Well, it's possible that you were misinformed about there being anything wrong with your truck at all. You can't tell from driving it what's wrong? Not even in general? Then nothing's wrong, most likely.

So...first off, if idler the arm seemed fine, why did you replace it? Probably not the best move if you replaced a stock idler arm, that could have been refurbished with new bushings, with an after-market part of unknown quality and/or serviceability. That's unfortunate for you if you did.

I guess you already spent the money on the puller, which by the way, wasn't really needed for the removal of the idler arm. It's handy to use if you have one, but by no means necessary or worth the price of purchasing or even renting one for the job. All you need is a hammer, and the know how. Ask me and I'll tell you how. Better yet, SEARCH!!!!

Next time you should poke around on here for information about your current repair projects on your truck. Sounds like we could have saved you some time and $ on the idler arm "trouble" you were having. At very least you could have found out how to check it yourself and determine whether to replace/fix it. Not to mention information regarding anything you could EVER wonder about an idler arm. It's nothing new to us!

 

I only did it because bruneel told me I needed it to get an alignment, and I'm sure I do need an alignment because my old tires were showing uneven wear. Now I'm thinking maybe it was some other super expensive problem they didn't catch.

Sorry, I wasn't clear, I got the idler arm from Schucks, and I was saying it's strikingly similar to the part they're selling on ebay. I'd wager it's the same, just much less retail markup.

I rented the puller, I don't know how else I could have gotten it off considering how stuck on it was. Me pay for stuff? That's unpossible.

 

Huh? Some other problem they didn't catch? What problem did they catch? I thought they told you your idler arm needed replaced and it didn't. You said it was fine, right?

They sound like complete idiots to me, I wouldn't trust their advice anymore. If they thought the idler arm was the problem, then of course they didn't catch whatever the real problem is. I'd take it somewhere else to get it looked at and/or aligned. Just my opinion.

Oh, I understood that much. Just not why you replaced a good, working part(which you're also aware was fixable with $1.40 bushings and a wrench even if it were not working properly)with a new one. Especially if you were able to tell at the time that the old one was still good. I would have put the new one on the shelf untill really needed or returned it for a refund. Hopefully you did at least hold onto the old one for a spare if it was "fine"(or even if not exactly "fine", at very least fixable for $1.40 and 10 min. of your time)

Like I said, use a HAMMER. Strike where the red arrow is pointing. Repeat as needed untill the part is jarred free.

 

A picklefork isnt very expensive and its a good investment (ball joints, TRE's, re-replacing you idler arm in 6 months )

 

Picklefork can tear the boots, a puller is a good investment IMHO for ~$20.