen when tie-rods fall apart. better off safe than sorry on things like that.

when I install my ball joint spacers later on for the extra flex and a lil lift, I'm also installing all new ball joints, tie rod ends, control arm bushings, upgrading the idler arm to metal bushings (maybe even the support bracket), even new shocks too; just to have everything done at once so their no weak point to fail out of the blue.

all may not be nessesary in your case, it's just that my truck has 190k on it and I'm not sure how old these parts on it are, so I just figure I'll overhaul everything; a wise man once told me, "do it once; do it right"

Slowstrike

Moneys the issue id do your whole list if I could afford it, but then again if I could afford it id SAS and tell my IFS to get lost.

Its always cheaper to keep limpin the IFS than too swap it (maybe not in the long run).

I can never find a axle/housing around where I live people snipe them up quick.

iamsuperbleeder

I feel ya man...

that's why I'm gradually using spare money every pay check to collect parts. it'll be an entire weekend's work to put everything on when it comes the time to do so, but it'll actually make it a lil easier cuz I'll just rip the old crap out and throw the new stuff in, lol

I like my IFS; everybody always says "oh, why don't you SAS"... maybe I don't want to... it's not that I couldn't, far from it; me and my buddy did it to his rig no problem; I choose to be differnt and go against the grain; I'll wheel my IFS till I run it out of gas, and then I'll fill up and truck on; and if I tear something up on it, I'll repair it and go at it again!

Slowstrike

All my friends same thing man when you gonna SAS already im like "IM NOT DONE BREAKING MY IFS YET" the last time it was up in question was when I snapped the CV stub shaft. like you said break it down build it up

side note getting tie rods back in to place it a PITA!!!!!

I was gonna pop them all off too see the condition tapped the drivers side ones a few times just a little loose then I realized I dident even have to take them off...now trying to get it all back on tight....................... /facepalm

Slowstrike

ok so i scraped up my life savings. New idler arm, inner and outer tie rods on passenger and driver side and the new adjuster sleeves.

The more I took apart the more I was like wow this is broken.

I did what you said looked at some new rods and try to wiggle the joints. What I found was inners have a bit of play but the outers or ends were friggin hard and hurt your thumb and didn't move much at all.

Well the old tie rod ends you could flick the joint and they would spin in a circle (no wonder my tires were so screwed).

Question is now I have all new parts to put in and the inner and outer thread onto the sleeve very easily, should I put some thread tape on the ends maybe just a few threads? those little clamps I just don't know if they will hold it untill I get a little crust rust buildup.