im driving and all of a suddn my steering gets all loose on me. i know i have a bad idler arm but it never did this before. Could it be the problem now?

so i need to know how to replace one, what tools i may need, and about how long it will take. this is my daily driver and the only form of transportation i have. i go to school so i need my truck working.

i am not at home and have no tools but i will either try to rent or buy them.
my truck is an 89 ext cab 4x4. i really need help badly. thnks

 

Depending on where you live, I went to Les Schwab for an alingment, and I need a new Idler and Pitman arm. The parts was about $100 each and labor was about $50 each. That'd probably be the easiest way to do it...

 

I just replaced mine on my 95 4runner. I'm assuming they are the same, and it was rather simple. There are 3 bolts through the frame, use some PB Blaster to help out prior to doing any of it. I took the wheel off, but it may actually be easier to leave it on, so there isnt much play in the steering. The bolts came off rather easy for me, with a breaker bar and sockets (17/18 mm I think). The linkage on the other side of the arm was a pain. The nut came off easy (more PB Blaster and 17 mm wrench, I think, again), but the joint has been pressed in at the factory, and wont want to budge. I used hammers, screw drivers to pry, and finally pounded it off with a piece of wood and a hammer. Idiot self stripped the threads on the bolt while doing this, and could not get the nut off that I had put back on to help with the play in the steering. I then went to the sawsall, which I should have started the project with.

So overall, it was easy, but I did not think it through, and it could have been much easier. I dont remember exactly what sizes the nuts were, sorry, but PB Blaster does wonders. When you do it, dont do it the way I did. Take the link out to the rest of the steering before you take out the bolts at the frame. If you do have access to a sawsall, use it. Hope this helps.

 

I forgot to add, I got the Idler arm from rockauto.com for $30. Spicer makes good products, and it has made a huge difference in the shaking in the steering wheel.

 

thia i what i got at autozone with bushing.
http://www.autozone.com/R,APP386803/...ductDetail.htm

 

looked under the truck, seems easy enough. only problem woud b the joint.

 

buy a tie rod fork. Like 20 bucks at most autoparts stores. It'll get er done. Other than that, its about a 10 minute job.

Get an alignment as soon as you can.

 

do i even need to jack up the front end?

 

Warning: This should not be attempted by an inexperienced mechanic/individual!!

I asume no responsibility for anybody's lack of experience, forsight, amount of, or lack of technical abilities.

~Go out and buy yourself at least a pos manual, FSM at best.
~Have an experienced person assist you in all work, and around while working.
Yep, the "Boyscout Rule" of "..never alone.".

BTW-Yep, just did mine too.

Supplies:
Assistant or Experienced Tech/Mechanic
Jack
Jackstands
Wheel Blocks
Level Working Surface
Shop Towels
"Pickle" Fork
Large Hammer
1/2" Ratchet
1/2" Extension 3" long
3/4" Breaker Bar
18mm Six point Socket
18mm Deepwell Six point socket
12mm six point socket (If skid plate's still on)
17mm six point socket
Needle Nose pliars
Safety/Emergency Kit**
Fire Extinguisher**
Telephone**

**Hope you'll never need these, but any workspace should have them.


While you might not "need" to jack up the front end, it is recommended for one major reason, inspect all steering linkages and components for looseness or wear.
This includs the power steering mounting bolts and rod, outer links, center link, and wheel bearings.

Remove your skid plate top bolts, almost all the way.
Remove your lower bolts completely.
While taking off the upper remaining bolts, the skid will "catch" on the safety bracket built into it.
(The one that saves newbie lube-techs heads all the time.)
Finish removing the skid.

Losen the cotter pin with the pliars by first straightening it out, then pulling it out by the head.
Use the 17mm socket and break the castle nut loose, do not remove all the way.

Get your hammer and pickle fork, and with the flat face side (versus the 30 degree side) facing the centerlink, carefully harrer in to break loose the mounting bolt for the idler arm bearing. leave the castle nut partially on, so when you remove the idler, it won't come falling down.

Using the breaker bar, ratchet, and both sockets and the extension, break loose the three mounting assemblies on the idler amr to chassis mount.

*Be careful/mindful of any A/C-Cooling-P/S-Etc lines so as to not cause possible injury to yourself or your rig.
Best bet is to use the breaker arm inside, and the ratchet on the outside, since you don't want to possibly spin a bolt, but rather the nut.

After breaking all the nuts loose, finish removing them, and start pulling out the bolts, leaving the upper rear bolt parially still in.
Remove your castle nut from the idler bearing, and the last frame bolt.

Pull out your idler arm, and install the new one in reverse order. Make sure to "fold" your new cotter pin.

Re-inspect the steering again, with the rig secured on jackstands, and make sure you hav'nt anything else worn or loose that the loose idler arm may have been allowing, but not initially noticed.
Replace anything worn or loose.
Re-check your torque on al points, and test drive.

Most important step***: Re-check your torque settings again, within 50 miles to insure all's well.
Take the old idler arm, and make yourself a cool paperweight or windchime for the garage, while having a choice beverage and smiling that you "fixed it".

Realistically, no offense, realize you get what you pay for with parts, me, I forked out for the factory part, as, well, it lasted this long, versus the three "cheapies" my friend's replaced within the last three years.

 

ive never done anything to my truck but i use to own a civic and have tinkered with that but nothin major. i.e, changing springs/shocks, change headers and intake manifold.

i want to try and do this myself, besids i dont even have enough to take it to any shop right now. i might have a helper but one who is no more mechanicaly inclned than myself if even that.
i guess im just going to go for it and hope for the best, or else how would i ever learn...right??

 

3 mounting bolts, 1 castle nut, 1 cotter pin, 1 tie rod end(essentially). Peice of cake actually.

Not if you try using 18mm sockets to do any of it though. They won't fit anything on a 89 Toyota, or any Toyota that I know of. Not a standard size, they'd be 17mm or 19mm. Both in this case.

Toyota factory idler arms are crapola. I bought the cheapest Spicer arm from http://RockAuto.com and it was higher quality in my book. I've since fabbed my own idler arm and used manganese bronze bushings, custom made a brace for it too, but that's another thread.

 

But, have you recently stayed at a Holiday Inn??

 

It's a simple job...

I would suggest buying a pickle fork for your tool box anyway, but for the job see if your local Auto Zone or similar store has a tool loaner program and get the complete front end puller set. It's free, and you're guaranteed to have the tool for the job. Sometimes you have to beat on the pickle fork so hard I worry about damaging other parts int he front end. With the pullers you just snug it up and tap it with a hammer and it just pops.

 

Pickle forks are evil. Use a tie-rod puller.

 

check out the top of this page for links to fsm's, they will help you get the job done correctly.

lee

 

Rofl i was gonna say that and u beat me to it

 

how does wd40 compare to pb blaster, jus curious

 

It doesn't...

 

did it today, it was easy jus need to align

 

yup defiently make sure u get an alignment